Christine Laitta is an American actress from

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Biography

Born in the Pittsburgh suburb of Mt. Lebanon, Laitta is a member of

Actors' Equity Association The Actors' Equity Association (AEA), commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing those who work in live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage productions without a boo ...

and

SAG-AFTRA The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA, stylized as SAG·AFTRA ) is an American labor union representing approximately 160,000 film and television actors, journalists, radio personalities, record ...

. Her credits include author, director, choreographer, teacher and actor. She is a graduate of

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...

University Park, Pennsylvania University Park (also referred to as Penn State University Park) is the name given to the Pennsylvania State University's main campus located in both State College and College Township, Pennsylvania, United States. The campus post office was de ...

. Laitta originated the role as

Ms. Frizzle ''The Magic School Bus'' is an American edutainment media franchise that includes a book series, a TV series, a streaming series, and video games. Each of the stories within the franchise centers on the antics of a fictional elementary scho ...

on the first national tour of the '' Magic School Bus Live''. Laitta has performed at the Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Civic Light Opera Cabaret Theater. The CLO Cabaret is the only extended run venue in Pittsburgh. Laitta starred in ''Girls Only'', ''

I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change ''I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change'' is a musical comedy with book and lyrics by Joe DiPietro and music by Jimmy Roberts. It is the second-longest running Off-Broadway musical.Gans, Andrew"I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change Ends NYC Run A ...

'', ''

Forbidden Broadway ''Forbidden Broadway'' is an Off-Broadway revue parodying musical theatre, particularly Broadway musicals. It was conceived, written and directed by Gerard Alessandrini. The original version of the revue opened on January 15, 1982, at Palsson's S ...

'', and '' Forbidden Broadway: SVU''. Laitta wrote and performs in an audience participation show entitled ''TV Tunes''. This original cabaret became the inspiration for Armstrong Cable's Television Plus advertising campaign: The Golden Age of Television. Laitta appeared in their television, radio and print advertisements. Laitta’s ''TV Tunes'' has appeared at the Pittsburgh City Theatre and continually is featured at the CLO Cabaret late night performances. Favorite roles include Maria (''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. Se ...

''), Ms Hannagin (''

Annie Annie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Annie (actress) (born 1975), Indian actress * Annie (singer) (born 1977), Norwegian singer The ...

''), Antonia (''

Man of La Mancha ''Man of La Mancha'' is a 1965 musical with a book by Dale Wasserman, music by Mitch Leigh, and lyrics by Joe Darion. It is adapted from Wasserman's non-musical 1959 teleplay ''I, Don Quixote'', which was in turn inspired by Miguel de Cervantes ...

''), Female Authority Figure (''

Hairspray Hairspray may refer to: * Hair spray, a personal grooming product that keeps hair protected from humidity and wind * ''Hairspray'' (1988 film), a film by John Waters ** ''Hairspray'' (1988 soundtrack), the film's soundtrack album ** ''Hairspray ...

''), Carrie (''

Carousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (List of sovereign states, international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in South Australia, SA) is a type of amusement ...

''), Lucy Schmeeler ('' On the Town''), Joanne (''

Godspell ''Godspell'' is a musical composed by Stephen Schwartz with book by John-Michael Tebelak. The show is structured as a series of parables, primarily based on the Gospel of Matthew, interspersed with music mostly set to lyrics from traditional hymn ...

''), Martha (''

The Secret Garden ''The Secret Garden'' is a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett first published in book form in 1911, after serialisation in ''The American Magazine'' (November 1910 – August 1911). Set in England, it is one of Burnett's most popular novels and ...

''), Principal Player (''

Tomfoolery ''Tomfoolery'' (or ''Tom Foolery'') is a musical revue based on the songs of American satirist Tom Lehrer. Devised and produced by Cameron Mackintosh, it premiered in London at the Criterion Theatre, directed by Gillian Lynne, on 5 June 1980, w ...

''), Scout (''

To Kill a Mockingbird ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' is a novel by the American author Harper Lee. It was published in 1960 and was instantly successful. In the United States, it is widely read in high schools and middle schools. ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' has become ...

''), Mary ('' Run for Your Wife''), and caroler ('' A Musical Christmas Carol''). Laitta portrayed the role of Principal Anderson in the Emmy Award winning

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

'' Scientastic!'' with Planet Earth Television in which she also served as choreographer and script consultant. She was also hired to help coach the child actors, this production was directed by Leo Eaton. Laitta is also the co-author of the book ''The Dramatically Different Classroom'' (Kagan Publishing). This book is an instructional tool for teachers. It helps teachers incorporating drama and music into classroom activities. She has done in-service development sessions based on her book with the

Pittsburgh Public Schools Pittsburgh Public Schools is the public school district serving the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (except for two small parts served by the Baldwin-Whitehall School District) and adjacent Mount Oliver. As of the 2021–2022 school year, the ...

, as well. She teaches musical theatre and acting for the Pittsburgh Public School District at Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts 6-12 School. She has developed and taught several outreach programs and master classes for regional theaters and school districts, as well as directed several high school musicals in the area. Laitta also co-directed and choreographed the ''Legacy Concert'' for Pittsburgh CAPA in 2011 featuring Tony award winner Billy Porter as special guest.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laitta, Christine 1976 births Living people 21st-century American women writers Actresses from Pittsburgh American stage actresses People from Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania American women non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers