Jenni Barber | |
|---|---|
 Jenni Barber (left), with Michelle Beck, at the opening of the Bridge Project, Brooklyn Academy of Music, 2010. | |
| Born | July 22, 1983 |
| Alma mater | University of Michigan |
Jenni Barber (born July 22, 1983) is an American actress and singer best known for her performances in musical theatre and for her role as Lisa Heffenbacher on The Electric Company (2009 - 2011).
Barber was born in Mansfield, Ohio. [1] There she took voice lessons from vocal trainer Lori Turner. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Michigan School of Music with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in musical theatre in 2005, after receiving an Earl V. Moore award. [2] [3]
Barber played Lisa Heffenbacher in The Electric Company 2009 TV series, [4] with guest appearances on Law & Order: SVU , Smash , Elementary , Master of None , and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt , among other credits.
Barber made her Broadway debut as Olive Ostrovsky in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee in 2007, after playing the character in San Francisco and Boston productions. [5] [6] In 2008, she appeared in From Up Here at New York City Center; she had a minor role, but The New York Times review called her a scene stealer. [7] In 2010, she played Audrey in As You Like It , in the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Harvey Theatre. [8] [9] [10]
She starred as Toni Simmons in the 2011 Off-Broadway revival of the play Cactus Flower in the Westside Theatre, receiving mixed reviews comparing her to Goldie Hawn in the 1969 film. [11] [12] [13] In 2012, she played porn actress Sundown LeMay in The Performers opposite Henry Winkler and Cheyenne Jackson. [14]
In 2013, Barber played stripper Joan opposite Nathan Lane in the award-winning The Nance . [5] The following year, she joined the cast of the Broadway production of Wicked, in the role of Glinda. [15] In early 2015, she played Sibyl in the romance Private Lives at Hartford Stage, [16] followed by Elizabeth, a Mormon wife, in the Encores! revival of Paint Your Wagon . [17]
She was in the 2017 Broadway revival of Sunday in the Park with George as Celeste #2/Elaine and understudied Annaleigh Ashford. [18]
Goldie Jeanne Hawn is an American actress. She rose to fame on the NBC sketch comedy program Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1968–1970), before going on to receive the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Cactus Flower (1969).
Cabaret is an American musical with music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and a book by Joe Masteroff. It is based on the 1951 play I Am a Camera by John Van Druten, which in turn was based on the 1939 novel Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood.
Katie Finneran is an American actress best known for her Tony Award–winning performances in the Broadway play Noises Off in 2002, and the musical Promises, Promises in 2010.
Mary Beth Peil is an American actress and soprano. She began her career as an opera singer in 1962 with the Goldovsky Opera Theater. In 1964 she won two major singing competitions, the Young Concert Artists International Auditions and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions; the latter of which earned her a contract with the Metropolitan Opera National Company with whom she performed in two seasons of national tours as a leading soprano from 1965 to 1967. She continued to perform in operas through the 1970s, notably creating the role of Alma in the world premiere of Lee Hoiby's Summer and Smoke at the Minnesota Opera in 1971. She later recorded that role for American television in 1982. With that same opera company she transitioned into musical theatre, performing the title role of Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate in 1983. Later that year she joined the national tour of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I as Anna Leonowens opposite Yul Brynner, and continued with that production when it opened on Broadway on January 7, 1985. She was nominated for a Tony Award for her portrayal.
Cactus Flower is a farcical play by Abe Burrows. It played for years on Broadway before being adapted by I.A.L. Diamond into a 1969 feature film directed by Gene Saks.
Brenda Buell Vaccaro is an American stage, film and television actress. In a career spanning over half a century, she received one Academy Award nomination, three Golden Globe Award nominations, four Primetime Emmy Award nominations, and three Tony Award nominations.
Christine Ebersole is an American actress, singer and comedian. She has appeared in film, television, and on stage. She has received two Tony Awards, and a Drama Desk Award as well as a nomination for a Daytime Emmy Award.
