Laura Benanti to Perform at Segerstrom Center for the Arts

Segerstrom Center for the Arts will present Tony Award winner, five-time Tony® nominee and highly celebrated stage and screen actress Laura Benanti in her debut in the Cabaret Series for three performances September 23, 24 and 25 at the Samueli Theatre.

Center Audiences are in for a rare treat; her Broadway resume includes Lincoln Center's acclaimed production of My Fair Lady, She Loves Me, Gypsy (2008 Tony Award for Outstanding Feature Actress in a Musical), and Into The Woods. Benanti also appears frequently in television and film roles, and her most recent credits include TVLand's Younger, HBO Max's much awaited Gossip Girl reboot, a new Netflix drama, Worth, and her most recent film, Here Today, with Billy Crystal and Tiffany Haddish.

About Laura Benanti

Benanti can currently be seen in HBO Max's much awaited Gossip Girl reboot. Eight years after the original series, the new show addresses just how much social media - and the landscape of New York itself - has changed. Benanti also reprised her role on the final season of the hit TV series YOUNGER, starring opposite Sutton Foster and Hilary Duff. The final season premiered on April 15th, 2021.

Benanti will be seen in Sara Colangelo's Worth starring opposite Michael Keaton, Stanley Tucci and Amy Ryan. The drama, acquired by Michelle and Barack Obama's production company Higher Ground, premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. Set in the aftermath of 9/11, Worth follows lawyers Kenneth Feinberg and Camille S. Biros facilitating the implementation of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. Benanti stars as a mother figuring out the best way to honor her late firefighting husband. The film began streaming on Netflix on September 3rd, 2021.

Additionally, Benanti will next be seen in Lin-Manuel Miranda's Tick, Tick ... Boom! for Netflix. The film is an adaption of the autobiographical Off-Broadway show written by Johnathan Larson, who is best known for writing the award-winning musical Rent.

Benanti recently starred in the film Here Today opposite Billy Crystal and Tiffany Haddish. The comedy follows veteran comedy writer Charlie Berns (Crystal) slowly losing his grip on reality before meeting talented street singer Emma Payge (Haddish). Recently acquired by Sony Pictures' Stage 6 Films, the comedy was released in US theaters on May 7th of this year.

Benanti appeared as a guest star on the Showtime series Cinema Toast created by Jeff Baena and produced by the Duplass Brothers. Cinema Toast is a post-modernist reinvention of older movies that turns pre-existing imagery from the public domain on its head to tell brand new unique stories. In addition to Benanti, the episodes are voiced by actors including Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Fred Armisen, Christina Ricci, Megan Mullally, Chris Meloni among others. Additionally, on Showtime, Benanti also was a guest star in the highly anticipated variety show Ziwe featuring comedian Ziwe Fumudoh. The series premiered on May 9th.

In 2020, Benanti created and executive produced the HBO Max special, Homeschool Musical: Class of 2020, an unscripted musical special featuring students from across the U.S. The self-shot documentary-style film shines a light on personal experiences and incredible musical talent through performances of well-known songs that organically express their emotions.

Additionally, Benanti released a self-titled studio album for Sony Music Masterworks. The album is comprised of contemporary covers ("Someone You Loved" by Lewis Capaldi and "Lose You to Love Me" by Selena Gomez), jazz influenced torch songs and comedic takes on beloved favorites. In 2018, Benanti produced the children's album, "Singing You Home - Children's Songs for Family Reunification" in which all proceeds are donated to reuniting families separated at the border. The seven song album features stand-out artists including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ingrid Michaelson, Kristin Chenoweth, Cynthia Erivo, Idina Menzel among others.

In the publishing space, Benanti recently co-authored the comedic children's board book M is for Mama (and also Merlot): A Modern Mom's ABCs, co-written with Metropolitan Opera Star Kate Mangiameli. The irreverent board book provides laughter, reassurance, confidence, honesty - and perhaps even a moment of relaxation - for expectant new, and not-so-new, moms. M is for Mama has received high praise from celebrity parents including Amy Schumer, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Connie Britton, calling it the new "go-to gift for new mothers" as well as being "funny, touching and original."

Over the course of the last year, Benanti frequently appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in her celebrated comedic portrayal of First Lady Melania Trump. Additional television credits include series regular roles on the Samantha Bee and Jason Jones produced TBS show The Detour, Go On opposite Matthew Perry, Starved for FX, as well as recurring roles on Supergirl ABC's Nashville, Eli Stone, CBS' The Good Wife and Elementary, Showtime's Nurse Jackie and The Big C., NBC's The Sound of Music Live, Law and Order: SVU and USA's Royal Pain.

In 2019, Benanti made a triumphant return to Broadway as Eliza Doolittle in Lincoln Center's acclaimed production of My Fair Lady. Since making her Broadway debut at the young age of 18 as Maria in The Sound of Music opposite Richard Chamberlain, Benanti has wowed audiences in numerous musicals and plays, such as Steve Martin's hit Broadway play, Meteor Shower, where she costarred alongside Amy Schumer and Keegan Michael Key. Other Broadway roles include Amalia Balash in She Loves Me, for which she was nominated for Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League Awards. Benanti was also nominated for a Tony Award, and won both the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards, for her starring role in the Broadway production of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown for Lincoln Center Theatre.

Benanti earned the 2008 Tony® Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical, a Drama Desk Award, and an Outer Critics Circle Award for her revelatory portrayal of Louise in Gypsy opposite Patti LuPone. She also starred in the Broadway production of Sarah Ruhl's In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play, The Wedding Singer, Nine (starring Antonio Banderas), her Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award-nominated performance of Cinderella in Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods and her Tony® nominated turn in Swing!

Other distinguished theater performances include The Public Theater's production of Christopher Durang's Why Torture is Wrong and the People Who Love Them, Perdita in The Winter's Tale at the Williamstown Theatre Festival opposite Kate Burton, Anne In A Little Night Music at the L.A. Opera opposite Victor Garber, Eileen in Wonderful Town opposite Donna Murphy, and Rosabella in The Most Happy Fella, both for City Center Encores!

Single tickets for Laura Benanti at Segerstrom Center for the Arts start at $89 and are now available online at SCFTA.org, at the Box Office at 600 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa or by calling (714) 556-2787. For inquiries about group ticket discounts for 10 or more, call the Group Services office at (714) 755-0236.

Audience Advisory: Our updated COVID-19 policy requires ticket holders to provide proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 to attend all indoor performances and events at Segerstrom Center for the Arts. "Fully vaccinated" means your performance is at least 14 days after your final vaccine dose. To enter the theatre, please bring proof of vaccination, either your physical vaccination card, a picture of your vaccination card, or a digital vaccination record. Most California residents may request a digital vaccination record at myvaccinerecord.cdph.ca.gov

Those who are under age 12 and anyone without proof of being fully vaccinated must provide proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken within 72 hours (3 days) prior to entering the theatre.

Masks are required at all times for all patrons and visitors regardless of vaccination status in all indoor spaces at Segerstrom Center.

Performance ticket holders who do not comply with these policies will not be admitted.

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