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), His other regional credits include
Gypsy: A Musical Fable, At the age of 19, Raize succeeded
Dennis DeYoung of
Styx in the national tour of
Jesus Christ Superstar, starring
Ted Neeley and
Carl Anderson. Next, he toured with
Miss Saigon, and had been cast as a swing in a national tour of
The King and I starring Hayley Mills when he decided to audition for
Julie Taymor's upcoming Broadway production of
The Lion King (1997). He was also featured twice on the cover of
InTheater magazine. In September 1998, Raize appeared on
The Paul Simon Album: Broadway Sings the Best of Paul Simon singing
Simon & Garfunkel's "
The Sound of Silence". The album also featured
Christiane Noll,
Jose Llana, Lauren Kennedy,
Jane Krakowski, and Sal Viviano. In May 1999, Raize co-produced a benefit for refugees from
Kosovo at the Kit Kat Club. In October 1999, the
United Nations Environment Programme appointed Raize a Goodwill Ambassador "for his commitment and dedication to furthering the cause of the environment through the use of his creative talents to inspire respect for our natural heritage and to promote the conservation and sustainable use of the earth's resources." In November 1999, he narrated the National Geographic
nature documentary series
Wild Africa: The Land of the Lion. Raize signed a deal with
Universal Records and released two singles ("Taste the Tears"), both produced by
Desmond Child who had recently produced
Ricky Martin's hit "Livin' la Vida Loca." In mid-2000, Raize and
Jessica Simpson starred in a
Disney Channel special called
Jessica Simpson and Jason Raize in Concert. The concert was filmed in Disneyland and featured Raize's songs "I Can Make it Without You," "You Win Again," "Lovin' You Lovin' Me," "Run Away Girl," and "NYC." but it was not officially released. Raize returned to the New York theater scene in January 2001 for a concert performance of
Carmen Jones. He starred in the made-for-TV-movie
The Kitchen which premiered on PBS in June 2001. Later, he starred in
Keeping it Wild with Jason Raize, which premiered as a nationally syndicated program in which he visited exotic locations, such as Africa, Costa Rica and Australia to learn about animals in their natural habitats. The show was produced by Sue Ann Taylor of Blue Heron Films. He also voiced Denahi in the 2003 Disney animated feature
Brother Bear before his death. ==Death==