Actor, writer, activist, arts educator, motivator, storyteller, Cornelius is living "Life" out loud and turning pain into art.
He is a native of Richmond, VA. He attended the Mary Munford Elementary
School, Thomas H. Henderson Middle School, and completed his freshman year at
the George Wythe High School Magnet Program for the Arts. While attending grade school in
Richmond he was very active in the drama club, choir, and other extracurricular
activities.
In 1992 Cornelius auditioned and was accepted to study vocal music
at The Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC. While attending Ellington he became
actively involved with The Duke Ellington Show Choir, Concert Choir, and the
Teen Musical Theater Company. He
had the opportunity of performing at The White House for former President Bill
Clinton; The World Earth Day Celebration with Kenny Loggins; and the 1994
Presidential Inauguration at The Washington Monument. Cornelius has also shared the stage and accompanied such
artists as Anita Baker, Stevie Wonder, and the late Ray Charles.
He then ventured on to pursue a higher education in theater and
music at Syracuse University and the University of The Arts in Philadelphia,
PA.
Shortly after receiving is BFA from The University of the Arts,
Cornelius landed his first professional gig with The National tour of Smokey
Joe’s Café, which he would later tour to Seoul, Korea alongside Broadway vets
BJ Crosby and Ken Ard. After his
yearlong stint with Smokey Joe’s Café he toured regionally with shows such as A
Chorus Line, The Wiz, and Big River.
In 2001, he landed his first Broadway show, Thou Shalt Not, under the direction
of Broadway’s famed director/choreographer Susan Stroman and native New
Orleans’s music icon Harry Connick, Jr.
Shortly before the closing of Thou Shalt Not, Cornelius was
offered a position on the First National tour of Disney’s The Lion King. After touring the country for two
years, Cornelius was invited to join the Broadway Cast of Disney’s The Lion
King. On Broadway, Cornelius had the
opportunity of performing the role of adult Simba at various performances while
also stepping into other roles in the show. In 2006 he was featured on NBC's Law & Order: SVU, under the direction of Eriq La Salle(ER).
Cornelius has proven himself a lover for humanity and peace. In February
of 2006, he spent two weeks in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil with Cross Cultural
Solutions. In Salvador he
volunteered at CAASAH, a local hospital for infants, toddlers, teens, and
adults that are infected with HIV.
He also divides his time in NYC doing charitable work for organizations
such as Friends in Deed(a crisis center for people with life-threatening
illness), Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, GMHC, and he participated
in the 2008 Braking The Cycle AIDS Ride, which is the largest annual fundraiser for the Gay and
Lesbian Center of NYC.
Currently he serves as a resident artist educator for Opening Act New York. He’s also
a Masters of Arts Candidate at New York University’s Gallatin School of
Individualized Studies, where his concentration is Dramatic Writing and Social Theater (Theater of the Oppressed). In addition he is the
creator/producer/writer of the autobiographical one-man show FlagBoy, which earned him a 2008 Midtown International Theater Festival Nomination for
Outstanding Performance in a Solo-Show, voted "Best of The Fest" by DC Theatre Scene at the 2009 Capital Fringe Festival, and was featured in August 2009 on National Public Radio (NPR).
Embracing all of who he is, in his personal works, Cornelius speaks openly about being gay and being poz.