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Ivy Austin | |
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| Born | Ivy Lynn Epstein January 19, 1958 Brooklyn, New York |
| Alma mater | Colgate University |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, singer, voice artist |
| Website | http://www.ivyaustin.com/ |
Ivy Austin (born Ivy Lynn Epstein; January 19, 1958 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American actress, singer, and voice-over artist, known for her performances on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion and her Sesame Street voices. She also starred on Broadway as Raggedy Ann .
Ivy Austin is an alumna of NYC’s High School of Performing Arts, has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from Colgate University, and a Master of Science degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Manhattan College.
Austin's stage career began with national tours of Hair (as Crissy) in 1976 and They're Playing Our Song (Alter Ego) in 1979. She made her New York City Opera debut in 1982's Candide (Pink Sheep) and remained on the guest artist roster through 1989. Other NYCO credits include Naughty Marietta (Lisette), The Merry Widow (Zozo), The Music Man (Ethel Toffelmier), The New Moon , The Desert Song , South Pacific , and Sweeney Todd (Beggar Woman). Austin's Broadway debut in 1986 was as the starring role in the Joe Raposo/William Gibson musical Raggedy Ann: The Musical Adventure , [1] directed by Patricia Birch. [2]
In 1989, Austin performed "The Story of Gloria" on American Radio Company (now known as A Prairie Home Companion ). According to Time Magazine, "The show's funniest sketch, a serial, produced a new star, actress Ivy Austin." [3] She also played the crusty-voiced French lady Babette, and sang with Rob Fisher and The Coffee Club Orchestra.
Austin has recorded countless songs for Sesame Street, and is the voice of Sesame Street characters Cereal Girl, Hammy Swinette, Sublime Miss M, Soo-ey Oinker of The Oinker Sisters, and Gloria Esta-worm. As writer/producer, Ivy Austin created holiday programs for National Public Radio and a long-running concert series at The World Financial Center. Ivy Austin appeared in numerous television commercials and has an impressive list of theatrical and concert credits.
Austin is in her sixth year as a contributing lyricist and performer in The Thalia Follies, a political satire in on New York's Upper West Side.
Austin performs regularly at Symphony Space on WNYC radio broadcasts of Selected Shorts and Bloomsday, and has participated in years of "Wall-to-Wall" music marathons. She appeared in Wall-to-Wall Broadway singing "Adelaide's Lament". She has performed several plays with the Night Kitchen Radio Theater for XM Satellite Radio.
| Production | Year | Role | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| No, No, Nanette | 1974 | Nanette | Gateway Playhouse |
| George M! | Nellie Cohan | ||
| Hair | Crissy | ||
| Alice in Wonderland | 1975 | Violet (singing voice) | Bil Baird Marionette Theatre |
| Hair | Crissy | Gateway Playhouse | |
| Sugar | Society Syncopater | ||
| Irene | Jane McFudd | ||
| Jesus Christ Superstar | Apostle Woman | ||
| They're Playing Our Song | 1979-81 | A Voice of Sonia Walsk | National Tour |
| Candide | 1982 | Pink Sheep / Ensemble | New York City Opera |
| 1983 | Arena Stage | ||
| Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | 1984 | Beggar Woman (alternate) | New York City Opera |
| Raggedy Ann | Raggedy Ann | The Egg | |
| Sweet Adeline | 1985 | Dot | New York Town Hall |
| Rag Dolly | 1985-86 | Raggedy Ann | The Egg and Natalya Sats Musical Theater |
| Candide | 1986 | Pink Sheep / Ensemble | New York City Opera |
| Raggedy Ann: The Musical Adventure | Raggedy Ann | Nederlander Theatre | |
| Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | 1987 | Beggar Woman (alternate) | New York City Opera |
| The Music Man | 1988 | Ethel Toffelmier | |
Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor is an American author, singer, humorist, voice actor, and radio personality. He created the Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) show A Prairie Home Companion, which he hosted from 1974 to 2016. Keillor created the fictional Minnesota town Lake Wobegon, the setting of many of his books, including Lake Wobegon Days and Leaving Home: A Collection of Lake Wobegon Stories. Other creations include Guy Noir, a detective voiced by Keillor who appeared in A Prairie Home Companion comic skits. Keillor is also the creator of the five-minute daily radio/podcast program The Writer's Almanac, which pairs one or two poems of his choice with a script about important literary, historical, and scientific events that coincided with that date in history.
A Prairie Home Companion is a weekly radio variety show created and hosted by Garrison Keillor that aired live from 1974 to 2016. In 2016, musician Chris Thile took over as host, and the successor show was eventually renamed Live from Here and ran until 2020. A Prairie Home Companion aired on Saturdays from the Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul, Minnesota; it was also frequently heard on tours to New York City and other U.S. cities. The show is known for its musical guests, especially folk and traditional musicians, tongue-in-cheek radio drama, and relaxed humor. Keillor's wry storytelling segment, "News from Lake Wobegon," was the show's best-known feature during his long tenure.
Cherlynne Theresa Thigpen was an American actress of stage and screen. She was known for her role as "The Chief" of ACME Crimenet in the game show Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? and various spinoffs, and for her role as "Luna" in the Playhouse Disney children's series Bear in the Big Blue House. For her varied television work, Thigpen was nominated for six Daytime Emmy Awards. She won a Tony Award in 1997 for portraying Dr. Judith Kaufman in An American Daughter, and also played Ella Farmer on The District (2000–2003).
