They Make 'Em Laugh!- The Funniest Stars on Broadway Today
By: BWW Special Coverage Aug. 08, 2013
Even the most tragic stories need a bit of comic relief, and that rule that holds up on the Great White Way. Broadway certainly has a sense of humor this season, with hilarity popping up in musicals and plays alike. Below, BroadwayWorld features Broadway stars that are making 'em laugh eight times a week.
Check out who made the list below!
Annaleigh Ashford- @ANALEIGHASHFORD
Current Funny Role: The romantically conflicted 'Lauren' in KINKY BOOTS
Her Broadway credits include: Hair (Jeannie), Wicked (Glinda); Legally Blonde - original cast (Margot). Off-Broadway: Dogfight (Marcy), RENT(Maureen). Chicago: Wicked (Glinda) Film: Sex & the City, Rachel Getting Married. TV: "Made In Jersey," "Masters of Sex," "Smash," "The Big C," "Nurse Jackie," "Law & Order," "Legally Blonde." Nominated for Drama League & Clive Barnes Awards forRENT. She is a graduate: of Marymount Manhattan College.
Current Funny Role: The wildly inappropriate narrator 'Lonny' in ROCK OF AGES
His credits include: Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific at LCT (Original Cast); Mask The Musical directed by Richard Maltby Jr; Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas directed by Christopher Gattelli. Nat'l Tours: South Pacific (Stewpot), A Chorus Line (Al Deluca), Smokey Joe's Cafe (Michael), Grease (Teen Angel), Footloose (Chuck Cranston). Regional theatres include: La Jolla, Casa Mañana, Arkansas Rep.
Katie Rose Clarke- @katieroseclarke
Current Funny Role: The bubble-traveling 'Glinda' in WICKED
Under the direction of Bartlett Sher, she played the role of Clara Johnson in the Broadway production and first national touring company of The Light in the Piazza, as well as the Long Wharf Theatre's production of Craig Lucas' Prayer for My Enemy as Marianne. Other regional credits include TUTS Houston Anything Goes (Chorus). She holds a BFA from Sam Houston State University.
Lauren Cohn
Current Funny Role: The carefree past Dynamo 'Rosie' in MAMMA MIA!
Her credits include: Glimpses of the Moon, MetroStage - 2011 Helen Hayes Award Nominee (Coral Hicks); The Drowsy Chaperone, Gateway Playhouse (Chaperone); up the week without a paddle, Neurotic Young Urbanites (Nora). TV/Film Credits include: "Bored To Death," "Royal Pains," "Desperate Housewives," "House," "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody," "Monk,"Morning Glory, Catch Me If You Can, Secretary, Legally Blonde II.
Current Funny Role: The voodoo-practicing seer 'Cassandra' in VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE
Her credits include: The Philanderer (Pearl Theatre); Measure for Measure, The Winter's Tale, The Merchant of Venice (The Public Theater); Roxy Font (FringeNYC). Regional: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (McCarter Theater); Luck of the Irish (Huntington Theatre); The Laramie Project (England); Unaccompanied Minors (Vanguard Arts); The Children's Hour (Everyman Theatre); A Raisin in the Sun, Into the Woods (Mainstage Theater); Body and Soul (Baryshnikov Arts Center). Film: Empire Corner, Invisible, Rehearsing a Dream (Academy Award nom., Best Documentary Short, 2006). Television: "The Good Wife." Education: The Juilliard School.
Current Funny Role: The hilariously simple minded 'Charlotte' in CINDERELLA
Ann originated the role of Christmas Eve in Avenue Q on Broadway and also appeared in the original London cast of the musical. Her other Broadway appearances include 9 to 5, as Madame Thenardier in the revival of LES MISERABLESand M Butterfly. She has appeared as a regular on the hit TV series "Smash."
Current Funny Role: The lonely and defiant 'Catherine' in PIPPIN
Her Broadway credits include: Hair (Mother, Buddhadalirama); Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (u/s-performed Lucia). Off-Broadway: Hello Again (The Actress), Transport Group. National Tour: A Christmas Story (Mother). Regional: Sylvia (Sylvia), King and I (Anna), among others. Solo Album: ShowFolk. By day, Rachel is the mother of an extraordinary ten-year-old girl.
Cody Scott Lancaster- @cody_lancaster
Current Funny Role: The kooky confectionist 'Franz' in ROCK OF AGESLancaster played Franz in the Original Toronto Company of RoA, for which he won the Audience Choice Award. Cody's previous credits include Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Boys in the Photograph, Richard in A New Brain, Joseph inJoseph...Dreamcoat and Billy in Cedar Fair's Twistin' to the '60s.
