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Jacquelyn Piro Donovan is an American actress and singer known for her work in broadway musicals and on the concert stage. She is perhaps best known for the distinction of being the only actress to portray both the young innocent Cosette and the tragic heroine Fantine in the original Broadway production of Les Misérables . [1]
Donovan was born in Boston [2] and raised in Wellesley, Massachusetts. She is the youngest daughter of Anthony J. Piro, an accomplished Medical and Radiation Oncologist [3] and Marian Piro, a special needs teacher. She graduated from Lynnfield High School in Lynnfield, Massachusetts and received her BFA in acting from Boston University. In 2004, Donovan married broadway stagehand Peter Donovan, who most recently worked on the broadway company of Billy Elliot and is presently preparing Nice Work If You Can Get It . [4]
Donovan's career started before she graduated from college. During her senior year, she received her Equity Card standing by for Carolee Carmello in the Boston Company of Nite Club Confidential starring Scott Bakula. [5] Shortly after graduation, she auditioned for the National Tour of Les Miserables through an "open call" and was cast as Cosette. She went on to originate that role in the Third National and San Francisco Companies and in 1990 reprised the role for her Broadway debut. In 1996 and most recently 2002, she returned to Broadway as Cosette's mother Fantine. [6]
Starting in 1992, and for the next decade, she starred in the National Touring Companies of Sunset Boulevard (as Betty Schaefer opposite Petula Clark), Big (originating Susan Lawrence), The Secret Garden (as Lily), Miss Saigon (as Ellen, a role she later played on Broadway in 2000), and in 2008, she played Mama Who for the seasonal Broadway Production of How the Grinch Stole Christmas! , playing her hometown of Boston. [7] [8] During her year with Miss Saigon, Donovan was granted a leave of absence to perform as Nellie in Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein's Sweet Adeline at the nationally celebrated City Center Encores! concert series on Broadway. [9]
She created the world premiere roles of Madame Calcet in the Zipper Theatre's production of Kathie Lee Gifford's Under The Bridge, [10] Sariah in 37 Art's production of The Ark, [11] Alison in the Emmy Award winning writer David Javerbaum's original production of Suburb, a New Musical Comedy at The York Theatre, [12] Jackie in New World Stage's New York Musical Theatre Festival production of Have a NIce Life , winning the 2006 Outstanding Ensemble NYMF Excellence Award, [13] and most recently, the title role in The York Theatre's production of I Remember Mama , as part of their Musicals in Mufti Series 2010. [14]
In 2004, Donovan won the Helen Hayes Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Lizzie Curry in 110 in the Shade at the Signature Theatre in Washington, D.C., where she also originated the role of Elmira in the world premiere of the musical Nevermore. She won a Connecticut Critics Circle Award in 2005 for her portrayal of Milly in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers at the Goodspeed Opera House.
On May 2, 2011, it was announced that Donovan would take over the title role in Hello, Dolly!, produced by North Carolina Theatre, late in rehearsals. Cybill Shepherd had withdrawn from the production after sustaining injuries in a mishap on stairs at her apartment complex. [15] Almost exactly one year later, on May 11, 2012, history repeated itself when it was announced she would replace an injured Lorna Luft as Dolly in the North Shore Musical Theater's production of the same show. [16]
From 2013 to 2014, she played Miss Gulch/The Wicked Witch of the West in the North American tour of The Wizard of Oz . [17]
Hello, Dolly! is a 1964 musical with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilder's 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers, which Wilder revised and retitled The Matchmaker in 1955. The musical follows the story of Dolly Gallagher Levi, a strong-willed matchmaker, as she travels to Yonkers, New York, to find a match for the miserly "well-known unmarried half-a-millionaire" Horace Vandergelder.
Les Misérables, colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz, is a sung-through musical with music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, lyrics by Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel, and a book by Schönberg and Boublil, based on the 1862 novel of the same name by Victor Hugo. The original French musical premiered in Paris in 1980 with direction by Robert Hossein. Its English-language adaptation, with lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer, produced by Cameron Mackintosh, has been running in London since October 1985, making it the longest-running musical in the West End and the second longest-running musical in the world after the original Off-Broadway run of The Fantasticks.
