Block made her Broadway debut in 2003, originating the role of Liza Minnelli in The Boy from Oz. After reading for the role of Elphaba during the early stages of Wicked in 2000, Block became the first actress to play the role in the show's first U.S. national tour in 2005. She later reprised the role of Elphaba on Broadway from 2007 to 2008.
Additionally, Block has appeared on numerous cast recordings and released a solo album, This Place I Know, in 2009. Her television credits include recurring roles on Madam Secretary (2017) and Rise (2018).
Block starred as The Baker's Wife in a Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods. She reprised the role in the U.S. national tour. She's set to make her London theatre debut starring in a revival of Kiss Me, Kate in 2024.
Early life and education
Block was born on September 19, 1972, in Brea, California, and has one sister, Renée. Her mother, Rosemarie (née Garritano), worked for the local school district, and her father, Steven Block, was a welfare fraud investigator.[1] She was raised Catholic.[2]
In early 2000, Block read the part of Elphaba in the first reading of the new musical Wicked. After a few months of reading, she was replaced by Idina Menzel, a decision that left Block devastated, but accepting of the decision that had been made to cast a more experienced performer in the role.[4] She was Menzel's understudy in the San Francisco tryout in 2003, but she left the show prior to Broadway when she was offered a lead role in a new Broadway musical, The Boy from Oz.[5]
Block made her Broadway debut in 2003, playing the role of Liza Minnelli opposite Hugh Jackman's Peter Allen in the show. The show received mixed reviews but proved to be a hit with audiences, playing on Broadway for close to a year. The musical received several Tony Award nominations, including a nomination for Best Musical.[6]
In spring 2005, Block originated the role of Elphaba in the first national tour of Wicked. She was awarded both the 2006 Helen Hayes Award and the 2007 Carbonell Award for Best Actress in a Non-Resident Production for this role. Block received great reviews for a show-stopping performance. After performing with the tour for a year, Block left the production in March 2006 and was replaced by Julia Murney.
In 2007 Block performed in the title role of the new Broadway musical The Pirate Queen, with music written by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil. Block was praised by critics, such as Ben Brantley from The New York Times, for giving a "truly felt, realistic, performance".[7] Plagued by insufficient ticket sales and harsh reviews, the show opened in April and barely played for two months at the Hilton Theatre, closing in June.[8] Later that year Block reprised the role of Elphaba in Wicked on Broadway beginning October 9, 2007, where she replaced Julia Murney. She left the production after eight months, on June 15, 2008, and was succeeded by Kerry Ellis.[9]
In 2009, Block released her debut album through PS Classics titled This Place I Know. Although the album failed to chart, it was a hit with critics with some hailing it as the best album that has come out of the Broadway community in some time.[11]
More recently, she has done concert work in London's West End. In February 2010 she performed live at the New Players Theatre in London.[12]
Block starred as Reno Sweeney in the Broadway revival of Anything Goes, first playing the role for three weeks in November 2011 while Sutton Foster was away filming a pilot episode.[19][20] Block performed with co-star Colin Donnell on the 2011 CBS Thanksgiving Day Parade.[21] Block returned to the role on March 15, 2012, as Foster left the production permanently on March 11.[22] She remained with the show until its closure on July 8, 2012.[23]
Block had a recurring role in the NBC series Rise, playing Patricia, a devout Catholic who ends up at odds with her husband over their son's involvement in a controversial high school play.[34]
On August 1, 2021, Stephanie launched the Stagespodcast, with Marylee G. Fairbanks.[38]
In August 2022, it was announced that Block would replace Sara Bareilles as the Baker's Wife in the Broadway revival of Into the Woods beginning September 6 of that year and would star alongside her husband Sebastian Arcelus, who played the Baker.[39] She then starred alongside Brian d'Arcy James, who returned to the show after Arcelus's limited engagement ended the following month.[40] Block and Arcelus reprised their roles in the production's U.S. national tour, which launched in early 2023.[41] Before that, Arcelus once again starred alongside Block in the Broadway production for its final week of performances in January 2023.[42]
On June 13, 2023, Block announced that she was back in the studio recording a new album, set for release in the fall - her first full-length solo record in almost 15 years. On September 26 2023, Block announced her first holiday album, "Merry Christmas, Darling" which was released on November 3, being promoted by Block's rendition of Sleigh Ride, released as a single on October 6. The album contains duets with her husband and daughter, as well as new songs specially written for the occasion.[44]
On Dec 19, 2023, the 300th episode of The Theatre Podcast with Alan Seales was released, featuring Block as the guest.[45]
In January 2024, it was announced that Block would make her London theatre debut in a revival of Kiss Me Kate at Barbican Theatre for an engagement lasting from June through September of that year.[46] During the same month, she received two nominations at the Helen Hayes Awards for her performances in Into the Woods and Sunset Boulevard.[47][48]
Personal life
Block married actor Sebastian Arcelus on October 25, 2007. Arcelus starred alongside Block in the first national tour of Wicked as the Fiyero replacement from January to March 2006 and again on Broadway from October to December 2007.[49] They have one daughter, Vivienne Helena Arcelus, who was born January 19, 2015.[50]
Elphaba Thropp is the protagonist in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, and in its musical theatre adaptation Wicked. The character is identified with the Wicked Witch of the West from L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
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.
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.
