Spencer Kayden

Last updated
Spencer Kayden
Born
Costa Mesa, California, U.S.
Alma mater Northwestern University
Occupation(s)Actress, comedian, writer
Years active1996–present
Spouse
​
(m. 2004)​
Children1

Spencer Kayden is an American actress, comedian and writer. Kayden played Little Sally in the Broadway musical Urinetown and was a cast member on sketch comedy series MADtv. She also voiced Mrs. Pepper on Blue's Clues , [1] [2] taking over the role from Penelope Jewkes after the first season.

Contents

Biography

Spencer Kayden was born the only girl out of four siblings to a father who worked as a pop-up book publisher and a mother who worked as a psychotherapist. Kayden grew up in Orange County, California, and went on to study drama at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. [3] She joined the Chicago cast of Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind [4] [5] and moved to New York in 1993 to start the New York run of the show.

Kayden received critical acclaim and notice for her performance in the musical Urinetown , where she played Little Sally, the pig-tailed girl who helps explain the plot. [6] She played in the 1999 New York International Fringe Festival production, and then was in the original Off-Broadway and Broadway casts in 2001 and returned in 2003. [7] The CurtainUp reviewer noted in reviewing the Off-Broadway production: "But while Spencer Kayden does everything right in her portrayal of the droll little girl who alternates begging for 'penny for a pee' with Shirley Temple/Charlie McCarthy exchanges with the deceptively kindly neighborhood cop, her Sally is wrong. This 'bad' idea is outrageously good for lots of laughs. The central joke works." [8]

It is from her theater performances that she was discovered by Fox executives and cast as a featured performer on MADtv.[ citation needed ]

Kayden also played the role of Mrs. Pepper in the popular Nickelodeon kids series Blue's Clues since 1996.

Kayden starred in the farce Don't Dress for Dinner at the Royal George Theatre, Chicago, Illinois, from November 2008 to January 2009. [9] She reprised her role as the cook in the Broadway production, which opened in March 2012 at the American Airlines Theatre. [10]

Personal life

Kayden is the sister of film director Michael Almereyda. [3] She has been married to actor Mark Harelik since 2004, and they have one child together. [11] She has listed Irene Dunne, Peter Sellers and Frances McDormand as some of her acting idols. [12]

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryWorkResult
2001 Drama Desk Award Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical Urinetown Nominated
Clarence Derwent Awards Most Promising Female PerformerWon
2002 Tony Award Best Featured Actress in a Musical Nominated
Outer Critics Circle Award Outstanding Featured Actress in a MusicalWon
Theatre World Award Won
2012 Tony Award Best Featured Actress in a Play Don't Dress for Dinner Nominated
Outer Critics Circle Award Outstanding Featured Actress in a PlayWon

MADtv

Related Research Articles

<i>Urinetown</i> Satirical comedy musical

Urinetown: The Musical is a satirical comedy musical that premiered in 2001, with music by Mark Hollmann, lyrics by Hollmann and Greg Kotis, and book by Kotis. It satirizes the legal system, capitalism, social irresponsibility, populism, bureaucracy, corporate mismanagement, and municipal politics. The show also parodies musicals such as The Threepenny Opera, The Cradle Will Rock and Les Misérables, and the Broadway musical itself as a form.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hunter Foster</span> American actor

Hunter Foster is an American musical theatre actor, singer, librettist, playwright and director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carolee Carmello</span> American actress

Carolee 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennifer Laura Thompson</span> American actor-singer (born 1969)

Jennifer Laura Thompson is an American actress and singer, best known for her theatrical performances. She originated the role of Cynthia Murphy in the Tony Award-winning musical, Dear Evan Hansen, and received a Tony Award nomination for her performance as Hope Cladwell in Urinetown. She is also known for being the first replacement for Kristen Chenoweth as Glinda in Wicked on Broadway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victoria Clark</span> American musical theatre actress (born 1959)

Victoria Clark is an American actress, musical theatre soprano, and director. Clark has performed in numerous Broadway musicals and in other theatre, film and television works. Her voice can also be heard on various cast albums and in several animated films. In 2008, she released her first solo album titled Fifteen Seconds of Grace. A five-time Tony Award nominee, Clark won her first Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical in 2005 for The Light in the Piazza. She also won the Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, and the Joseph Jefferson Award for the role. She won a second Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical in 2023 for Kimberly Akimbo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sherie Rene Scott</span> American actress, singer, playwright (b. 1967)

Sherie Rene Scott is an American actor, singer, writer and producer. She has been seen in multiple Broadway and off-Broadway plays and musicals, on numerous solo and original cast recordings, and in various film and television roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephanie J. Block</span> American actress and singer (born 1972)

Stephanie Janette Block is an American actress and singer, best known for her work on the Broadway stage.

