<P> Odom was born in Queens, New York . His family later moved to the East Oak Lane section of Philadelphia, where he grew up . He attended Julia R. Masterman School for middle school and Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts for high school . He and his family attended Canaan Baptist Church in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, where he sang solos in the church choir . </P> <P> He earned a degree with honors at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and then moved to Los Angeles in the summer of 2003 . </P> <P> Odom sang as a teenager, and studied musical theatre in college . At the age of 17 he made his Broadway debut as Paul in Rent . In 2000, he appeared in the ensemble of the one - night Broadway concert version of Dreamgirls . </P> <P> He spent much of his time doing theatre in LA, including in 2010 with Leap of Faith, which moved to Broadway in 2012, with him starring as Isaiah Sturdevant . The show closed shortly afterwards, however he made the move to New York and relocated there . </P>

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