Kim Crosby (singer)
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Kim Crosby (born July 11, 1960) is an American singer and musical theatre actress. She is best known as the original
Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
in the SondheimLapine musical ''
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 tales, exploring the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests. T ...
''.


Early life and education

Crosby was born in
Fort Smith, Arkansas Fort Smith is the third-largest city in Arkansas and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 89,142. It is the principal city of the Fort Smith, Arkansas–Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Are ...
and grew up in
Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...
. She attended
Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , ...
and the Manhattan School of Music, and she is a former
America's Junior Miss Distinguished Young Women, formerly known as America's Junior Miss, is a national non-profit organization that provides scholarship opportunities to high school senior girls. Depending on the schedule of the various state and local programs, you ...
.


Career


Stage work

Crosby appeared in the
Broadway 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 ...
production of ''
Jerry's Girls ''Jerry's Girls'' is a musical revue based on the songs of composer/ lyricist Jerry Herman. Production history Created by Herman and Larry Alford in 1981, the show originated as a modest presentation at Onstage, a nightclub located in the Theate ...
'' in 1985–86. She then created the role of
Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
in ''
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 tales, exploring the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests. T ...
'' in 1987, playing the role in the tryout at The
Old Globe Theatre The Old Globe is a professional theatre company located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It produces about 15 plays and musicals annually in summer and winter seasons. Plays are performed in three separate theatres in the complex, which i ...
in San Diego and then on Broadway. It was in this production that she met her future husband, actor Robert Westenberg, who starred opposite her as Cinderella's Prince (and also as the
Wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...
).Gans, Andrew
"Diva Talk: Chatting with Follies' Kim Crosby Plus Victor Victoria (Piazza's Clark, that is)"
playbill.com, June 10, 2005
Her next Broadway role was in the 1992 revival of ''
Guys and Dolls ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Runyon, and also bo ...
'', where she was a replacement as Sarah Brown. She reprised the role of Cinderella at the benefit performance of ''Into the Woods'' on November 9, 1997 at
The Broadway Theatre The Broadway Theatre (formerly Universal's Colony Theatre, B.S. Moss's Broadway Theatre, Earl Carroll's Broadway Theatre, and Ciné Roma) is a Broadway theater at 1681 Broadway (near 53rd Street) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan i ...
. Off-Broadway, at the
York Theatre York Theatre is an off-Broadway theatre company based in East Midtown Manhattan, New York City. In its 50th year, York Theatre is dedicated to the production of new musicals and concert productions of forgotten musicals from the past. Each seas ...
, she played
Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and of her execution by beheading for treason and other charges made her a key ...
,
Catherine Howard Catherine Howard ( – 13 February 1542), also spelled Katheryn Howard, was Queen of England from 1540 until 1542 as the fifth wife of Henry VIII. She was the daughter of Lord Edmund Howard and Joyce Culpeper, a cousin to Anne Boleyn (the se ...
and
Jane Seymour Jane Seymour (c. 150824 October 1537) was Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII of England from their marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen following the execution of Henry's second wife, Anne ...
in the musical ''Six Wives'' in 1992, and Marsius in ''Philemon'' in 1991. Crosby starred as Laurey in the national tour of ''
Oklahoma! ''Oklahoma!'' is the first musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, ''Green Grow the Lilacs''. Set in farm country outside the town of Claremore, Indian Territory, in 1906, it tell ...
'' opposite John Davidson and
Jamie Farr Jamie Farr (born Jameel Joseph Farah; July 1, 1934) is an American comedian and actor. He is best known for playing the cross-dressing Corporal turned Sergeant Maxwell Q. Klinger in the CBS television sitcom ''M*A*S*H''. He was inducted to ...
. She also toured for two years with
Fred Waring Fredrick Malcolm Waring Sr. (June 9, 1900 – July 29, 1984) was an American musician, bandleader, and radio and television personality, sometimes referred to as "America's Singing Master" and "The Man Who Taught America How to Sing". He was also ...
and His Young Pennsylvanians. In regional theatre, she played Maria in ''
West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play '' Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid ...
'' at The Springfield Little Theatre, Anne in ''
A Little Night Music ''A Little Night Music'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the 1955 Ingmar Bergman film ''Smiles of a Summer Night'', it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Its title is a ...
'' at the Berkshire Theatre Festival, Stockbridge, Massachusetts (1986), Hope Langdon in '' Something's Afoot'' at the Birmingham Theatre; David Gordon's ''The Mysteries and What's So Funny?'' at the American Repertory Theater, Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Jessie Pullman in the musical ''Georgia Avenue'' (July - August 1985) at
Goodspeed Musicals 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, the ...
, Norma Terris Theater in
East Haddam, Connecticut East Haddam is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut. The population was 8,875 at the time of the 2020 census. History Until 1650, the area of East Haddam was inhabited by at least three Indigenous peoples: the Wangunk, the Mohegan and the N ...
. She appeared in workshop productions of ''Six Wives'', ''Fahrenheit 451'', ''Grovers Corners'', and ''Jekyll & Hyde''. She appeared as Lily Garland in ''
On the Twentieth Century ''On the Twentieth Century'' is a musical with book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Cy Coleman. Based partly on the 1932 play ''Twentieth Century'' and its 1934 film adaptation, the musical is part operetta, part farce an ...
'' at Barrington Stage in 2001. More recently, she played Sally Durant Plummer in ''
Follies ''Follies'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The plot takes place in a crumbling Broadway theater, now scheduled for demolition, previously home to a musical revue (based on the ''Ziegfeld Fol ...
'' (2005) with the Barrington Stage Company. She has appeared in several productions at The Muny Repertory in
St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
. She played
Eliza Doolittle Eliza Doolittle is a fictional character and the protagonist in George Bernard Shaw's play '' Pygmalion'' (1913) and its 1956 musical adaptation, ''My Fair Lady''. Eliza (from Lisson Grove, London) is a Cockney flower woman, who comes to Prof ...
in ''
My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play '' Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons ...
'' in 2001 opposite Westenberg. She also played Marian in ''
The Music Man ''The Music Man'' is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments ...
'' in 2004 and Guinevere in ''
Camelot Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described as th ...
'' in 2002. Of this performance, the ''Riverfront Times'' reviewer wrote: "Crosby can sing a lesser-known song such as "Before I Gaze at You Again" and make us wonder why we've overlooked it all these years. She can sing a popular tune like "I Loved You Once in Silence" and make us realize that Frederick Loewe's score is possessed of a haunting quality reminiscent of Schubert." Crosby recently played Mrs. Darling and other characters in the new national tour of ''
Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...
'' alongside Cathy Rigby in the title role, which began performances August 2011 and concluded on April 28, 2013. Crosby temporarily left ''Peter Pan'' to star in a production of ''Into The Woods'' (her first since the original cast) as The Baker's Wife at Springfield Little Theatre from May 13–29, 2012. Her most recent show was Hello, Dolly! at Springfield Little Theatre where she played the title role. Kim also lead Springfield Contemporary Theatre's production of ''Jerry's Girls'' in 2016, coming full circle after making her Broadway debut in the ensemble of this show.