<i>The Immigrant</i> (musical) Musical

The Immigrant is a four-person chamber musical with music by Steven M. Alper and lyrics by Sarah Knapp, with a book by Mark Harelik. The show is based on Harelik's 1985 play of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LaChanze</span> American actress, singer, and dancer (born 1961)

LaChanze Sapp-Gooding, known professionally as LaChanze, is an American actress, singer, and dancer. She won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical in 2006 for her role as Celie Harris Johnson in The Color Purple. LaChanze has subsequently received three more Tony Awards, this time as a producer, for co-producing Kimberly Akimbo, Topdog/Underdog, and The Outsiders.

Rachel York is an American actress and singer. She is known for stage roles, including award winning performances in Camelot, Hello, Dolly!, Into the Woods, and Anything Goes. She also has performed in film and on television, including her portrayal of Lucille Ball in the 2003 television film Lucy.

<i>All Shook Up</i> (musical) Musical

All Shook Up is a 2004 American jukebox musical with music from the Elvis Presley songbook and with a book by Joe DiPietro.

Karen Ziemba is an American actress, singer and dancer, best known for her work in musical theatre. In 2000, she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance in Contact.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Harelik</span> American actor and playwright (born 1951)

Marcus Frank Harelik is an American television, film, and stage actor, and playwright.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christine Andreas</span> American Broadway actress and singer (born 1951)

Christine Andreas is an American Broadway actress and singer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura Osnes</span> American actress

Laura Ann Osnes is an American actress and singer known for her work on the Broadway stage. She has played starring roles in Grease as Sandy, South Pacific as Nellie Forbush, Anything Goes as Hope Harcourt, and Bonnie and Clyde as Bonnie Parker, for which she received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. She also starred in the title role of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella on Broadway, for which she received a Drama Desk Award and her second Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical.

Barbara Walsh is an American musical theatre actress who has appeared in several prominent Broadway productions. Walsh is known for her Drama Desk Award and Tony Award nominated role as Trina in the original Broadway production of Falsettos, as well as her turn as Joanne in the 2006 Broadway Revival of Stephen Sondheim's musical Company.

Don't Dress for Dinner is an adaptation of a two-act play titled Pyjama Pour Six by French playwright Marc Camoletti, who wrote Boeing-Boeing. It ran in London for six years and opened on Broadway in 2012.

Jill Paice is an American actress best known for her musical theatre roles. She originated the roles of Laura Fairlie in the musical The Woman in White in the West End (2004) and on Broadway (2005); Niki in Curtains on Broadway (2006); Scarlett in London's Gone With The Wind (2008); and Grazia Off-Broadway in Death Takes a Holiday (2011). Among other roles, she appeared in the Broadway play The 39 Steps (2009).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennifer Cody</span> American dancer and actress

Jennifer Cody is an American actress and dancer.

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.

References

  1. ↑ "Spencer Kayden (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 7 February 2022. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  2. ↑ "Spencer Kayden - Biography". IMDb. Retrieved 2024-11-12.
  3. 1 2 McKinley, Jesse. "Theater; 'Urinetown' Uptown? Her Moment Has Come" The New York Times, September 2, 2001
  4. ↑ "Ensemble and Alumni" neofuturists.org, accessed April 1, 2012
  5. ↑ Bommer, Lawrence. Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind" chicagoreader.com, August 16, 1990
  6. ↑ "Spencer Kayden | Penguin Random House". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved 2024-11-12.
  7. ↑ Simonson, Robert and Jones, Kenneth. "Little Sally Comes Home: Spencer Kayden Returns to Urinetown, March 25" playbill.com, March 25, 2003
  8. ↑ Sommer, Elyse. "A CurtainUp Review; 'Urinetown The Musical' " CurtainUp.com, May 4, 2001
  9. ↑ Jones, Kenneth (September 18, 2008). "Don't Dress Gets Chicago Premiere With Harelik, Kayden and "Burn Notice" Star Donovan". Playbill. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
  10. ↑ Jones, Kenneth (March 30, 2012). "Don't Dress for Dinner, With Ben Daniels, Jennifer Tilly, Spencer Kayden, Makes Broadway Premiere". Playbill. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
  11. ↑ "Spencer Kayden - Biography". IMDb. Retrieved 2024-11-12.
  12. ↑ Blank, Matthew (2012-05-22). "PLAYBILL.COM'S CUE & A: Don't Dress for Dinner Tony Nominee Spencer Kayden". playbill.com. Retrieved 2022-02-11.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.