2005–2014: Broadway debut

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Burgess made his Broadway debut in the musical Good Vibrations as Eddie in 2005, and then appeared in Jersey Boys in 2005 as Hal Miller. Burgess originated the role of Sebastian the Crab in the Broadway musical The Little Mermaid in 2007 opposite Sierra Boggess, Sean Palmer, and Norm Lewis. Burgess portrayed Nicely-Nicely Johnson, traditionally played by a white actor, in the revival of Guys and Dolls in 2009. He has also performed in several regional theater productions, including The Wiz and Jesus Christ Superstar.

Burgess performed at the "Broadway for Obama" benefit concert at the State Theatre Center for the Arts in Easton, Pennsylvania on October 20, 2008.^[7] He performed at the "Broadway After Dark" benefit concert on October 26, 2008, in New York City,^[8] and in a solo concert at Birdland in New York City on July 27, 2009.^[9]

In July 2009, he was a performer on the R Family Vacations Summer Cruise.^[10] Three months later, he was featured on an episode of the popular web show The Battery's Down. He appeared in Season 5 of 30 Rock as D'Fwan, a member of Tracy Jordan's wife's entourage. He reprised the role in Season 6.^{[citation needed]} He was cast as The Caterpillar in the 2011 Broadway musical Wonderland in October 2010. A month later he dropped out of the project.^[11]

In March 2013, Burgess performed "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" from the Broadway musical Dreamgirls at Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS fundraising concert Broadway Backwards.^{[citation needed]} He was cast as The Witch, a role traditionally played by a female, in Into the Woods in a 2015 production by DreamCatcher Theatre, presented in Miami's Carnival Studio Theater at the Adrienne Arsht Center.^[12]

2015–2019: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

On March 6, 2015, Netflix released the first season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt which stars Burgess in a main role as Titus Andromedon, Kimmy's roommate. He received universal acclaim for his performance, with The New York Times saying the role was "tailor-made" for him.^[13][14] For his performance in the first season, he received a nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series at the 2015 Critics' Choice Television Awards and an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series at the 2015 ceremony.^{[citation needed]}

In June 2016, Burgess and Norm Lewis reprised their roles of Sebastian the Crab and King Triton in the Hollywood Bowl concert event of The Little Mermaid opposite Sara Bareilles, Rebel Wilson, and Darren Criss.^[15] He also took a voice role in The Angry Birds Movie (2016). He also was a guest star judge in the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (2017). He also took guest roles in Miracle Workers (2019) and The Good Fight (2019).

2020–present: Return to Broadway

Since May 2020, he has starred in the musical cartoon series Central Park as Cole Tillerman, with Leslie Odom Jr., Kristen Bell, Daveed Diggs, Josh Gad, Kathryn Hahn and Stanley Tucci.^[16] Burgess starred as Remy in a benefit concert presentation of Ratatouille the Musical, an internet meme that originated on TikTok, inspired by the 2007 Disney/Pixar film. It streamed on TodayTix on January 1, 2021.^[17] On December 2, 2021, he played Rooster Hannigan in the NBC special Annie Live!.^[18]

In 2023, he played the Narrator in the second season of the Apple TV+ musical comedy series Schmigadoon!.^{[citation needed]} From October 10 to December 17, 2023, he returned to Broadway in Moulin Rouge! as Harold Zidler.^{[citation needed]}

Film

Television

Video games