Television and concerts

Crosby's television credits include Jane in ''
Tarzan in Manhattan ''Tarzan in Manhattan'' is a 1989 action adventure CBS television film. Joe Lara portrays Tarzan, and Kim Crosby appears as Jane Porter. Tony Curtis and Jan-Michael Vincent co-star. The telefilm was produced by Max A. Keller, Micheline H. ...
'' (CBS, 1989).Pratt, Douglas (2004) ''Doug Pratt's DVD: Movies, Television, Music, Art, Adult, and More!'', , p. 1205 In this version, Jane was a tough-talking
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
cabbie who befriended
Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...
(played by
Joe Lara William Joseph Lara (October 2, 1962 – May 29, 2021) was an American actor, martial artist, and musician, known for the role of Tarzan in the American TV series '' Tarzan: The Epic Adventures''. Career Lara played Tarzan in the 1989 TV movie ' ...
), they are in search of
Cheeta Cheeta (sometimes billed as Cheetah, Cheta, and Chita) is a chimpanzee character that appeared in numerous Hollywood Tarzan films of the 1930s–1960s, as well as the 1966–1968 television series, as the ape sidekick of the title character, Tarza ...
and other animals captured and taken from the jungle. She appeared in the soap operas '' Guiding Light'' and '' All My Children'', and in ''The Cosby Mysteries'' as "Mrs. Pierce" in the episode "Big Brother Is Watching" (1995). Crosby has sung in concert with orchestras both in the U.S. and abroad. She performed with the Florida Orchestra, in Tampa, at ''Kaleidoscope of Broadway'' in 2004. She sang with the South Arkansas Symphony in a Christmas pops concert in December 2004. She has toured frequently with the ensemble Broadway Nights. In the Broadway Nights concert with the
Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...
Symphony in March 2002, the reviewer noted that when singing songs from ''Phantom'', "Crosby stole the show with 'Think of Me'".Cutler, John. "Symphony Pops, guests know their Broadway music well", ''Lincoln Journal Star'' (Nebraska), March 24, 2002, p. B5.


Acting credits


Theatre


Filmography


Personal life

Crosby and Robert Westenberg married on June 19, 1991. They live in
Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...
with their three children.


References


External links

* *
Off-Broadway Database listing
lortel.org; accessed January 21, 2016. {{DEFAULTSORT:Crosby, Kim 1960 births American musical theatre actresses Living people Singers from Missouri Musicians from Springfield, Missouri People from Fort Smith, Arkansas 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers Southern Methodist University alumni Manhattan School of Music alumni