Darrin Lamont Byrd was born in Newark, New Jersey (USA) and studied Fine Arts (Theater) at East Stroudsburg University. Darrin has been performing on the world's stages for over 30 years .
"Big River" was Darrin's first reality check that he had chosen the right career, as he was nominated for a Carbonell Award for Best Actor in a Musical in 1997 for his portrayal of Jim.
Following that success Darrin was blessed to be cast as Marty in "Dreamgirls" National Tour (1997-1998). After returning from the road something bigger than life happened for him, he was cast in "Riverdance The Show" as a soloist (World Tour, US Tour, and Broadway 1998-2002), which changed his career path and life forever.
In 2003 Darrin moved to Hamburg to work in Disneys "The Lion King" starting as a (Walking Cover) for Mufasa and Pumba until 2007. In 2007 he took over the first cast position of Mufasa until 2008. In 2012 started his second stint in the show until 2014.
In his last month with Lion King, Darrin produced his first show with a concert version of "Dreamgirls".
Since 2015, Darrin has performed in various German State Theater Productions as well as in Austria: "Ragtime" Braunschweig, Kassel, and Graz (2015-2018), "That 70s Show in Concert" Kassel (2019/2020) , "Bernsteins Mass" Luebeck (2017) and Muenster (2023-2024), "Hair" Saarbruecken and Heilbronn (2020-2024). From 2022-2024, he was touring Germany, Austria and Switzerland as the leading actor with the "Martin Luther King Choir Musical".
In 2013 Darrin put together his Jazz-Soul-Funk-Fusion Quartet SOULDACITY, which released their debut album "These are the Days" in 2018. Piano, Boris Netsvetaev, Bass Phil Steen, and on Drums Kai Bussenius, with Darrin on Vocals. You can find it on Spotify and Apple Music.
Darrin has also been blessed to be a Voice Over Artist and has been seen in some commercials and television shows along the way during his career.
Darrin's latest quest is to be a Film Actor. He speaks three languages, English, Italian, and German.
