2011 Tony Awards Nominees: 'Featured Actress in a Musical'

Laura Benanti ("Candela" in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown)
Laura Benanti: LCT: In the Next Room or the vibrator play (Outer Critics Circle, Drama League noms.). Broadway: Gypsy (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Awards), Nine (Outer Critics Circle, Drama League noms.), Into the Woods (Tony, Drama Desk, L.A. Ovation noms.), Swing! (Tony nom.), Maria in The Sound of Music, The Wedding Singer. Off-Broadway: Chris Durang's Why Torture Is Wrong (Public); Wonderful Town, Gypsy (both at Encores!); Time and Again (MTC). Regional: A Little Night Music (L.A. Opera), A Winter's Tale (Williamstown), Jane Eyre and Man of La Mancha (Paper Mill Playhouse). Film: Meskada, Falling for Grace, Take the Lead. TV: "Starved" (Fox), "Eli Stone" and "Life on Mars" (ABC). Many cast albums and recordings.

Tammy Blanchard ("Hedy La Rue" in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying)
Tammy Blanchard is best known for her portrayal of the young Judy Garland in "Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows" (Emmy Award, Golden Globe and AFI nominations). Broadway: Gypsy (Tony nomination, Theatre World Award). Film: The Good Shepherd, Bella, Cadillac Records and Rabbit Hole. She recently completed The Music Never Stopped, Certainty, Moneyball, Union Square and Burning Blue. Television credits: "We Were the Mulvaneys," "Sybil," "Living Proof," "Amish Grace," "The Good Wife," "Law & Order: SVU" and "Guiding Light."

Victoria Clark ("Mother Superior" in Sister Act)
Victoria Clark: (2005 Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for The Light in the Piazza. Other Broadway: Titanic, How to Succeed..., Urinetown, Cabaret, Guys and Dolls, A Grand Night for Singing, Sunday in the Park With George. Off-Broadway: When the Rain Stops Falling (Drama Desk nom.); Love, Loss, and What I Wore; A Prayer for My Enemy; The Marriage of Bette and Boo; Tres Ninas; The Agony and the Agony; Marathon Dancing. Carnegie Hall: The Grapes of Wrath with Nathan Gunn. Encores!: Juno, Follies, Bye Bye Birdie. Regional: Goodman Theatre (The Light in the Piazza, Joseph Jefferson Award), Long Wharf, Intiman, Goodspeed Opera. Film: Harvest, The Happening, Tickling Leo, Main Street, Cradle Will Rock and the upcoming Archaeology of a Woman. Television: "Mercy," "Law & Order," "Law & Order: SVU." NY Philharmonic's Sondheim Birthday Celebration, American Songbook Series, New York City Opera's Bernstein Concert. Solo album: Fifteen Seconds of Grace (PS Classics). Favorite role: T.L.'s mom. Grateful student of Michael Howard and Edward Sayegh. victoriaclarkonline.com.

Nikki M. James ("Nabalungi" in The Book of Mormon)
Nikki M. James: Broad­way: All Shook Up (Lorraine), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Other theatre: Romeo and Juliet (Juliet), Caesar and Cleopatra (Cleopatra opposite Christopher Plummer) at Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Dorothy in The Wiz (Craig Noel Award) at La Jolla Playhouse, Adela in Bernarda Alba (Lincoln Center Theater), Ottilie in House of Flowers (City Center Encores!), Walmartopia (Off-Broadway). Workshops: Lizzie in Baby (Paper Mill/NJPAC), Beehive on Broadway. TV: "30 Rock," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "Third Watch," "The Jury." She holds a BFA in drama from NYU. For Poppy and Ozzie.

Patti LuPone ("Lucia" in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown)
Patti LuPone: LCT: Anything Goes (Tony nomination, Drama Desk Award), Matters of the Heart. NY stage includes Gypsy (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League Awards); Sweeney Todd (Tony, DD, OCC noms.); Can-Can; Noises Off; Master Class; Pal Joey; The Cradle Will Rock; Accidental Death of an Anarchist; Evita (Tony, DD Awards); The Water Engine, Edmond, The Woods, The Old Neighborhood, all by David Mamet; The Robber Bridegroom (Tony and DD noms.). London stage: Les Misérables (world premiere) and The Cradle Will Rock (Olivier Award for both performances), Sunset Boulevard (world premiere, Olivier nomination), Master Class. Opera: Regina (Kennedy Center), Jake Heggie's To Hell and Back, Mahagonny (L.A. Opera debut). TV includes "Life Goes On"; "Oz"; "Frasier" (Emmy nomination); "Will & Grace"; "Ugly Betty"; "30 Rock"; "Passion" (Live from Lincoln Center); "Sweeney Todd," "Candide" and "Mahagonny" (Great Performances) on PBS. Film: Witness, Driving Miss Daisy, The 24 Hour Woman, State and Main, Heist, Summer of Sam, City by the Sea. Recordings: many cast albums and her solo CDs, Patti LuPone Live, Matters of the Heart, The Lady with the Torch, Patti LuPone at Les Mouches. Founding member: Juilliard School Drama Division ('68, '72). Author: the just-published Patti LuPone: A Memoir.