Current Funny Role: The sexually confused 'Elder McKinley' in THE BOOK OF MORMON
His Broadway credits include: Evita, Elf the Musical (original cast), Promises, Promises (original revival cast), Mary Poppins (o.c.), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (o.c.), Movin' Out, Fosse, andThe Producers (o.c.). Regional credits include: Maltz Jupiter Theatre - Bobby Child in Crazy For You (Carbonell Award Winner), Harold Hill in The Music Man, Cape Playhouse - Bill Calhoun in Kiss Me Kate, North Carolina Theatre - Cornelius Hackl inHello Dolly!.
Current Funny Role: The Tango-loving 'Mrs. Wormwood' in MATILDA
She received the Laurence Olivier Award for her performance in Zorro the Musical in London's West End. A California native, her national tour/regional credits include Kiss Me, Kate; Show Boat; Man of La Mancha; The Grönholm Method; Little Shop of Horrors; Spamalot; Grease; Aida; West Side Story; See What I Wanna See...you get it. TV/film: "Major Crimes," "The Suite Life," "Fame L.A.," "NYPD Blue," "Charmed," The Number 23, Boogeyman 2...yada yada. Her nightclub act All Hail the Queen continues to play to soldout crowds in NY/LA For her parents, who are nothing like the Wormwoods.
Andrea Martin- @iamandreamartin
Current Funny Role: The sagacious grandmother 'Berthe' in PIPPIN
Her Broadway credits include: Exit the King (DD, OCC nom), Young Frankenstein (Tony, DD nom),Oklahoma (Tony, DD, OCC nom),Candide, (Tony, DD nom), My Favorite Year (Tony, DD, TW Awards). Film and TV: Producers, Hedwig, All Over the Guy, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Breaking Upwards, and"SCTV" (2 Emmys). Tour: "Final Days: Everything Must Go."
Current Funny Role: The tyrannical, orphan-hating 'Miss Hannigan' in ANNIE
Faith has been dazzling Broadway audiences since winning the Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards forGuys and Dolls. Other Broadway credits: A Catered Affair(Tony, DD, OCC noms), The Little Mermaid, Bells Are Ringing(Tony, DD, OCC noms), Nick & Nora (OCC Award), Jerome Robbins' Broadway (Tony, DD noms), Little Me, The Dead, Noises Off. TV: "Drop Dead Diva", "Ugly Betty", "CSI", "Huff", "Spin City", "Faith". Film: Our Very Own, Picture Perfect, Dave, My Father the Hero. Music: Prince recently released "Total Faith" on Broadway Records.
Emily Rosenfeld- @EmilyGRosenfeld
Current Funny Role: The adorably mischievous 'Molly' in ANNIE
Age eight, Broadway debut! Off-Broadway Benefit: Miracle on 34th Street, the Musical (Hendrika). Regional: The Sound of Music (Gretl), The Secret Garden (Dickon), Guys & Dolls (Big Jule), Peter Pan (Michael). Other: Broadway Youth Ensemble.
Cody Jamison Strand- @CodyCobbler
Current Runny Role: The obnoxious yet loveable 'Elder Cunningham' in THE BOOK OF MORMON
Strand is fresh from the National Tour of The Book of Mormon. Proud to hold a BFA in Acting from the University of South Dakota.
Taylor Trensch- @taylortrensch
Current Funny Role: The telly-obessed 'Michael' in MATILDA
Trensch comes directly from bare at New World Stages, where he played Peter. Broadway:
Wicked (Boq). Off-Broadway: Rent (New World Stages). First national tour: Spring Awakening (Moritz). Regional: Little Miss Sunshine (La Jolla Playhouse); Mormons, Mothers and Monsters (Barrington Stage). Training: Elon University.
Paul Whitty
Current Funny Role: The awkward and endearing 'Billy' in ONCE
After a brief turn as an understudy in The Full Monty, Paul makes his official Broadway debut. Off-Broadway: Once (NYTW),Twelfth Night (Sonnet Repertory Theatre). Regional: Once (American Repertory Theatre); Reasons to Be Pretty, Art (Crescent Stage); Circle Mirror Transformation (PURE Theatre); Doubt, War of the Worlds, Defiance (Village Playhouse). BFA in acting, UNCSA.
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