Get Behind Me , Now Stay There Episode 52

Award Winning Musical Producer – Michael Bihovksy

                     
Michael Bihovksy is a New York City-based performer, composer, writer, and director. He is best known for the viral YouTube video One Grain More, a Les Miserables parody about food allergies written by Michael, in which he also plays the role of Jean Valjean. "One Grain More" won the "Best of Faux: Audience Award" and "Best Short" in the Faux Film Festival, and has been hailed as "the funniest nutrition video ever made!" and "... a must, must, must watch!" Michael grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, where he began performing and playing piano at a very young age. In the years since, Michael has brought his trademark style and energy to such productions as RENT (Mark Cohen), Tick, Tick... Boom! (Jon), 42nd Street (Billy Lawlor), Titanic (Bandmaster Wallace Hartley), and many others.

Michael has written the music, lyrics, and book for three musicals, including Fresh! (formerly The New Musical), a semi-autobiographical pop-rock musical which blends the craziness of the first-year college experience with the challenges of overcoming physical and emotional adversity. In 2010, Fresh! was selected as a finalist in the "Scene It! New York" competition, and presented Off-Broadway with Michael playing the role of himself (Michael). Michael's other musicals include Eclipse and Safe in Sound. Michael is also the composer for Blogologues, a New York City comedy show rated by CBS New York as one of "The 5 Best Things To Do In NYC Tonight," a "Weekend Pick" on NPR, and "The Best Indie Comedy in NYC" in The Village Voice's weekly series.

Michael is also a dramatic and comedic playwright and screenwriter. His most recent play, Without End, documents a uniquely spiritual and loving journey shared by a grandson and his grandparents. The play will premiere as a staged reading in December 2014 at the Seller Theatre in Buffalo, NY, as the closing event of the JCC Book and Arts Fair.

On screen, Michael has appeared in a number of acclaimed film projects, including the title role in Megillas Lester, a feature-length animation about a boy's misadventures on the Jewish holiday of Purim. Michael also starred "The Concert Guys," a comedy sketch co-written by Michael which aired at Lincoln Center in 2010.

Michael is also a prominent health activist. In addition to the many health advocacy themes that have appeared in his artistic work, Michael has also been a recurring contributor to the Stanford Medical Journal's SCOPE Project (see Advocacy and Activism). He has also directed and starred in a series of benefit concerts for Alex's Lemonade Stand, a Philadelphia-based charity dedicated to helping cure childhood cancer, as well as for the Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children.

Michael graduated magna cum laude from New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study in 2009, with a major in musical theater performance and composition, and a minor in astrophysics and mythology. Michael also studied orchestration at Juilliard. He has studied voice and acting with many esteemed teachers, including Guy Stroman, Jack Lee, and Lisa Willson DeNolfo.