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Carolyn Mignini is a Drama Desk Award nominated actress who has appeared on Broadway, television, and film. Critic Rex Reed called her "a radiantly talented singer" who "electrified Broadway." [1]
Mignini was born in Baltimore, one of six children. Her mother, Virginia, was a hairdresser, and her father Paul, the recipient of a Purple Heart and later, legislative representative of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union.
At 13, Mignini attended The Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University where she studied voice. At 17, she was crowned Miss Teenage America. [2] During her tenure, she co-hosted the CBS World's Fair Special and Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, appeared on The Mike Douglas Show and To Tell the Truth , and represented Dr. Pepper with Dick Clark.
She later attended Boston Conservatory of Music and New York University. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Mignini made her debut in the original Broadway run of Fiddler on the Roof with Adrienne Barbeau and Bette Midler, and later appeared in the show's 50th anniversary tribute at New York's Town Hall. [9] [10] [11]
Mignini starred on Broadway and in Los Angeles in Tintypes , in which she played Anna Held and was nominated for a Drama Desk Award. Time magazine praised Mignini's "seraphic soprano" and her performance was memorialized by caricaturist Al Hirschfeld. The cast of Tintypes performed on The Tony Awards, The Kennedy Center Honors, recorded an original cast album, and the show was filmed for television. [12] [13] [14]
Mignini played Assunta in the 2019 Marisa Tomei-led revival of Tennessee Williams' The Rose Tattoo on Broadway. She also appeared on Broadway in Tricks and Christopher Durang's A History of the American Film. [15] [16] [17]
Off-Broadway, she appeared in A.R. Gurney's Middle Ages, Christopher Durang's Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You , and in the Dorothy Fields' revue, A Lady Needs a Change. Additional Off-Broadway credits include The Fantasticks , I Married Wyatt Earp, Hereafter, Master Class as Maria Callas, Hard Sell, Mirandolina, Legs, and multiple productions at Ensemble Studio Theatre. [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28]
Regionally, Mignini appeared in the pre-Broadway tryout of One Night Stand with Tony Curtis , Because of Winn-Dixie, Dirt, A String of Pearls, and Death of a Salesman, and served as music director of a revival of Kurt Weill's Happy End in Los Angeles. [29] [30] [31] [32] [33]
Mignini appeared in the films Worth with Michael Keaton, Bruce, If I Ever See You Again, and Backfield in Motion. [34] [35] [36] [7]
She played "Kathy" and "a million other characters" on Captain Kangaroo . In his memoir, Kangaroo star Bob Keeshan remarked that Mignini could "sing, dance, act, be funny and anything else you ask of her." [37]
She had recurring roles as Maggie Gyllenhaal's mother on The Deuce and in the Ben Stiller-helmed Escape at Dannemora .
She appeared in episodes of House of Cards, Blue Bloods, The Good Wife, Veep, Alien Nation , Mad About You, The Wonder Years , Murphy Brown, Picket Fences, Family Ties, 21 Jump Street, Fame, Newhart , and others. [38] [39] [40] [41] [42]
She was a member of the musical group "The Klowns," whose album was released by RCA Victor. The group appeared on an ABC primetime television special with Sammy Davis Jr., Jerry Lewis, Juliet Prowse, and Ringling Brothers & Barnum & Bailey Circus. [43]
She is married to actor Steve Vinovich. They have two children. [44]
Robert James Keeshan was an American television producer and actor. He created and played the title role in the children's television program Captain Kangaroo, which ran from 1955 to 1984, the longest-running nationally broadcast children's television program of its day. He also played the original Clarabell the Clown on the Howdy Doody television program.
Pamela Reed is an American actress. She is known for playing Arnold Schwarzenegger's hypoglycemic police partner in the 1990 film Kindergarten Cop and portraying the matriarch Gail Green in Jericho. She appeared as Marlene Griggs-Knope on the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation. She is also well known as the exasperated wife in Bean.
Harriet Sansom Harris is an American actress known for her theater performances and for her portrayals of Bebe Glazer on Frasier and Felicia Tilman on Desperate Housewives.
The Gershwin Theatre is a Broadway theater at 222 West 51st Street, on the second floor of the Paramount Plaza office building, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Opened in 1972, it is operated by the Nederlander Organization and is named after brothers George and Ira Gershwin, who wrote several Broadway musicals. The Gershwin is Broadway's largest theater, with approximately 1,933 seats across two levels. Over the years, it has hosted musicals, dance companies, and concerts.
Capezio is the trade name of Capezio Ballet Makers Inc., an American manufacturer of dance shoes, apparel and accessories.
The Minskoff Theatre is a Broadway theater on the third floor of the One Astor Plaza office building in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1973, it is operated by the Nederlander Organization and is named after Sam Minskoff and Sons, the building's developers. There are approximately 1,710 seats in the auditorium, spread across an orchestra level and a balcony. Over the years it has hosted musicals, dance companies, and concerts.
Jujamcyn Theaters LLC, formerly the Jujamcyn Amusement Corporation, is a theatrical producing and theatre-ownership company in New York City. For many years Jujamcyn was owned by James H. Binger, former Chairman of Honeywell, and his wife, Virginia McKnight Binger. The organization is now held by its president, Jordan Roth, and president emeritus, Rocco Landesman.
Rebecca Luker was an American actress, singer, and recording artist, noted for her "crystal clear operatic soprano" and for maintaining long runs in Broadway musicals over the course of her three-decade-long career. The New York Times compared her to actresses such as Barbara Cook and Julie Andrews.
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Liz Larsen is an American actress.
Tintypes is a musical revue conceived by Mary Kyte with Mel Marvin and Gary Pearle. The score, featuring works by George M. Cohan, John Philip Sousa, Joseph E. Howard, Scott Joplin, and Victor Herbert, among others, is a blend of the patriotic songs, romantic tunes, and ragtime popular during the era between 1897 and 1914. The show features five actors representing various historical characters of the period, including Emma Goldman, Theodore Roosevelt, and Anna Held.
Norma Crane was an American actress of stage, film, and television best known for her role as Golde in the 1971 film adaptation of Fiddler on the Roof. She also starred in They Call Me Mister Tibbs! and Penelope. Crane was born in New York City, but raised in El Paso, Texas.
Susan Blackwell is an American actress, writer, and singer, best known for playing characters based on herself in the original musicals [title of show] and Now. Here. This. She has appeared in other plays, musicals, films, and television shows including Master of None, Madam Secretary, The Blacklist, Succession, Law & Order, P.S. I Love You, After the Wedding, Yes, God, Yes, and Speech and Debate. She created and hosts her own talk show, Side by Side by Susan Blackwell on Broadway.com.
Josie de Guzman, also known as Jossie de Guzman, is an American actress and singer of Puerto Rican descent, best known for work in the theatre.
Raquel Nobile is a New York City-based theater and film actor.
Stephanie Lynne Mason is a New York City-based theater actress. She has performed on Broadway as well as in other theatrical productions.
Erik Liberman is an American actor, author, and director.
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Ada May Weeks Potter Castegnaro, sometimes billed as Ada May or Ada Mae Weeks, or referred to as the Countess Castegnaro, was an American actress and dancer, on stage, film, and radio.