Susan Blackwell is an American actress, writer, and singer, best known for playing characters based on herself in the original musicals ''
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''Now. Here. This''. She has appeared in other plays, musicals, films, and television shows including ''
Master of None
''Master of None'' is an American comedy-drama streaming television
Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in con ...
'', ''
Madam Secretary,
The Blacklist
''The Blacklist'' is an American crime thriller television series that premiered on NBC on September 23, 2013. The show follows Raymond "Red" Reddington (James Spader), a former U.S. Navy officer turned high-profile criminal who voluntarily s ...
'', ''
Succession'', ''
Law & Order
''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise.
''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering on ...
'', ''
P.S. I Love You'', ''
After the Wedding'', ''
Yes, God, Yes
''Yes, God, Yes'' is a 2019 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Karen Maine and starring Natalia Dyer. It is Maine's directorial debut, based on her 2017 short film of the same name also starring Dyer. The film premiered at the S ...
'', and ''
Speech and Debate
Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred in public meetings, a ...
''. She created and hosts her own talk show, ''Side by Side by Susan Blackwell'' on
Broadway.com.
'' itle of show'
Blackwell is known for the one-act musical ''
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Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
in the 2008 Season after a successful extended Off-Broadway run at the Vineyard Theatre in 2006.
The musical documents its own creation by two Broadway fans, who want to enter the New York Musical Theatre Festival and struggle to complete the show in three and a half weeks, and their two actress friends. The actors are also the writers and characters of the musical.
Blackwell's character, "Susan", is a quirky performer by night and corporate drone by day—what Blackwell calls a "distillation" of her true personality.
Blackwell became involved in the musical's development early on through her longstanding friendships with the show's writer,
Hunter Bell
Hunter Houston Bell is an American writer and theatre actor.
Early life and education
Bell was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and was raised in Wilson, North Carolina until the seventh grade, when he moved to Atlanta, Georgia.
Hunter earned a B. ...
, and composer,
Jeff Bowen
Jeff Bowen (born August 30, 1971, in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American composer, lyricist and actor. He is best known as one of the authors and stars of the Broadway musical '' itle of show'. He also wrote the music and lyrics to the musica ...
(who also star in the show, as "Hunter" and "Jeff"). Blackwell had worked with the two men as part of her previous Off-Off-Broadway performing duo, the New Wondertwins.
[Murrin, Tom]
Stagenotes: Five from Broadway to Way-Off Broadway
September 2005. Retrieved July 24, 2008.
At the time Bowen and Bell began work on ''
itle of show', Blackwell had decided to abandon performing for a stable, corporate office job.
"I feel really grateful to my friends for rescuing me," she said of her role in ''
itle of show'. "They airlifted me out of very corporate ascension and plopped me down into this whole other experience."
[
]
Other work
Blackwell began her professional acting career with a two-year stint in the company of Minnesota's Guthrie Theatre
The Guthrie Theater, founded in 1963, is a center for theater performance, production, education, and professional training in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The concept of the theater was born in 1959 in a series of discussions between Sir Tyrone Gut ...
before moving to New York in 1995.[
Blackwell subsequently developed a reputation as a quirky downtown theatre artist. Blackwell performed Off-Off-Broadway with Rebecca Finnegan as The New Wondertwins, a variety act whose assortment of songs, sketches, and daredevil feats included ventriloquism and making deviled eggs in their mouths.]
One ''Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creat ...
'' reviewer wrote of the duo in 1999: "Their wordless finale, orchestrated to a space-age bachelor-pad soundtrack, is a tour de force of fascination and horror: never have soy milk and deviled eggs been used to such loathsome effect."
In addition to '' itle of show''s Off-Broadway and Broadway runs, Blackwell's more recent credits include the Off-Broadway shows ''Speech and Debate
Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred in public meetings, a ...
'', ''Anon'', ''Working Title'', ''Vilna's Got a Golem'', and ''The Heidi Chronicles
''The Heidi Chronicles'' is a 1988 play by Wendy Wasserstein. The play won the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Production history
A workshop production at Seattle Repertory Theatre was held in April 1988, directed by Daniel J. Sullivan, starrin ...
''.
Blackwell's television appearances include ''The Sopranos
''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based American Mafia, Italian-American mobster, portraying h ...
'', ''Third Watch
''Third Watch'' is an American crime drama television series created by John Wells and Edward Allen Bernero that aired on NBC from September 26, 1999, to May 6, 2005, with a total of 132 episodes spanning over six seasons. It was produced by ...
'', ''All My Children
''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 20 ...
'', ''The Good Wife
''The Good Wife'' is an American legal and political drama television series that aired on CBS from September 22, 2009, to May 8, 2016. It focuses on Alicia Florrick, the wife of the Cook County State's Attorney, who returns to her career in law ...
'', ''Person of Interest
"Person of interest" is a term used by law enforcement in the United States, Canada, and other countries when identifying someone possibly involved in a criminal investigation who has not been arrested or formally accused of a crime. It has no leg ...
'', and several episodes of ''Law & Order
''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise.
''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering on ...
'' and ''Law & Order: Criminal Intent
''Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' is an American police procedural Drama (film and television), drama television series set in New York City, where it was also primarily produced. Created and Executive producer#Motion pictures and television, p ...
