Holly O’Brien is an American actress and singer. She played the role of Goldie in

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

Winner

Martin Charnin Martin Charnin (November 24, 1934 – July 6, 2019) was an American lyricist, writer, and theatre director. Charnin's best-known work is as conceiver, director, and lyricist of the musical ''Annie.'' Life and career Charnin was born in New York C ...

’s World

Premiere A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its first ...

of his new production of '' Two by Two'' and performed the role of Belle multiple times in

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

’s musical ''

Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve, Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' ( ...

''. She played Loretta in the original

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

cast of the concert revival of ''

Love from Judy ''Love from Judy'' is a musical with music by Hugh Martin, lyrics by Martin and Jack Gray, and a book by Eric Maschwitz and Jean Webster. It is based on Webster's novel and play '' Daddy-Long-Legs''. The original production opened in Coventry in ...

'' (with a score by

Hugh Martin Hugh Martin (August 11, 1914 – March 11, 2011) was an American musical theater and film composer, arranger, vocal coach, and playwright. He was best known for his score for the 1944 MGM musical ''Meet Me in St. Louis'', in which Judy Garland ...

) with the

Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the A ...

winning company Musicals Tonight! in New York City.

Early life and education

O’Brien was born in

Roseburg, Oregon Roseburg is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is in the Umpqua River, Umpqua River Valley in southern Oregon and is the county seat and most populous city of Douglas County, Oregon, Douglas County. Founded in 1851, the population was 23,683 a ...

. A

classically trained Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

, she is a graduate of the

Interlochen Arts Academy Interlochen Center for the Arts is a non-profit corporation which operates arts education institutions and performance venues in northwest Michigan. It is situated on a campus in Interlochen, Michigan, roughly southwest of Traverse City. In ...

Interlochen, Michigan Interlochen ( ') is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Grand Traverse County, Michigan, Grand Traverse County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the pop ...

where she studied Opera, Voice and Theatre. She received her

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students for pursuing a professional education in the visual, fine or performing arts. It is also called Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA) in some cases. Background The Bachelor ...

degree in Musical Theatre from

The Hartt School The Hartt School is the comprehensive performing arts conservatory of the University of Hartford located in West Hartford, Connecticut, United States, that offers degree programs in music, dance, and theatre. Founded in 1920 by Julius Hartt and ...

, the performing arts conservatory, at the

University of Hartford The University of Hartford (UHart) is a private university in West Hartford, Connecticut. Its main campus extends into neighboring Hartford and Bloomfield. The university attracts students from 48 states and 43 countries. The university and it ...

West Hartford, Connecticut West Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, west of downtown Hartford. The population was 64,083 at the 2020 census. The town's popular downtown area is colloquially known as "West Hartford Center," or simply "The C ...

Career

O’Brien was cast and directed by

Winner

in the role of Goldie in the World

of the new version of '' Two by Two'' by

Richard Rodgers Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American Musical composition, composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most ...

and

at the Cumberland County Playhouse. She played the role of Belle in

’s musical ''

'' in the first regional production of the musical at the Cumberland County Playhouse. She then played the role of Belle again at the Merry Go Round Playhouse and also at the

Arkansas Repertory Theatre Arkansas Repertory Theatre (The Rep) is the longest-running nonprofit resident theater in Arkansas. It is affiliated with Actors' Equity Association and offers a year-round season. The Rep is housed in a 377-seat facility in Little Rock, Arkansas. ...

. O’Brien performed the role of

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

/ Norma Jean in ''Norma Jean Enlightened'' at the Drama Book Shop's 50th Anniversary Tribute to

in New York City. She received the best actress award for her work in the role of

/ Norma Jean in ''Norma Jean Enlightened'' at the Midwinter Theatre Festival in New York City. O’Brien played Loretta in the original

cast of the concert revival of ''Love from Judy'' (with a score by

). ''Love from Judy'' was produced by the 2004

Winning Company Musicals Tonight! at the Sol Goldman 14th Street YMHA Theatre in New York City. O’Brien performed as a

soloist in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Austria at the Wiener Musikseminar. She performed the role of Luisa (The Girl) in ''

The Fantasticks ''The Fantasticks'' is a 1960 musical with music by Harvey Schmidt and book and lyrics by Tom Jones. It tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the 1894 play ''The Romancers'' (''Les Romanesques'') by Edmond Rostand, concerning two neigh ...

'' at the Penobscot Theatre and the role of Cindy Lou in ''

The Marvelous Wonderettes ''The Marvelous Wonderettes'' is a jukebox musical comedy with a book by Roger Bean. The show, which uses pop songs from the 1950s and 1960s as a vehicle to tell its story, pays homage to the high school Songleader squads of the 50s. When called ...

'' at the Merry Go Round Playhouse. In 2016, she played Peggy in the revival of ''The Taffetas'' at the Seven Angels Theatre. O’Brien performed the role of Cora in

Eugene O’Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism, earlier ...

’s ''

The Iceman Cometh ''The Iceman Cometh'' is a play written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill in 1939. First published in 1946, the play premiered on Broadway at the Martin Beck Theatre on October 9, 1946, directed by Eddie Dowling, where it ran for 136 perfo ...

'' in the two part Zoom Premiere on YouTube Live as a benefit for The

Actors Fund The Entertainment Community Fund, formerly The Actors Fund, is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that supports performers and behind-the-scenes workers in performing arts and entertainment, helping more than 17,000 people directly each year. Ser ...

during the Covid 19

pandemic A pandemic () is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. A widespread endemic (epidemiology), endemic disease wi ...

in 2020.

Personal life

O’Brien married actor

Mike Roche Mike Roche (born September 23 in Pascack Valley, New Jersey) is an American actor. Roche played Humphrey James in the 2007 Off-Broadway revival of '' Night Over Taos''http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117934921 by Maxwell Anderson directed ...

in New York City in August 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OBrien, Holly American stage actresses Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American musical theatre actresses 21st-century American actresses