The 'Gray Pride' and 'Gray is Beautiful' movements are making their marks on Broadway and these four award-winning Silver Belles are a testament. They glisten in appearance and achievement.
Jamie deRoy, completely salt-and-pepper at age 35, was once told by an agent she would never get work with silver hair. Wrong. She is a six-time Tony® Award-winning producer whose credits include Angels in America, The Band's Visit, Once On This Island, A Gentleman's Guide, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike and The Norman Conquests. In addition, she is a stage, film and TV performer, recording artist and humanitarian. She bringing her always popular multi-MAC Award-winning variety show, Jamie deRoy & friends, which benefits The Actor's Fund, back to New York's Birdland on Monday night, April 15.
For Cherry Lane Theatre founder and proprietor, Angelina Fiordellisi, having silver tresses is 'an extension of who I am. It's part of my identity.' The Tony and Obie award-winning producer/actress has been the proprietor of the Cherry Lane since 1996. She has fostered more than 3,700 artists and countless non-profit theatre companies. As a co-producer on Broadway, she has won the Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League Awards for plays, including Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? She has acted on Broadway, Off-Broadway and in national tours, regional theatres, film and television. She produced more than 100 plays at the Cherry Lane. Her latest, Actually, We're F**ked, is now there through April 7.
Broadway actress Nancy Opel believes 'having gray hair is being true to myself.' Currently co-starring in Wicked on Broadway, she has appeared in numerous Broadway shows, including , Beautiful, Honeymoon in Vegas, Cinderella, Memphis, Gypsy, Fiddler, Urinetown, Triumph of Love, Anything Goes, Sunday in the Park with George and Evita. She also has performed in many Off-Broadway and regional theatre shows and in the national tour of The Drowsy Chaperone.
Louise Pitre, Canada's First Lady of Musical Theatre, says of her silver hair: "I started graying at 19. I stopped dying my hair when I turned 40. It was totally silver. It feels right. It is who I am." Pitre's career spans theatre, television and concert stages across North America and Europe. She is perhaps best known for role of Donna Sheridan in the smash hit, Mamma Mia! originating it in Toronto, on its US tour and on Broadway where she received a Tony nomination for what was her Broadway debut. Pitre will next appear in Marie - Dancing Still, Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens' new musical with Susan Stroman directing and choreographing. It runs from March 22 to April 14 at the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle. Her next stop, in April/May, will be at the CAA Theatre in Toronto where she'll star in Next to Normal.
Thanks to these four Silver Belles and many other trend-setting performers, more and more theatre-goers are looking for and appreciating, the silver lining.
Photo Credit: Walter McBride
Louise Pitre, Nancy Opel, Jamie deRoy and Angelina Fiordellisi
Louise Pitre, Nancy Opel, Jamie deRoy and Angelina Fiordellisi
Angelina
Angelina Fiordellisi, Jamie deRoy, Nancy Opel and Louise Pitre
Angelina Fiordellisi, Jamie deRoy, Nancy Opel and Louise Pitre
Nancy Opel, Angelina Fiordellisi, Louise Pitre and Jamie deRoy
Nancy Opel, Angelina Fiordellisi, Louise Pitre and Jamie deRoy
Nancy Opel, Angelina Fiordellisi, Louise Pitre and Jamie deRoy
Nancy Opel, Angelina Fiordellisi, Louise Pitre and Jamie deRoy
Angelina Fiordellisi, Nancy Opel, Jamie deRoy and Louise Pitre
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