Susan Blackwell

Last updated
Susan Blackwell
Susan Blackwell.jpg
Susan Blackwell in 2017
Born
Dayton, Ohio
Alma mater
Occupations
  • Actress
  • writer
  • singer
Known for [title of show]
SpouseNathan Heidt
Website susanblackwell.com

Susan Blackwell is an American actress, writer, and singer, best known for playing characters based on herself in the original musicals [title of show] and Now. Here. This. She has appeared in other plays, musicals, films, and television shows including Master of None , Madam Secretary, The Blacklist , Succession , Law & Order , P.S. I Love You , After the Wedding , Yes, God, Yes , and Speech and Debate . She created and hosts her own talk show, Side by Side by Susan Blackwell on Broadway.com.

Contents

[title of show]

Blackwell is known for the one-act musical [ title of show], which played on Broadway in the 2008 Season after a successful extended Off-Broadway run at the Vineyard Theatre in 2006. [1] The musical documents its own creation by two Broadway fans, who want to enter the New York Musical Theatre Festival and struggle to complete the show in three and a half weeks, and their two actress friends. The actors are also the writers and characters of the musical. Blackwell's character, "Susan", is a quirky performer by night and corporate drone by day—what Blackwell calls a "distillation" of her true personality. [2]

Blackwell became involved in the musical's development early on through her longstanding friendships with the show's writer, Hunter Bell, and composer, Jeff Bowen (who also star in the show, as "Hunter" and "Jeff"). Blackwell had worked with the two men as part of her previous Off-Off-Broadway performing duo, the New Wondertwins. [3] At the time Bowen and Bell began work on [title of show], Blackwell had decided to abandon performing for a stable, corporate office job. "I feel really grateful to my friends for rescuing me," she said of her role in [title of show]. "They airlifted me out of very corporate ascension and plopped me down into this whole other experience." [2]

Other work

Blackwell began her professional acting career with a two-year stint in the company of Minnesota's Guthrie Theatre before moving to New York in 1995. [2] She subsequently developed a reputation as a quirky downtown theatre artist. Blackwell performed Off-Off-Broadway with Rebecca Finnegan as The New Wondertwins, a variety act whose assortment of songs, sketches, and daredevil feats included ventriloquism and making deviled eggs in their mouths. [4]

One Village Voice reviewer wrote of the duo in 1999: "Their wordless finale, orchestrated to a space-age bachelor-pad soundtrack, is a tour de force of fascination and horror: never have soy milk and deviled eggs been used to such loathsome effect." [5] In addition to [title of show]'s Off-Broadway and Broadway runs, Blackwell's more recent credits include the Off-Broadway shows Speech and Debate , Anon, Working Title, Vilna's Got a Golem, and The Heidi Chronicles .[ citation needed ]

Blackwell's television appearances include The Sopranos , Third Watch , All My Children , The Good Wife , Person of Interest , and several episodes of Law & Order and Law & Order: Criminal Intent . Her film credits include P.S. I Love You , Margin Call , Margot at the Wedding , Changing Lanes , the short Bun-Bun, and Night Int. Trailer for the feature film Ten Minutes Older. [6]

Blackwell joined [title of show] castmates Hunter Bell, Jeff Bowen, and Heidi Blickenstaff in 2012 for the off-Broadway musical Now. Here. This. for which she also co-wrote the book with Hunter Bell. [7]

In 2018, she was seen in the Encores! Off-Center production of The Civilians' Gone Missing . [8]

In 2019, Blackwell performed in a one-night-only Broadway concert performance of [title of show] to benefit The Actor's Fund. She appeared alongside the entire original cast, and the evening was directed and choreographed by Michael Berresse. [9]

In September 2019, she began co-hosting a podcast with fellow actress Laura Camien called The Spark File. [10]

Personal life

Blackwell was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio. [11] She attended Bethel Local Schools. She has a B.F.A. in acting from Wright State University and an M.F.A. in acting from the University of Minnesota. [12] She is married to Nathan Heidt.[ citation needed ]

