Beth Leavel

Beth Leavel
On the set of Good Morning San Diego, 2008
Born (1955-11-01) November 1, 1955
Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.
Alma mater Meredith College
Occupation Actress
Years active 1980–present
Spouse(s) John Milne

Beth Leavel (born November 1, 1955) is an American stage and screen actress and singer.

Life and career

Leavel attended Meredith College, earning a degree in social work. She completed a graduate theatre degree at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1980. She acted during college, appearing in productions such as Cabaret and Hello, Dolly![1]

Her Broadway debut was in the 1985 production of 42nd Street as a replacement for Annie. Twelve years later Leavel made her original cast debut in Crazy for You as Tess and an understudy for Polly Baker.

In 1999, she played Mabel and Mrs. Bixby in The Civil War. Leavel returned to the revival of 42nd Street in 2001 as a standby for Maggie Jones and Dorothy Brock, eventually playing the latter.

She played the starring role of Beatrice Stockwell in The Drowsy Chaperone, for which she helped to create the character's backstory, she referred to as "a compilation of a lot of different women in theatre."[2] For this role, she received a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.

Leavel replaced Andrea Martin as Frau Blucher in the Broadway production of Young Frankenstein on July 15, 2008 and remained with the show until it closed on January 4, 2009.[3][4]

Leavel starred in the world premiere of the burlesque-rich musical Minsky's, in Los Angeles which ran at the Center Theatre in the Ahmanson Theatre from January 21-March 1, 2009; the musical also starred her former Young Frankenstein co-stars Christopher Fitzgerald and Sarrah Strimel.[5]

In 2009, Leavel starred in a stage reading of Dylan Glatthorn's Republic with Lauren Worsham and Kelli Barrett. She also starred in the staged reading of Vincent Crapelli's Otherwise, with Karen Ziemba and Laura Bonarrigo-Koffman.

She starred as Donna Sheridan in the Broadway production of Mamma Mia!, succeeding Carolee Carmello in the role on September 22, 2009 and left the show on October 10, 2010.[6]

Leavel starred as Emily Hobbs in Elf the Musical on Broadway. The production opened November 14, 2010 at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre and ran through January 2, 2011.[7]

Following Elf, she appeared in the Broadway production of Baby It's You!, which began previews on March 26, 2011, and closed on September 4, 2011.[8][9][10][11]

Leavel earned a Tony Award Nomination for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her performance of Florence Greenberg in Baby It's You.[12]

In November 2013, she appeared off-Broadway at the Minetta Lane Theatre in Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays.[13] In January and February 2012, she starred in a limited run of Boeing-Boeing at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ.[14]

Leavel was cast as Bea in the musical Something Rotten! and began the workshop/reading for it, held in 2014.[15] Before the musical opened on Broadway (in March 2015) she was replaced by Heidi Blickenstaff because "...the writers decided that the character needed to be younger so she could become pregnant, a key plot point."[16]

In 2014, Leavel starred in the world premiere of the musical Dog and Pony at the Old Globe Theatre, San Diego.[17]

Broadway productions

Broadway on Broadway, September 10th 2006

References

  1. ↑ Michelle Hines (June 12, 2006). "And the Tony Goes to … UNCG Alum Beth Leavel!". The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Archived from the original on December 5, 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-14.
  2. ↑ Kenneth Jones (May 31, 2006). "Brief Encounter with Beth Leavel". Playbill. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved 2008-07-14.
  3. ↑ Andrew Gans & Kenneth Jones (July 7, 2008). "Leavel Will Join Young Frankenstein a Week Early". Playbill. Archived from the original on July 12, 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-14.
  4. ↑ Young Frankenstein Ends on Broadway, But a Tour Is Planned" Archived April 15, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ↑ "Fitzgerald, Leavel, Cariani, Dratch, Wendt Signed for Minsky's World Premiere" Archived 2008-12-07 at the Wayback Machine.
  6. ↑ Tony Winner Leavel to Join Broadway's Mamma Mia!; Dossett to Return Archived July 16, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
  7. ↑ Hetrick, Adam."Beth Leavel, Mark Jacoby and George Wendt to Star in Elf – The Musical on Broadway" Archived 2010-08-15 at the Wayback Machine.
  8. ↑ Jones, Kenneth. "Producers of Baby It's You! Eyeing Broadhurst Theatre and Beth Leavel" Archived March 21, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
  9. ↑ Reidel, Michael. "Musical's a Shirelles thing", The New York Post, January 13, 2011.
  10. ↑ "Mutrux's BABY, IT'S YOU Musical to Play Broadhurst in Spring with Leavel in Talks to Star?"
  11. ↑ Hetrick, Adam. "Shirelles Musical Baby It's You!, With Beth Leavel, Will Play the Broadhurst; Complete Cast Announced"
  12. ↑ Jones, Kenneth and Gans, Andrew.2011 "Tony Nominations Announced; 'Book of Mormon' Earns 14 Nominations" Archived September 14, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
  13. ↑ Barnett, Molly. "Beth Leavel and Richard Thomas complete the case of "Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays"". O+M Co. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
  14. ↑ Gans, Andrew. "John Scherer, Matt Walton and Tony Winner Beth Leavel Cast in Paper Mill Boeing-Boeing". Playbill.com. Archived from the original on May 30, 2013. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
  15. ↑ "Tony Winners Christian Borle, Beth Leavel, and More to Perform in Reading of 'Something Rotten!'"
  16. ↑ Munro, Donald. "Nothing ‘Rotten’ about a starring role on Broadway"
  17. ↑ "World Premiere of Dog and Pony, Featuring Heidi Blickenstaff and Beth Leavel, Extends at Old Globe". Playbill.com. Archived from the original on August 4, 2014. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.