Megan Kathleen Hilty is an American actress and singer. She rose to prominence for her roles in Broadway musicals, including her performance as Glinda in Wicked, Doralee Rhodes in 9 to 5: The Musical, and her Tony Award–nominated role as Brooke Ashton in Noises Off. She also starred as Ivy Lynn on the musical-drama series Smash, on which she sang the Grammy Award-nominated "Let Me Be Your Star", and portrayed Liz on the sitcom Sean Saves the World.
Celia Keenan-Bolger is an American actress and singer. She won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for portraying Scout Finch in the play To Kill a Mockingbird (2018). She was Tony-nominated for her roles in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (2005), Peter and the Starcatcher (2012), and The Glass Menagerie (2014).
Eden Erica Espinosa is an American actress and singer who is best known for her performances as Elphaba for the Broadway, Los Angeles, and San Francisco productions of the musical Wicked. In 2022, she was nominated for the Children's and Family Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice Performance in a Preschool Animated Program for her role as the Queen of Hearts in Alice's Wonderland Bakery.
Kendra Kassebaum is an American theatre actress, who has performed in many different musicals, and is perhaps best remembered for playing the role of Glinda in the first national tour, Broadway, and San Francisco casts of the blockbuster musical Wicked.
Christian Dominique Borle is an American actor and singer. He is a two-time Tony Award winner for his roles as Black Stache in Peter and the Starcatcher and as William Shakespeare in Something Rotten! Borle also originated the roles of Prince Herbert, et al. in Spamalot, Emmett in Legally Blonde, and Joe in Some Like It Hot on Broadway. He starred as Marvin in the 2016 Broadway revival of Falsettos. He also starred as Tom Levitt on the NBC musical-drama television series Smash and Vox in the adult animated black comedy musical series Hazbin Hotel.
Brian d'Arcy James is an American actor and musician. He is known primarily for his Broadway roles, including Shrek in Shrek the Musical, Nick Bottom in Something Rotten!, King George III in Hamilton, and the Baker in Into the Woods, and has received four Tony Award nominations for his work. On-screen, he is known for his recurring role as Andy Baker on the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why, Officer Krupke in West Side Story, and reporter Matt Carroll in Spotlight.
Sebastian Arcelus is an American actor, best known for his roles as Lucas Goodwin on the Netflix thriller series House of Cards (2013–2016) and Jay Whitman on the CBS political drama series Madam Secretary (2014–2019). Arcelus began his acting career in the early 2000s and spent the first decade of his career on Broadway, having played Roger in Rent, Fiyero in Wicked, Bob Gaudio in Jersey Boys, and Buddy in Elf, among other roles. He returned to Broadway with the 2022 revival of Into the Woods and its subsequent national tour.
Andrew Scott Rannells is an American actor. He is best known for originating the role of Elder Kevin Price in the 2011 Broadway musical The Book of Mormon, for which he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical and won the 2012 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. He received his second Tony nomination in 2017 for his performance as Whizzer in the 2016 Broadway revival of Falsettos. Other Broadway credits include Hairspray (2005), Jersey Boys (2009), Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2014), Hamilton (2015), The Boys in the Band (2018), and Gutenberg! The Musical! (2023). For his performance in the Off West End production of Tammy Faye, he was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award.
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).
Emily Skinner, also known as Emily Scott Skinner, is a Tony-nominated American actress and singer. She has played leading roles in 10 Broadway productions including New York, New York, Prince of Broadway, The Cher Show, Side Show, Jekyll & Hyde, James Joyce's The Dead, The Full Monty, Dinner at Eight, Billy Elliot, as well as the Actor's Fund Broadway concerts of Dreamgirls and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. She has sung on concert stages around the world and on numerous recordings.
Andy Karl is an American actor and singer, best known for performing in musical theatre.
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.
Erin Ashley Mackey is an American stage actress and singer, known for playing the role of Glinda in the Chicago, Los Angeles, Broadway, and Second National Tour productions of the musical Wicked. She was also a double in 1998's The Parent Trap.
Teal Wicks is an American singer and stage actress, who is best known for her performances as Elphaba in the Broadway, San Francisco, and Los Angeles productions of the musical Wicked and as Mary Barrie in the musical Finding Neverland.
Carmen Cusack is an American musical theater actress and singer. She is known for playing Elphaba in the Chicago, North American Tour, and Melbourne productions of the musical Wicked and for originating the roles of Alice Murphy and Clare Boothe Luce in the Broadway musicals Bright Star and Flying Over Sunset, respectively.
Montego Glover is an American stage actress and singer. She has been nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role in the musical Memphis and won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical.
Brandon Jacob Uranowitz is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Adam Hochberg in the musical An American in Paris (2014–15) and Mendel Weisenbachfeld in the 2016 Broadway revival of Falsettos, both of which earned him nominations for Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. His performances in Burn This (2019) and Leopoldstadt (2022–23) earned him nominations for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play; he won the award for his performance in Leopoldstadt. His other Broadway credits include Baby, It's You! (2011), Prince of Broadway (2017), and The Band's Visit (2018).
↑ Cantu, Maya (June 19, 2006). "An Interview with Stephanie J. Block". BroadwayWorld. ...she was awarded with a Robby Award for playing Fanny at Thousand Oaks, California's Cabrillo Musical Theatre in 2000.
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