Alan Muraoka (born August 10, 1962 in Mission Hills, California) is an actor and theatre director who plays Alan, the current owner of Hooper's Store on the television show Sesame Street. is the 222nd day of the year (223rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Mission Hills is the name of several places in the United States: Mission Hills, California Mission Hills, Los Angeles, California, a community within Los Angeles Mission Hills, San Diego, California, an old subdivision in north-central San Diego, California Mission Hills, Kansas This is a disambiguation page — a navigational... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Largest metro area Greater Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... Mr. ... Sesame Street is an American educational childrens television series for preschoolers and is a pioneer of the contemporary educational television standard, combining both education and entertainment. ...

His first experience as a performer came at the age of ten, where he appeared as "The Candy Man". He continued to perform in throughout high school. It was high school that provided Muraoka with his first experience as a director - a highly praised production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. For the 1966 film adaptation, see Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (film) Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a play by Edward Albee that opened on Broadway at the Billy Rose Theater on October 13, 1962. ...

In 1980 he was accepted into the Theater Department of UCLA, where he studied musical theatre. During this time UCLA presented Muraoka with the Carol Burnett Musical Theatre Award for performance. While at college, he also gained experience as a performer in various Walt Disney World productions, during sabbaticals and summer breaks. Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... The UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television (TFT), located in Los Angeles, USA, is unique in that it combines all three (theater, film, and television) of these aspects into a single school. ... Binomial name Ucla xenogrammus Holleman, 1993 The largemouth triplefin, Ucla xenogrammus, is a fish of the family Tripterygiidae and only member of the genus Ucla, found in the Pacific Ocean from Viet Nam, the Philippines, Palau and the Caroline Islands to Papua New Guinea, Australia (including Christmas Island), and the... Cinderella Castle, at the center of the Magic Kingdom, is Walt Disney World Resorts most recognizable icon Introduction Owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company, the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, USA is home to four theme parks, two water parks, several resort hotels and golf courses...

After receiving his B.A. in Theatre Arts from UCLA in 1985, Muraoka spent time as a performer on Princess Cruises. He worked for the company for a year and a half before receiving his first Broadway credit, performing six roles in the short-lived production of Mail. After Mail opened (and closed, after one month) in 1988, Muraoka remained in New York. A Bachelor of Arts (B.A. or A.B.) is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course or program in the arts and/or sciences. ... Princess Cruises logo Princess Cruises is an American cruise line, based out of Santa Clarita, California, that operates cruise ships also shares the same building with Cunard Line headquarters. ... For other uses of Broadway, see Broadway. ...

For the next ten years, Muraoka continued to act in theatrical productions, both on Broadway and in regional and touring productions. Most notably, he was a member of the original cast of Shogun: The Musical on Broadway and had a long run in the lead role of "The Engineer" in Miss Saigon. Miss Saigon is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr. ...

After auditioning several times through 1997, Muraoka joined the cast of Sesame Street in 1998. He plays Alan, the new owner of Hooper's Store. He has continued to appear as Alan through the 2006 season. While appearing in Sesame Street, Muraoka has continued to perform in theater, most recently earning good reviews in the 2004 Broadway revival of Pacific Overtures. Pacific Overtures was an ambitious 1976 musical by Stephen Sondheim, with a libretto by John Weidman, and additional material by Hugh Wheeler, set in 1853 Japan. ...

Muraoka also has continued to direct. He was highly praised by the New York Times for his direction of a non-traditional (all-Asian) version of Falsettoland for the National Asian American Theater Company in 1998. In 2004 he directed veteran Sesame Street puppeteers John Tartaglia, Stephanie D'Abruzzo, and Jennifer Barnhart in Empty Handed and John Tartaglia AD-LIBerty. He also directed Ann Harada in her own one-woman show. The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... Falsettoland, a musical by William Finn, is the third in a series about a man named Marvin. ... John Tartaglia. ... This does not cite its references or sources. ... Jennifer Barnhart is a Sesame Street Muppet performer who took over the roles of Mama Bear in 2001 and Gladys the Cow in 2002. ... Ann Harada (born 3 February 1964 in Honolulu, Hawaii) is a New York-based actress who is best-known on Broadway in Avenue Q in which she originated the role of Christmas Eve, the heavily-accented Japanese therapist. ...

Alan Muraoka is active with many Asian American organizations. In 2004 he was honored with the Inspiration Award from APEX, a mentoring organization in New York City. Look up apex in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

External links

• Alanmuraoka.net
• The Muppet Newsflash's Interview with Alan Muraoka