Acting credits

Theatre

YearTitleRoleNotesRef.
1996Working TitleLaura TeichmanOff-Broadway - American Jewish Theatre [13]
1997Vilna's Got a GolemBashaOff-Broadway - American Jewish Theatre [14]
2006 [title of show] SusanOff-Broadway - Vineyard Theatre [1]
2007AnonOff-Broadway - Atlantic Theater Company [15]
Speech and Debate Teacher/ReporterOff-Broadway - Roundabout Theatre Company [16]
2008[title of show]SusanBroadway - Lyceum Theatre [1]
2010 The Kid Anne/OthersOff-Broadway - Theatre Row [17]
2012 Now. Here. This. SusanOff-Broadway - Vineyard Theatre [18]
2018 Gone Missing Encores! Off-Center [8]

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1998 Law & Order Gabrielle RuffinoEpisode: "Faccia a Faccia"
1999Erica CastleEpisode: "Disciple"
2000 The Sopranos TherapistEpisode: "Full Leather Jacket"
Third Watch Plainclothes Cop #2Episode: "Four Days"
2002 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Joan RhodenEpisode: "Art"
Law & OrderLydia FernandsEpisode: "DR 1-102"
2008Judge Agnes ReismanEpisode: "Called Home"
2008-09The Battery's DownDavina Spence3 episodes
2009Law & Order: Criminal IntentAmy's AssistantEpisode: "Alpha Dog"
The Good Wife Professor JoileEpisode: "Conjugal"
2011 The Onion News Network CarolEpisode: "Exposed, Brooke Alvarez"
2013 Person of Interest Principal LawtonEpisode: "2 Pi R"
Smash Stella StewartEpisode: "The Tonys"
2014 Unforgettable Deputy Mayor KezirianEpisode: "Omega Hour"
Dangerous LiaisonsMaggie RothTV movie
2015 Master of None LucyEpisode: "Indians on TV"
2016 The Characters Todd's MomEpisode: "Lauren Lapkus"
Difficult People Game Show HostEpisode: "Kessler Epstein Foundation"
The Night Of Drug Intoxication ExpertEpisode: "Samson and Delilah"
Odd Mom Out Episode: "40 Is the New 70"
Younger AmyEpisode: "A Book Fair to Remember"
2017 The Blacklist Judge Drucker2 episodes
2018 Succession StephanieEpisode: "Sad Sack Wasp Trap"
Madam Secretary Lorraine SheridanEpisode: "Ghosts"
Ray Donovan Camila Jones2 episodes
2019 The Other Two Casting DirectorEpisode: "Pilot"
2022 Billions KristySeason 6 regular

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1995The LivingSusanShort film
2002 Changing Lanes Newsroom Producer
2003Bun-BunMotherShort film
2007 Margot at the Wedding Woman on Train
P.S. I Love You Vicky
2011 Margin Call Lauren Bratberg
2014 Birdman Intermission Woman
A Most Violent Year Female Radio ReporterVoice role
2015 3 Generations Real Estate Agent
2016NormanFemale Board Member
The Comedian Arlene
2017 The Post Dinner Wife
2019 After the Wedding Gwen
Yes, God, Yes Gina
AuggieAnne
2020Before/During/AfterErin

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Imperial Theatre</span> Broadway theater in Manhattan, New York

The Imperial Theatre is a Broadway theater at 249 West 45th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1923, the Imperial Theatre was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was constructed for the Shubert brothers. It has 1,457 seats across two levels and is operated by The Shubert Organization. The auditorium interior is a New York City designated landmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neil Simon Theatre</span> Broadway theater in Manhattan, New York

The Neil Simon Theatre, originally the Alvin Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 250 West 52nd Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, the theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was built for Alex A. Aarons and Vinton Freedley. The original name was an amalgamation of Aarons's and Freedley's first names; the theater was renamed for playwright Neil Simon in 1983. The Neil Simon has 1,467 seats across two levels and is operated by the Nederlander Organization. Both the facade and the auditorium interior are New York City landmarks.

