Samantha Pauly

Samantha Megan Pauly (born September 20 1989) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Katherine Howard in the musical ''Six'' at the Lena Horne Theatre on Broadway, as well as for portraying Eva Perón in the West End revival of ''Evita'' at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre.

Early life and education

Pauly was born in Bettendorf, Iowa. From 2004 to 2008, she attended Pleasant Valley High School in Riverdale, Iowa, where she did not become interested in musical theatre until her junior year. In high school, she appeared in productions of ''The Pajama Game'' as Gladys and ''Chicago'' as Velma Kelly. The production of ''Chicago'' was later selected to perform at the International Thespian Festival in June 2008. She later trained at Viterbo University and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Music Theatre and Dance in 2012. Pauly played numerous roles while training, including Rona Lisa Peretti in '' The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee'', Joanne in ''Company'', and Cathy Hiatt in ''The Last Five Years''.

Career

In 2010, Pauly appeared in a community theatre production of ''Rent'' at Toland Theatre, playing the role of Mimi. Her first production after graduating from Viterbo University in 2012 was playing the lead role of Elle Woods in the musical '' Legally Blonde'' at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse. In 2014, she portrayed Eva Perón in ''Evita'' at the Jedlicka Theatre.

In 2015, Pauly played the role of Teen Cee Cee in ''Beaches'' alongside Presley Ryan and Shoshana Bean, who played the child and adult versions of the role respectively. She also portrayed Eva Perón in ''Evita'' as an alternate at the Marriott Theatre. In January 2016, she played Amber in a regional production of ''Hairspray'' at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora, Illinois. Later the same year, she appeared in an episode of ''Chicago P.D.'' titled "Big Friends, Big Enemies". In 2017, Pauly played the roles of Betsy in '' Honeymoon in Vegas'' at the Marriott Theatre and Jovie in '' Elf'' at the Paramount Theatre.

In 2018, Pauly was cast as Valkyrie in the North American tour of '' Bat Out of Hell: The Musical''. The tour opened at the Ed Mirvish Theatre in Toronto on October 16, 2018, and was originally intended to run until July 7, 2019, at the AT&T Performing Arts Center in Dallas. However, days after the tour was extended, it was postponed and eventually canceled, with the cast playing their final show at the scheduled conclusion of the Toronto run on November 3, 2018. Pauly has stated that the experience nearly made her quit performing altogether. In 2018, she portrayed Eva Perón as a principal at the Westport Country Playhouse.

In February 2019, Pauly received callbacks for both ''Six'' and ''Evita'' and ended up being cast in both shows. She made her debut as Katherine Howard in ''Six'' on May 14, 2019 at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. She temporarily left the show on June 23, 2019, to star as Eva Perón in ''Evita'' at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre from August 2 until September 21, 2019. Pauly returned to ''Six'' in the Citadel Theatre production on November 1, 2019, and played the role for the rest of the North American tour. She continued playing the role when the show transferred to the Lena Horne Theatre on Broadway, where it began previews on February 13, 2020. The show was prepared to open on March 12, 2020, when all Broadway theatres were required to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Pauly returned to ''Six'' on September 17, 2021, when the show officially reopened. A live cast recording of the musical featuring Pauly's vocals was released on May 6, 2022. The album was nominated for Best Musical Theater Album at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards in 2023. In June 2022, she, along with the other principal cast members of ''Six'', received the Ensemble Award at the 2022 Drama Desk Awards. She departed the production on December 4, 2022.

In 2021, Pauly appeared as an ensemble member in the online benefit concert of ''Ratatouille the Musical''. Later that year, she was featured on the concept album for ''Little Black Book'', a musical inspired by the life of Heidi Fleiss. She also portrayed Ophelia in a musical adaptation of Shakespeare's ''Hamlet'' in August 2021. On February 4, 2022, Pauly appeared in a concert version of the musical ''A Girl I Know'' at Feinstein's/54 Below.

Through August 22nd to August 27th 2023 Samantha Pauly played Mimi Marquez in Rent at the UC Davis Health Pavilion Theater at Music Circus on Broadway. In September 2023, Pauly was announced to be playing the role of Jordan Baker in a musical adaptation of '' The Great Gatsby'' from October 12 to November 12, 2023. She had auditioned for the part in March 2023. She reprised her role in the Broadway production at the Broadway Theatre when it opened on April 25, 2024.

Personal life

Pauly is married. She adopted a retired racing greyhound named Dale.

Theatre credits

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Filmography

Television

Awards and Nominations

References

Living people
1989 births
21st-century American actresses
21st-century American women singers
Actresses from Iowa
Singers from Iowa
American musical theatre actresses
American stage actresses
Year of birth missing (living people)

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