Lauren Tolbert Worsham (born April 4, 1982) is an American actress and singer known for her work in the opera and musical theatre. She received a
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 ...
nomination for
Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her role in ''
A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder''. She is also known for being the lead singer of the band Sky-Pony, which has released two albums with original songs titled "Say You Love Me Like You Mean It" and "Raptured Live".
Early life and education
Worsham is the daughter of Belinda (née Petty) and Dennis Worsham, who works in real estate. She was raised in
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...
, United States, and graduated from
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
with a degree in Spanish. While at Yale, she was involved with theatre and music, and performed with the acapella group, ''Shades''. During a summer at Yale she traveled to Scotland to perform theatre at the
Edinburgh Fringe Festival
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...
. She has a brother, Parker Ainsworth, who is also a musician.
Career
Theatre
One of Worsham's first jobs was in 2005 working at the
Shubert Theatre during ''
Spamalot
''Spamalot'' (also known as ''Monty Python's Spamalot'') is a musical comedy with music by John Du Prez and Eric Idle, and lyrics and book by Idle. It is adapted from the 1975 film ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail''.
Like the motion picture ...
''. She also worked for several years as a personal assistant for
Tony
Tony may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer
* Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...
winning Broadway producer Ruth Hendel. In 2006, she played the role of Olive Ostrovsky in the first national tour of ''
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
''The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee'' is a musical comedy with music and lyrics by William Finn, based on a book by Rachel Sheinkin, conceived by Rebecca Feldman with additional material by Jay Reiss. The show centers on a fictional spe ...
'' that was played on Broadway by
Celia Keenan-Bolger
Celia Keenan-Bolger (born January 26, 1978) is an American actress and singer. She is known for portraying Scout Finch in the play ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' (2018), which earned her a Tony Award. She has also won three Drama Desk Awards and an ...
.
In 2008, she was cast as
Cunégonde in the
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through 2013 (when it filed for bankruptcy), and again since 2016 when it was revived.
The opera company, du ...
production of ''
Candide
( , ) is a French satire written by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment, first published in 1759. The novella has been widely translated, with English versions titled ''Candide: or, All for the Best'' (1759); ''Candide: or, The ...
'' and also played Clara Johnson in the Weston Playhouse production of ''
The Light in the Piazza''. In 2009, Worsham competed in the Lotte Lenya Singing Competition, placing second. Also in 2009 she appeared in the ''
Paper Mill Playhouse
Paper Mill Playhouse is a regional theater with approximately 1200 seats, located in Millburn, New Jersey on the Rahway River. Due to its relatively close location to Manhattan, it draws from the pool of actors (and audience members) who live in ...
'' production of ''
Master Class
A master class is a Class (education), class given to students of a particular Academic discipline, discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also science, painting, drama, games, or on any other occasion where skills are b ...
'' as Sophie de Palma and in Kansas City Rep's production of ''
Into the Woods
''Into the Woods'' is a 1987 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine.
The musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tale
A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story ...
'' as Cinderella.
In 2010, she played the lead role of Lili Daurier in ''
Carnival!'' at the ''
Goodspeed Opera House
Goodspeed Musicals is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and advancement of musical theater and the creation of new works, located in East Haddam, Connecticut. A distinctive feature of the view from the Connecticut River, th ...
''. In 2012, Worsham earned critical acclaim for originating the role of Lisa in the opera ''
Dog Days
The dog days or are the hot, sultry days of summer. They were historically the period following the heliacal rising of the star system Sirius (known colloquially as the "Dog Star"), which Hellenistic astrology connected with heat, drought, sud ...
'' and in 2013 she played Flora in the New York City Opera's production of ''
The Turn of the Screw
''The Turn of the Screw'' is an 1898 horror novella by Henry James which first appeared in serial format in ''Collier's Weekly'' (January 27 – April 16, 1898). In October 1898, it was collected in ''The Two Magics'', published by Macmill ...
.
In 2014 she made her Broadway debut as Phoebe D'Ysquith in ''
A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder'', for which she was nominated for the 2014
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 ...
for
Best Featured Actress in a Musical. Worsham won the 2014
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...
for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical (in a tie with Anika Larsen) for this role. In November 2014 she made her
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...
debut as Magnolia in a revival of Kern and Hammerstein's ''
Show Boat
''Show Boat'' is a musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the performers, stagehands and dock worke ...
''.
Worsham created a theatre company titled The Coterie with
Royce Vavrek
Royce Vavrek is a Canadian-born Brooklyn-based librettist, playwright, dance scenarist, musical theatre writer and filmmaker known for his collaborations with composers David T. Little, Missy Mazzoli, Mikael Karlsson, Ricky Ian Gordon, Paola Prest ...
that creates and performs original works.
Film
Worsham appeared in ''
The Last Day of August
''The Last Day of August'' is a 2012 American film drama about four friends recovering from the physical and psychological damage of a car accident. An independent feature film, it was directed by Craig DiFolco with a screenplay written by DiFolco ...
'' as Lisa and ''Saint Janet'' as Kim.
Personal life
In 2011, she married
Kyle Jarrow
Kyle Jarrow (born October 7, 1979) is a Los Angeles–based writer and rock musician.
Career
Writing
Jarrow's writing career began in theater, winning an Obie Award with director Alex Timbers in 2004 for '' A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's ...
. The couple are frequent collaborators and reside in Brooklyn, New York. In December 2015, Worsham and Jarrow announced they were expecting their first child.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Worsham, Lauren
1982 births
Living people
American musical theatre actresses
21st-century American actresses
American operatic sopranos
Musicians from Austin, Texas
21st-century American women opera singers
Singers from Texas
Theatre World Award winners
Yale College alumni
Actresses from Austin, Texas
21st-century American women singers
21st-century American singers
Classical musicians from Texas