Natalie Toro | |
---|---|
Born | Bronx, NY, U.S. |
Alma mater | Boston Conservatory (BFA) |
Occupation(s) | Actress, singer |
Natalie Toro is an American singer and actress for theatre, television, and film.
Toro was born in Bronx, NY, [1] where her parents both immigrated to from Puerto Rico. [2] She debuted at the Apollo Theater at the age of five. [1] [3] [4] Later on, she studied piano and voice at the pre-college division of Manhattan School of Music [3] [5] and the High School of Music and Art until the age of 18. She attended the Boston Conservatory of Music earning a BFA in Musical Theater. [6]
In 1999, Toro began a long journey with A Tale of Two Cities , a musical by Jill Santoriello. In 2002, she performed the role of Madame Defarge for the concept recording of the musical. [7] In 2010, she reunited with many members of the Broadway Cast to record the “International Studio Cast Recording”, as well as a DVD of a semi-staged highlights concert of the musical. [8]
In 2004, she began to tour with Jesus Christ Superstar, both while Sebastian Bach was on the tour and after he left. In 2007, she was cast in the Broadway musical adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities in Sarasota, Florida at the Asolo Repertory Theatre. She received a 2007 Sarasota Magazine Award for Best Supporting Theatre Actress. [9] Broadway previews in New York began on August 19, 2008 at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, with an official opening of September 18. [10] She remained in the show until it closed on November 16, 2008. [11]
On November 23, 2008, Toro released her second solo-CD, which was self-titled "Natalie Toro". [12]
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. Set in early 19th-century France, Les Misérables tells the story of Jean Valjean, a French peasant, and his desire for redemption. After stealing a loaf of bread for his sister's starving child, Valjean is imprisoned for 19 years and released in 1815. When a bishop inspires him with a tremendous act of mercy, Valjean breaks his parole and starts his life anew and in disguise. He becomes wealthy and adopts an orphan, Cosette. A police inspector named Javert pursues Valjean over the decades in a single-minded quest for "justice". The characters are swept into a revolutionary period in France, where a group of young idealists attempts to overthrow the government at a street barricade in Paris.
Madame Thérèse Defarge is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the 1859 novel A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. She is a ringleader of the tricoteuses, a tireless worker for the French Revolution, memorably knitting beside the guillotine during executions. She is the wife of Ernest Defarge.
A Tale of Two Cities is a historical novel published in 1859 by English author Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. The novel tells the story of the French Doctor Manette, his 18-year-long imprisonment in the Bastille in Paris, and his release to live in London with his daughter Lucie whom he had never met. The story is set against the conditions that led up to the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror.
Natalie Jackson Mendoza is an Australian actress. She is best known for her roles as Jackie Clunes, in the British drama series Hotel Babylon (2006–2008) and as Juno Kaplan in the horror film The Descent (2005), as well as its sequel, The Descent Part 2 (2009). Mendoza has also performed in various stage productions across the West End and Broadway, including Miss Saigon, Here Lies Love, and Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark ("Arachne").
Sarah Litzsinger is an American actress and singer, best known for her career in musical theatre.
James Barbour is an American singer and theatre actor who played the title role in the Broadway production of The Phantom of the Opera from February 2015 until December 2017. Among his other credits are the Beast in Beauty and the Beast and Sydney Carton in A Tale of Two Cities, for which he was nominated for a Drama Desk Award.
Joanna Ampil is a musical theatre and film actress from the Philippines and United Kingdom.
Lauren Kennedy is an American actress and singer who has performed numerous times on Broadway. She is now the producing artistic director of Theatre Raleigh in her home state of North Carolina.
A Tale of Two Cities is a musical with book, music and lyrics by Jill Santoriello based on the 1859 novel of the same name by Charles Dickens.
Samantha Jane Barks is a Manx actress and singer who rose to fame after placing third in the BBC talent show-themed television series I'd Do Anything in 2008. She has released three studio albums: Looking in Your Eyes (2007), Samantha Barks (2016), and Into the Unknown (2021), and made her film debut as Éponine in the Tom Hooper-directed Les Misérables in 2012. Her performance in the film won her the Empire Award for Best Female Newcomer and a shared National Board of Review Award with the film's cast.
Kevin Earley is an American actor and singer.
Alexia Khadime is a British actress and mezzo-soprano, known for her roles in musical theatre and television.
Jill Santoriello is an American musician, composer, lyricist, and author. She is a self-taught musician whose award-winning first musical A Tale of Two Cities was an Outer Critics Circle Award nominee for Outstanding New Musical in 2009. Her newest musical "It Happened In Key West", co-written with Jason Huza and Jeremiah James, released its Live London Cast Recording on June 17, 2022 following its world premiere at London's Charing Cross Theatre starring Wade McCollum beginning July 4, 2018. The recording is available on all digital platforms including Apple Music, Amazon, and Spotify. Santoriello wrote the book, music and lyrics for "Key West" with Jason Huza co-writing the book and contributing additional lyrics, and Jeremiah James conceiving and co-writing the book. Also in 2022, nine songs from "It Happened in Key West" were featured at Broadway on the Bowery at Duane Park on March 7, 2022. Previously several songs were premiered at the Good To Go Festival and at Broadway Au Carre in Paris.
Marla Schaffel is an American actress, especially in musical theatre, noted for her award winning performance in the title role in the musical adaptation of Jane Eyre.
Jessica Rush is an American actress and singer. She won the Joseph Jefferson Award in 2014 for her performance in Gypsy at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater.
Megan Lawrence is an American actress best known for her roles on Broadway. Among other honors, she has been nominated for a Tony Award. She has also appeared Off-Broadway, in regional theatre and on television.
Lisa Howard is an American actress and singer. Howard is most known for playing Siobhan in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 and Rona Lisa Peretti in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Spelling Bee went on to win many awards, including the Drama Desk Award for Best Ensemble. She created the character of Jenny in the new Broadway musical It Shoulda Been You, receiving a nomination for the 2015 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical.
Shin Youngsook is a South Korean musical theatre actress. She majored in vocal performance at the university. For her musical debut she appeared in the musical The Last Empress as Lady Sontag. She was a member of Seoul Performing Arts Company from 2000 to 2007. The final level of education she has completed is a master's degree in Dankook University.
Sharon Wheatley is an American actress, singer, and writer known for her work on the Broadway stage and in the New York theatre scene. She performed in the Tony Award winning Broadway musical Come from Away throughout its entire Broadway run as Diane, a friendly Texan who finds love when the transcontinental flight she is aboard is suddenly diverted to Gander, Newfoundland, due to the events of September 11, 2001. Wheatley had been with the production since its first professional production at the La Jolla Playhouse in the spring of 2015.
Desiree "Desi" Oakley,, is an American singer and actress, known for her work in musical theatre. She has performed in shows such as Waitress, Chicago, and Wicked.