Tonya Pinkins is an American actress and filmmaker. Her award-winning debut feature film Red Pill was an official selection at the 2021 Pan African Film Festival, won the Best Black Lives Matter Feature and Best First Feature at The Mykonos International Film Festival, Best First Feature at the Luléa Film Festival, and is nominated for awards in numerous festivals around the globe. Her web-series The Red Pilling of America can be heard on her podcast "You Can't Say That!" at BPN.fm/ycst
Bartlett B. Sher is an American theatre director. The New York Times has described him as "one of the most original and exciting directors, not only in the American theater but also in the international world of opera". Sher has been nominated for nine Tony Awards, winning a Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for the 2008 Broadway revival of South Pacific.
Gene Saks was an American director and actor. An inductee of the American Theater Hall of Fame, his acting career began with a Broadway debut in 1949. As a director, he was nominated for seven Tony Awards, winning three for his direction of I Love My Wife, Brighton Beach Memoirs and Biloxi Blues. He also directed a number of films during his career. He was married to Bea Arthur from 1950 until 1978, and subsequently to Keren Saks from 1980 to his death in 2015.
The Roundabout Theatre Company is a non-profit theatre company based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres.
Spring Awakening is a coming-of-age rock musical with music by Duncan Sheik and a book and lyrics by Steven Sater. It is based on the 1891 German play Spring Awakening by Frank Wedekind. Set in late 19th-century Germany, the musical tells the story of teenagers discovering the inner and outer tumult of adolescent sexuality. In the musical, alternative rock is employed as part of the folk-infused rock score.
Cactus Flower is a 1969 American screwball comedy film directed by Gene Saks, and starring Walter Matthau, Ingrid Bergman and Goldie Hawn, who won an Academy Award for her performance.
Zoe Swicord Kazan is an American actress and writer. She has acted in films such as The Savages (2007), Revolutionary Road (2008), and It's Complicated (2009). She starred in Happythankyoumoreplease (2010), Meek's Cutoff (2010), Ruby Sparks (2012), What If (2013), The Big Sick (2017), The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018), and She Said (2022). She also wrote Ruby Sparks and co-wrote Wildlife (2018) with her partner Paul Dano.
The Electric Company is an American educational children's television series produced by Sesame Workshop and developed by Karen Fowler. It is a reboot of the 1971 series of the same name. The series ran on PBS Kids Go! from January 19, 2009, to April 4, 2011 with reruns continuing on PBS until August 31, 2014. The series aired reruns on HBO Kids on HBO Family from January 1, 2016, until November 1, 2020, as part of HBO's deal with Sesame Workshop. On some services, the series is called The New Electric Company to distinguish it from the 1971–77 series.
Katherine Baldwin is an American singer and actress known for her work in musical theater. She received a Tony Award nomination for her work in the 2009 Broadway revival of Finian's Rainbow. She also co-starred opposite Bette Midler, David Hyde Pierce, and Gavin Creel in the Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly!, for which she received Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle award nominations for her work as the saucy millineress Irene Molloy. Baldwin continued with the production until it closed in August 2018.
David Cromer is an American theatre director, and stage, film, and TV actor. He has received recognition for his work on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and in his native Chicago. Cromer has won or been nominated for numerous awards, including winning the Lucille Lortel Award and Obie Award for his direction of Our Town. He was nominated for the Drama Desk Award and the Outer Critics Circle Award for his direction of The Adding Machine. In 2018, Cromer won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for The Band's Visit.
Marin Ireland is an American actress. Known for her work in theatre and independent films, The New York Times deemed Ireland "one of the great drama queens of the New York stage". She has received nominations for an Independent Spirit Award and a Tony Award.
Amy Herzog is an American playwright. She is known for her poignant and character-driven plays that explore themes of family dynamics, personal relationships, and the complexities of human experience. She has received a Drama Desk Award as well as a nomination for a Tony Award.
Adam Kantor is an American actor and singer. He is best known for his roles on Broadway, most notably Mark Cohen in the closing cast of Rent, which was captured in Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway, Motel in the 2015 revival of Fiddler on the Roof, and as an original cast member in The Band's Visit.
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