BroadwayWorld has teamed up with Broadway alum Ilana Levine, who makes her entrance onto the podcast stage with her new show Little Known Facts. Ilana's unique brand of celebrity interview, "Podcast Vérité," is unfiltered, raw, honest and uniquely funny.
In Part 2 of their conversation, Tony Award winner Donna Murphy shares with Ilana personal stories of how she began her career. She recalls hilarious details of being cast early on -- even when the odds were against her. And she talks about how she prepared with great precision for her audition for the role of "Fosca" in Sondheim's Passion -- a role that secured her place as a Broadway legend. She explains how Sondheim and Lapine work together and describes their collaboration as "shared poetry." With great sensitivity and rawness, Donna discusses how she now negotiates life and work after the death of her beloved husband and partner, Shawn Elliott. And ... she sings on the podcast!
Donna Murphy's award-winning performances in theater, film and television have forged a career of exceptional diversity, impressing both audiences and critics with her depth and skill. This "seductive actress of major transformative powers" (NY Times) was named by
New York Magazine as one of "Three Living Legends" of the
New York Theater and awarded in 2003 one of their prestigious "New York Awards" for her work in the theater. One of the most beloved and honored stage actresses of her generation, Murphy earned the Drama League Award for Outstanding Achievement in Musical Theater. She currently shares the iconic role of Dolly Gallagher Levi with the legendary
Bette Midler in the Tony Award winning revival of "Hello, Dolly!," for which she has received great critical acclaim.
Ms. Murphy received the first of two Tony® Awards for Best Actress in a Musical, along with the Drama Desk and Drama League Awards, for her spellbinding creation of Fosca in
Stephen Sondheim and
James Lapine's "Passion," which was filmed for PBS' American Playhouse. She received her second Tony® Award, as well as a Drama League Award and Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations, for her "resplendent, matchless" (New York Post) performance as Anna Leonowens in the 1996 Tony® Award-winning revival of "The King and I." In 2004, she was honored with the Drama League Outstanding Achievement Award for her work in Musical Theater, the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Astaire Awards, as well as another Tony® nomination, for her hilarious comic tour de force as Ruth Sherwood in the Broadway Revival of "Wonderful Town." She returned to Broadway in 2007, receiving Drama Desk, Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle Awards, and a Tony® nomination for her mesmerizing portrayal of the legendary actress-singer
Lotte Lenya in "LoveMusik," directed by
Harold Prince.
Murphy's first television film, HBO's "Someone Had to be Benny," earned her a Cable Ace Award as Best Actress in a Drama Special or Series, as well as a Daytime Emmy. Most recently, she starred as Jane Green, the matriarch of a prominent Southern family torn apart by the Civil War in PBS' Mercy Street and guest starred on ABC's hit show "Quantico" and CBS' "Doubt" with
Katherine Heigl and
Laverne Cox. Other regular and recurring appearances include the mysterious "elegant woman" Angela Forrester in ABC's "Resurrection," Georgie on VH1's "Hindsight," Darlene Garretti on CBS' "Made in Jersey" alongside
Janet Montgomery and
Kyle McLaughlin, the steely Denise Goodman on TNT's "Trust Me" with
Eric McCormack and
Tom Cavanaugh, Heather Olshansky in CBS' "Hack" opposite
David Morse, and her critically acclaimed comedic performance as the neurotic psychiatrist Dr. Ruby Stern on ABC's sitcom, "What About Joan," starring
Joan Cusack.
For her contribution to the Arts, Culture and Public life, she's received special honors from
New York Magazine,
Symphony Space, Greenwich Village's Caring Community, the
Women's Project, The
Little Orchestra Society, Irish America Magazine, the Breukelein Institute and Emerson College.