William Gibson was an American playwright and novelist. He won the Tony Award for Best Play for The Miracle Worker in 1959, which he later adapted for the film version in 1962.
Joseph Guilherme Raposo, OIH was an American composer, lyricist, songwriter, singer, and pianist, best known for his work on the children's television series Sesame Street, for which he wrote the theme song, as well as classic songs such as "Bein' Green", "C Is For Cookie" and "Sing". He also wrote music for television shows such as The Electric Company, Shining Time Station and the sitcoms Three's Company and The Ropers, including their theme songs. In addition to these works, Raposo also composed extensively for three Dr. Seuss TV specials in collaboration with the DePatie-Freleng Enterprises: Halloween Is Grinch Night (1977), Pontoffel Pock, Where Are You? (1980), and The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat (1982).
John Nicholas Tartaglia is an American actor, singer, and puppeteer.
Stephanie Ann D'Abruzzo is an American actress, puppeteer and singer. She has performed various Muppets in the TV program Sesame Street. She held starring roles on Oobi and The Book of Pooh. She was one of the original cast members of the stage musical Avenue Q, receiving a nomination for the 2004 Best Actress in a Musical.
Elmopalooza! is a Sesame Street special that aired on ABC on February 20, 1998. It was taped in the middle of the 29th season of Sesame Street and featured songs by celebrity guests.
Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure is a 1977 live-action/animated musical fantasy film loosely adapted from the 1924 novel Raggedy Ann and Andy and the Camel with the Wrinkled Knees. It was directed by Richard Williams, produced by the Bobbs-Merrill Company, and released theatrically by 20th Century-Fox. A 1941 short film had previously featured the Raggedy Ann and Andy characters created by Johnny Gruelle. It was the first feature-length animated musical comedy film produced in the United States. In the film, Raggedy Ann and Andy, along with other toys, live in Marcella's nursery. During Marcella's seventh birthday, Babette, a doll from France, is introduced as the new doll from a large package. Meanwhile, Captain Contagious kidnaps Babette in the pirate ship and escapes from the nursery. To save Babette, Raggedy Ann and Andy have to explore in the Deep Deep Woods and find her.
Patricia Ann Birch is an American dancer, choreographer, film director, and theatre director.
Fernando Rivas is a Cuban-American composer . He graduated from the Juilliard School of Music where he studied with National Arts Award recipient David Diamond. He has worked extensively in film and theater, as well as in broadcast media and advertising. Mr. Rivas has won several awards including the Princess Grace Foundation Grant for outstanding original work in musical theater and composed fifteen musicals and hundreds of songs. His work was featured by the Theater Communications Group in a collaboration with Maria Irene Fornes and Tito Puente in Lovers and Keepers.
George S. Irving was an American actor known primarily for his character roles on Broadway and as the voice of Heat Miser in the American Christmas television specials beginning with The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974).
Mark Fredric Baker was an American actor. He was best known for the title role in Harold Prince's revival of Candide, for which he received a Tony Award nomination, and his portrayal of Otto Kringelein in the international tour of Grand Hotel.
Elmopalooza! is a 1998 children's album featuring songs performed by characters from Sesame Street with special musical guests. First released on CD and cassette in 1998, this album is the soundtrack to the Elmopalooza television special which commemorated Sesame Street's 30th anniversary. This album won the 1999 Grammy Award for Best Musical Album for Children.
Joseph Mazzarino is an American actor, puppeteer, writer and director. He is best known for his roles on Sesame Street as Murray Monster, Stinky the Stinkweed and other Muppets, and being Head Writer and Director on Sesame Street, winning 22 Emmy Awards for his work.
Raggedy Ann: The Musical Adventure is a musical with book by William Gibson and songs by Joe Raposo. It is based on the children's stories by Johnny Gruelle and the 1977 feature film Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure. The story centers on Marcella, a dying young girl whose toys come to life and take her on a magical adventure to meet The Doll Doctor, in hopes that he can mend her broken heart. Though the show failed on Broadway, it developed a cult following through bootleg recordings. There is currently a fan-led effort to preserve and revive the show.
Rob Fisher is an American music director, conductor, arranger and pianist. He was the founding music director and conductor of the New York City Center Encores! series from 1994 to 2005. He is the leader of the Coffee Club Orchestra, which was the house band for Garrison Keillor’s radio broadcasts from 1989 to 1993.
Sesame Street Jam: A Musical Celebration is a television special which was first broadcast on PBS on March 6, 1994 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the educational television series Sesame Street. Its home-video version, Sesame Street: 25 Wonderful Years was released on October 29, 1993. Caroll Spinney plays Big Bird, reading the title card in a voiceover. Celebrity guests and the Muppets sing songs together.
Sesame Street: 25 Wonderful Years is the home video version of Sesame Street Jam: A Musical Celebration, a special aired on PBS during their pledge drive on March 6, 1994, that commemorates Sesame Street’s 25th anniversary in 1994. This program was originally released on October 29, 1993, under the title Sesame Street's 25th Birthday: A Musical Celebration!. 25 Wonderful Years focused on celebrity segments, many coming from segments filmed for the show's upcoming 25th season, of artists such as En Vogue and Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
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