Jason Raize

Jason Raize Rothenberg (July 20, 1975 – February 3, 2004), known professionally as Jason Raize, was an American actor, singer, and former Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme. He was best known for his roles as the adult Simba in the Broadway stage musical version of The Lion King and the voice of Denahi in the animated Disney film Brother Bear. Early life Born Jason Raize Rothenberg in Oneonta, New York, he grew up in the Catskills in upstate New York and started acting as a teenager, when his stepmother enrolled him in a summer Shakespeare workshop. In high school, after moving with his father to Oneonta, Raize performed in high school plays and with Oneonta's Orpheus Theatre. He moved to New York City, where he briefly attended the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. Career In 1994, he dropped his given surname, "Rothenberg", and began using his middle name, "Raize," as his professional surname. He performed at the Bucks County Playhouse in Oklahoma! (as Jess/Dream Curly), The King and I (as Lun Tha), Phantom (in the title role), and The Rocky Horror Show (as Rocky). His other regional credits include Gypsy: A Musical Fable, The Sound of Music and West Side Story.