BIO

Darren J. Sanders is a DFW based actor whose performances include a variety of roles in musical and play stage productions and dance.  He is a dancer, skilled vocalist and parkour athlete.  Darren was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and is of African, Dutch, English, Hungarian, Polish and Slovakian decent. He has resided in the DFW area for 7 years.  His love of theatre arts started at a young age frequenting performances offered by Pittsburgh CLO and he starred in his first performance of Lion King Jr. as Banzai in middle school.  He has been hooked ever since!

Darren studied theatre arts and dance at Guyer High School in Denton, TX as well as privately. He frequented the Ballet Conservatory dance school while in high school.  Darren recently performed as Leading Player in Casa Mañana's Apprentice Program production of Pippin (2024). His high school performances included roles in Sweeney Todd (2024), Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812 (2023), Anastasia (2023), Beauty and the Beast (2022), Matilda: The Musical (2022), Phantom of the Opera (2021), and Brightstar (2020).   Darren received All Star Cast Individual Awards at the District, Bi-District, and Area Meets of the 2023 Texas UIL One Act Play Contest for his portrayal of Hamlet in Hamlet (2023).  Darren received Best Performer (Zone) and All Star Cast (District) Individual Awards during the 2024 Texas UIL One Act Play Contest, performing as Henry Condell in Book of Will (2024). Darren was awarded the 2024 Schmidt & Jones Award for Best Male Ensemble for his role in Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812.

It was such an honor to participate in the 2024 Broadway Dallas HSMTA and exciting for  Guyer High School to be nominated for 15 awards including Outstanding Musical for our production of Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812!  

I enjoyed performing at the Guyer High School Silverado's "Let's Rock" Spring Showcase and paying tribute to Prince! 

I am so thankful for having been cast as Leading Player in Casa Mañana's  Apprentice Program production of Pippin. Thank you to the cast, crew, directors and to Casa Mañana and their sponsors for making this production possible.  It was dream to play this role and to have the opportunity to work with so much local DFW talent before heading off to college! Thank you to Nicki Behm for capturing amazing shots of our performance.

It is an honor to have been selected to receive the 2024 Schmidt & Jones Award, by Lyric State, for Best Male Ensemble for my performance in Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 and extra special for Guyer High School to win the Best Show Award!

It was such an honor to participate in the 2023 Broadway Dallas HSMTA and exciting for  Guyer High School to win the Outstanding Musical  Award for our production of Anastasia!  

A special thank you to Boston Conservatory MTDI for three exhausting and amazing weeks of dance intensives this summer.

A huge shout out to the Guyer Silverados for inviting me to join you as a special guest in your tribute performance to MJ at the Homecoming pep rally and football game.  Who's BAD?