<i>title of show</i> Musical by Jeff Bowen and Hunter Bell

[title of show] is a one-act musical, with music and lyrics by Jeff Bowen and a book by Hunter Bell. The show chronicles its own creation as an entry in the New York Musical Theatre Festival, and follows the struggles of the author and composer/lyricist and their two actress friends during the initial brief (three-week) creative period, along with subsequent events leading up to the show's production.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Hirschfeld Theatre</span> Broadway theater in Manhattan, New York

The Al Hirschfeld Theatre, originally the Martin Beck Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 302 West 45th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1924, it was designed by G. Albert Lansburgh in a Moorish and Byzantine style and was constructed for vaudevillian Martin Beck. It has 1,404 seats across two levels and is operated by Jujamcyn Theaters. Both the facade and the interior are New York City landmarks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. James Theatre</span> Broadway theater in Manhattan, New York

The St. James Theatre, originally Erlanger's Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 246 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, it was designed by Warren and Wetmore in a neo-Georgian style and was constructed for A. L. Erlanger. It has 1,709 seats across three levels and is operated by Jujamcyn Theaters. Both the facade and the auditorium interior are New York City landmarks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shubert Theatre (Broadway)</span> Broadway theater in Manhattan, New York

The Shubert Theatre is a Broadway theater at 225 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1913, the theater was designed by Henry Beaumont Herts in the Italian Renaissance style and was built for the Shubert brothers. Lee and J. J. Shubert had named the theater in memory of their brother Sam S. Shubert, who died in an accident several years before the theater's opening. It has 1,502 seats across three levels and is operated by The Shubert Organization. The facade and interior are New York City landmarks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gershwin Theatre</span> Broadway theater in Manhattan, New York

The Gershwin Theatre is a Broadway theater at 222 West 51st Street, on the second floor of the Paramount Plaza office building, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Opened in 1972, it is operated by the Nederlander Organization and is named after brothers George and Ira Gershwin, who wrote several Broadway musicals. The Gershwin is Broadway's largest theater, with approximately 1,933 seats across two levels. Over the years, it has hosted musicals, dance companies, and concerts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broadway Theatre (53rd Street)</span> Broadway theater in Manhattan, New York

The Broadway Theatre is a Broadway theater at 1681 Broadway in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1924, the theater was designed by Eugene De Rosa for Benjamin S. Moss, who originally operated the venue as a movie theater. It has approximately 1,763 seats across two levels and is operated by The Shubert Organization. The Broadway Theatre is one of the few Broadway theaters that is physically on Broadway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethel Barrymore Theatre</span> Broadway theater in Manhattan, New York

The Ethel Barrymore Theatre is a Broadway theater at 241 West 47th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1928, it was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in the Elizabethan, Mediterranean, and Adam styles for the Shubert family. The theater, named in honor of actress Ethel Barrymore, has 1,058 seats and is operated by the Shubert Organization. Both the facade and the auditorium interior are New York City landmarks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre</span> Broadway theater in Manhattan, New York

The Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, formerly the Plymouth Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 236 West 45th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1917, the theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was built for the Shubert brothers. The Schoenfeld Theatre is named for Gerald Schoenfeld, longtime president of the Shubert Organization, which operates the theater. It has 1,079 seats across two levels. Both the facade and the auditorium interior are New York City landmarks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nederlander Theatre</span> Broadway theater in Manhattan, New York

The Nederlander Theatre is a Broadway theater at 208 West 41st Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1921, it was designed by William Neil Smith for theatrical operator Walter C. Jordan. It has around 1,235 seats across two levels and is operated by the Nederlander Organization. Since 1980, it has been named for American theater impresario David Tobias Nederlander, father of theatrical producer James M. Nederlander. It is the southernmost Broadway theater in the Theater District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marquis Theatre</span> Broadway theater in Manhattan, New York

The Marquis Theatre is a Broadway theater on the third floor of the New York Marriott Marquis hotel in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1986, it is operated by the Nederlander Organization. There are about 1,612 seats in the auditorium, spread across an orchestra level and a balcony.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Longacre Theatre</span> Broadway theater in Manhattan, New York

The Longacre Theatre is a Broadway theater at 220 West 48th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States. Opened in 1913, it was designed by Henry B. Herts and was named for Longacre Square, now known as Times Square. The Longacre has 1,077 seats and is operated by The Shubert Organization. Both the facade and the auditorium's interior are New York City designated landmarks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lena Horne Theatre</span> Broadway theater in Manhattan, New York

The Lena Horne Theatre is a Broadway theater at 256 West 47th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1926, it was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in a Spanish Revival style and was constructed for Irwin Chanin. It has 1,069 seats across two levels and is operated by the Nederlander Organization. Both the facade and the auditorium interior are New York City landmarks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel J. Friedman Theatre</span> Broadway theater in Manhattan, New York

The Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, formerly the Biltmore Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 261 West 47th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1925, it was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in the neo-Renaissance style and was constructed for Irwin Chanin. It has 650 seats across two levels and is operated by the Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC). The auditorium interior is a New York City landmark, and the theater is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Since 2008, the theater has been named for Broadway publicist Samuel J. Friedman, whose family was a major donor to MTC.