Valentine Ruth Henshall, known professionally as Ruthie Henshall, is an English actress, singer and dancer, known for her work in musical theatre. She began her professional stage career in 1986, before making her West End debut in Cats in 1987. A five-time Olivier Award nominee, she won the 1995 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role as Amalia Balash in the London revival of She Loves Me (1994).
Judy Kuhn is an American actress, singer and activist, known for her work in musical theatre. A four-time Tony Award nominee, she has released four studio albums and sang the title role in the 1995 film Pocahontas, including her rendition of the song "Colors of the Wind", which won its composers the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
Carolee Ann Carmello is an American actress best known for her performances in Broadway musicals and for playing the role of Maple LaMarsh on the television series Remember WENN (1996–1998). She is a three-time Tony Award nominee and a five-time Drama Desk nominee, winning the 1999 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical for her role in Parade.
Lestat is a Broadway musical inspired by Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles. The score is by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, with the book by Linda Woolverton. The musical had a brief run on Broadway in 2006.
Burke William Moses is an American actor. His older brother is actor Mark Moses.
The Witches of Eastwick is a 2000 musical based on the 1984 novel of the same name by John Updike. It was adapted by John Dempsey and Dana P. Rowe (music), directed by Eric Schaeffer, and produced by Cameron Mackintosh.
Julia Kathleen Murney is an American actress and singer, also known for television commercial voice-overs. Until 2005, she was commonly known as the Broadway actress who had technically never appeared on Broadway. This was because her fame came mostly from her performances on the Broadway charity circuit, and not traditional Broadway productions. She played the role of Elphaba in the musical Wicked, both on the US national tour (2006) and on Broadway (2007). She is also a two-time Drama Desk Award nominee, for The Wild Party (2000) and Falling (2013).
Rachel York is an American actress and singer. She is known for stage roles in City of Angels, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Les Misérables, Victor/Victoria, Kiss Me, Kate, Sly Fox, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Anything Goes. She also has many film and television credits, including her portrayal of Lucille Ball in the CBS biographical film Lucy.
Beth Leavel is an American stage and screen actress and singer.
Sierra Marjory Boggess is an American theater actress and singer.
Scandalous: The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple McPherson is a musical with a book and lyrics by Kathie Lee Gifford and music by David Pomeranz and David Friedman. The musical has had productions in 2005 at the White Plains, New York Performing Arts Center, at the Signature Theatre in 2007, in 2011 at the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle and in 2012 on Broadway. The musical is based on the life of Aimee Semple McPherson.
John & Jen is a musical with music by Andrew Lippa, lyrics by Tom Greenwald, and a book by Lippa and Greenwald. It is a two-person show about the relationships first between a brother and sister, John and Jen, and then, after John is killed, between Jen and her son, also named John. The musical opened Off-Broadway in 1995 and was revived Off-Broadway in 2015.
Frederick Applegate is an American actor, singer and dancer.
Andrew Keenan-Bolger is an American actor and filmmaker. He is best known for originating the roles of Crutchie in Newsies and Jesse Tuck in Tuck Everlasting on Broadway. His other Broadway credits include Robertson Ay in Mary Poppins, Jojo in Seussical, and Chip in Beauty and the Beast.
Sami Gayle is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Nicky Reagan in the CBS series Blue Bloods.
Les Misérables is a 2012 epic period musical film directed by Tom Hooper from a screenplay by William Nicholson, Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg, and Herbert Kretzmer, based on the stage musical of the same name by Schönberg, Boublil, and Jean-Marc Natel, which in turn is based on the 1862 novel Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. The film stars an ensemble cast led by Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne, Amanda Seyfried, Helena Bonham Carter, and Sacha Baron Cohen.
Crista Moore is an American actress, singer, and dancer known for her work on the Broadway stage. She has been nominated for two Tony Awards, and received a Theatre World Award for Exceptional Broadway Debut in the title role of "Gypsy".
Alison Nicole Luff is an American singer and stage actress. She is best known for her extensive work in musical theatre, notably for her roles as Elphaba in the First National Tour of Wicked and Jenna in the Broadway production of Waitress. Since 2021, she has appeared in a lead role in the Starz drama series Heels.