''.
Her film credits include '' P.S. I Love You'', ''Margin Call
''Margin Call'' is a 2011 American drama film written and directed by J. C. Chandor in his feature directorial debut. The principal story takes place over a 24-hour period at a large Wall Street investment bank during the initial stages of the ...
'', ''Margot at the Wedding
''Margot at the Wedding'' is a 2007 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Noah Baumbach. It stars Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jack Black, John Turturro, Ciarán Hinds and Halley Feiffer. The film is about the familial storm th ...
'', ''Changing Lanes
''Changing Lanes'' is a 2002 American drama thriller film directed by Roger Michell and starring Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson. The film follows a successful, young Wall Street lawyer (Affleck) who accidentally crashes his car into a vehicle ...
'', the short ''Bun-Bun'', and ''Night Int. Trailer'' for the feature film ''Ten Minutes Older.''
Blackwell joined '' itle of show' castmates Hunter Bell, Jeff Bowen, and Heidi Blickenstaff in 2012 for the off-Broadway musical '' Now. Here. This.'' for which she also co-wrote the book with Hunter Bell.
In 2018, Blackwell was seen in the Encores!
Encores! is a Tony-honored concert series dedicated to performing rarely heard American musicals, usually with their original orchestrations. Presented by New York City Center since 1994, Encores! has revived shows by Irving Berlin, Rodgers & Ha ...
Off-Center production of The Civilians
The Civilians is an investigative theatre company in New York City founded in 2001 by Artistic Director, Steve Cosson. The Civilians artists pursue their inquiries using interviews, community residencies, research, and other methods. Working with ...
' '' Gone Missing''.
In 2019, Blackwell performed in a one-night-only Broadway concert performance of '' itle of show' to benefit The Actor's Fund. She appeared alongside the entire original cast, and the evening was directed and choreographed by Michael Berresse
Michael Berresse (born August 15, 1964) is an American actor, dancer, choreographer, and director.
Life and career
Born in Holyoke, Massachusetts, but reared primarily in Joliet, Illinois, Berresse's father was a chemical engineer and his moth ...
.
In September 2019, Blackwell began co-hosting a podcast with fellow actress Laura Camien called ''The Spark File''.
Personal life
Blackwell was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio. She attended Bethel Local Schools. She has a B.F.A. in acting from Wright State University
Wright State University is a public research university in Fairborn, Ohio. Originally opened in 1964 as a branch campus of Miami University and Ohio State University, it became an independent institution in 1967 and was named in honor of aviation ...
and an M.F.A. in acting from the University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...
.[title of show: The Players]
titleofshow.com. Retrieved July 24, 2008. She is married to Nathan Heidt.
She is well known by many Broadway stars through her online video show ''Side by Side by Susan Blackwell''. As part of the show, as the ending schtik, she often licks her interviewee's face. She has licked Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel Jacob Radcliffe (born 23 July 1989) is an English actor. He rose to fame at age twelve, when he began portraying Harry Potter in the film series of the same name; and has held various other film and theatre roles. Over his career, Rad ...
, Sutton Foster
Sutton Lenore Foster (born March 18, 1975) is an American actress, singer and dancer. She is known for her work on the Broadway stage, for which she has won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical twice, in 2002 for her role as Millie Dill ...
, Darren Criss
Darren Everett Criss (born February 5, 1987) is an American actor, singer, and songwriter. He rose to fame starring on the television series ''Glee'' (2010–2015) and received Emmy and Golden Globe acting awards for his leading role as spree ...
, Andrew Keenan-Bolger
Andrew Keenan-Bolger is an American actor. He is best known for originating the roles of Crutchie in '' Newsies'', and Jesse Tuck in ''Tuck Everlasting'' on Broadway. His other Broadway credits include Robertson Ay in ''Mary Poppins'', Jojo in ' ...
, Laura Benanti
Laura Ilene Benanti (née Vidnovic; born July 13, 1979) is an American actress and singer. Over the course of her Broadway career, she has received five Tony Award nominations. She played Louise in the 2008 Broadway revival of '' Gypsy'', winni ...
, Stephanie J. Block, Jesse Tyler Ferguson
Jesse Tyler Ferguson (born October 22, 1975) is an American actor. From 2009 to 2020, he portrayed Mitchell Pritchett on the sitcom ''Modern Family'', for which he earned five consecutive nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding ...
, Zachary Quinto
Zachary John Quinto (; born June 2, 1977) is an American actor and film producer. He is known for his roles as Sylar, the primary antagonist from the science fiction drama series ''Heroes (American TV series), Heroes'' (2006–2010); Spock in th ...
, and Jonathan Groff
Jonathan Drew Groff (born March 26, 1985) is an American actor and singer . He began his career on Broadway, rising to prominence for his portrayal of Melchior Gabor in the original production of '' Spring Awakening'' (2006-2008), for which h ...
, among others.
Acting credits
Theatre
Television
Film
References
External links
*
*
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Blackwell, Susan
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
American musical theatre actresses
University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts alumni
21st-century American actresses
American stage actresses
American television actresses
Actresses from Dayton, Ohio
American film actresses
21st-century American women singers