Marin Joy Mazzie was an American actress and singer known for her work in musical theatre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heidi Blickenstaff</span> American actress (born 1971)

Heidi Blickenstaff is an American actress based in New York City best known for playing a version of herself in the musical [title of show] during its Off-Broadway and Broadway runs, as well as for originating the role of Bea in the 2015 musical Something Rotten!. She co-starred with Cozi Zuehlsdorff in the Disney Channel musical version of Freaky Friday which was broadcast on August 10, 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hunter Bell</span> American book author and a Broadway star

Hunter Houston Bell is an American writer and theatre actor.

<i>Now. Here. This.</i>

Now. Here. This. is a musical from the team of [title of show], with music and lyrics by Jeff Bowen and a book by Hunter Bell and Susan Blackwell. It is a collaborative work by Hunter Bell, Michael Berresse, Susan Blackwell, Heidi Blickenstaff, Jeff Bowen, and Larry Pressgrove. The four-person show, set in a natural-history museum, explores many questions of life ranging from reptiles and outer space to friendship and dying.

Amber Renae Gray is an American actress and singer. She is known for portraying Hélène Bezukhova in the 2016 Broadway musical Natasha, Pierre, & the Great Comet of 1812 and for originating the role of Persephone in the musical Hadestown, both off and on Broadway. For the latter 2019 role, she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, additionally earning the 2020 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Skethway, Nathan (July 17, 2020). "Look Back at [title of show] on Broadway". Playbill. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 Feldman, Adam (July 17, 2008). "[quirky downtown theater actor]". Time Out New York. Archived from the original on July 25, 2008. Retrieved July 24, 2008.
  3. ↑ Murrin, Tom. "Stagenotes: Five from Broadway to Way-Off Broadway", September 2005. Retrieved July 24, 2008.
  4. ↑ Eisgrau, Robin (April 14, 2001). "Trick or treat". OFFOFFOFF Theater. Archived from the original on April 19, 2008. Retrieved July 24, 2008.
  5. ↑ Soloski, Alexis (June 8, 1999). "SparkleFEST 2000". The Village Voice. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  6. ↑ "Playbill Biography: SUSAN BLACKWELL". Playbill. Archived from the original on October 24, 2008. Retrieved July 24, 2008.
  7. ↑ Isherwood, Charles (2012-03-28). "'Now. Here. This.,' at the Vineyard Theater". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2016-02-18.
  8. 1 2 Soloski, Alexis (2018-07-12). "Review: 'Gone Missing,' Now a Poignant Reminder of a Life Cut Short". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2019-04-13.
  9. ↑ Araujo, Roberto (2019-03-18). "Watch: [title of show] Reunion Concert Highlights". Playbill. Retrieved 2019-04-13.
  10. ↑ "The Spark File". The Spark File. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
  11. ↑ Hernandez, Ernio (October 10, 2007). "PLAYBILL.COM'S CUE & A: Susan Blackwell". Playbill. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  12. ↑ title of show: The Players, titleofshow.com. Retrieved July 24, 2008.
  13. ↑ "Susan Blackwell Theatre Credits, News, Bio and Photos". www.broadwayworld.com. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  14. ↑ Brantley, Ben (January 25, 1997). "The Dark Rage of Jews Puts on a Happy Face". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  15. ↑ "Federer, Blackwell, Etc. Set for Atlantic Theater's 'Anon'". BroadwayWorld. January 17, 2007. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  16. ↑ "'Speech & Debate' with Blackwell, Glick Opens 10/29". BroadwayWorld. October 4, 2007. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  17. ↑ Brantley, Ben (May 10, 2010). "Just Like Other Dads (Well, Almost)". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  18. ↑ Bacalzo, Dan (28 March 2012). "Now.Here.This.". TheaterMania. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
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.