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[[Category:American actors]]
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[[Category:Actors from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Actors from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]]

Revision as of 15:12, 4 June 2011

Leigh Ann Larkin
File:Leigh ann larkin.JPG
Born
Leigh Ann Wielgus

April 14 (year unknown)
NationalityAmerican United States
Occupation(s)Singer and Actress

Leigh Ann Larkin (born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)[1] is an American actress and singer, best known for her performance as June Havoc in the 2008 Patti LuPone revival of the 1959 musical, Gypsy.

Biography

Larkin was born Leigh Ann Wielgus on April 14 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She graduated from North Hills High School and went on to study musical theater at University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. Shortly after, she moved to New York City.[2]

Career

She appeareed in the Disney Theatrical national tour of On the Record, and returned to Pittsburgh in May 2007 to star as Belle in Beauty and the Beast at the Pittsburgh Musical Theater.[2] Larkin was seen on television in 2008 as Pepper Gleason on Lipstick Jungle, as well as in The Flight of the Conchords in 2009.[1]

In 2007, Larkin performed the role of June Havoc in the Encores! revival of Gypsy: A Musical Fable, from July 9 to 29, 2007. The show was presented at City Center with Patti LuPone starring as Rose Thompson Hovick. Directed by Arthur Laurents, the rest of the cast comprised Laura Benanti as Louise, and Boyd Gaines as Herbie.[3] The Encores! production was a success, and despite Ben Brantley's slightly negative review in The New York Times, the show transferred to Broadway, where it opened at the St. James Theatre[4] on March 27, 2008. The show was originally scheduled to close in March 2009 on Lupone's final performance, but closed on January 11, 2009 due to decreases in ticket sales.[5] Larkin described her audition process in a March 2008 interview with Broadway.com:

Larkin first met Gypsy's legendary librettist Arthur Laurents at her audition for last summer's Encores! production ... "I didn't know the show," she admits, "and Arthur is the kind of director who knows exactly what he wants. At first he was not pleased with me at all," she says with an all's-well-that-ends-well giggle. "He said, ‘You're too emotional; June is bored, she's over it.' Then he turned to someone at the table and said, ‘She couldn't take direction if she was paid.'" Turns out Laurents was just trying to elicit a strong performance from an actress he secretly liked. It worked: After Larkin plowed through an entire number, the 89-year-old director said, "That's what I wanted."[6]

Larkin next was a featured actress in A Little Night Music, starring Angela Lansbury[7] and Catherine Zeta-Jones.[8] This revival opened at the Walter Kerr Theatre in previews on November 24, 2009 and officially on December 13, 2009. he production temporarily closed on June 20, 2010, when the contracts of Zeta-Jones and Lansbury ended and resumed on July 13, with new stars Bernadette Peters as Desiree Armfeldt and Elaine Stritch as Madame Armfeldt.[9][10][11] Trevor Nunn directed rehearsals with the two new stars, and the rest of the original cast has remained.[12][13] Peters and Stritch extended their contracts until January 9, 2011, when the production closed with 20 previews and 425 regular performances.[14][15]

References

  1. ^ a b "Leigh Ann Larkin". Internet Movie Database. Amazon.com. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
  2. ^ a b "Leigh Ann". LeighAnnLarkin.com. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
  3. ^ LuPone, Patti. "'Gypsy'" Patti LuPone: A Memoir, Random House, Inc., 2010, ISBN 0307460738, p. 288
  4. ^ Brantley, Ben."Curtain Up! It’s Patti’s Turn",New York Times, March 28, 2008
  5. ^ Gans, Andrew."LuPone Gypsy Will Now Close in January 2009" playbill.com, December 14, 2008
  6. ^ Henderson, Kathy (March 20, 2008). "Leigh Ann Larkin". Broadway.com. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
  7. ^ Hernandez, Ernio and Gans, Andrew."A Little Night Music, With Zeta-Jones and Lansbury, Begins on Broadway". Playbill.com, November 24, 2009
  8. ^ "Tony Award nominees, 2009-2010". Retrieved 2010-05-13.
  9. ^ Gans, Andrew."'Isn't It Bliss?' Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch Open in Night Music Revival Aug. 1. Playbill, August 1, 2010
  10. ^ McBride, Walter."Photo Coverage: Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch Open in 'A Little Night Music'". broadwayworld.com, July 14, 2010
  11. ^ Healy, Patrick. "Peters, Stritch To Join ‘Night Music’ Cast". The New York Times, June 7, 2010
  12. ^ Rizzo, Frank. "Elaine Stritch: She's Still Here – in West Hartford". The Hartford Courant, June 10, 2010
  13. ^ A Little Night Music Sets Closing Date; Peters and Stritch Extend
  14. ^ Gans, Andrew."Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch Extend Run in Broadway's A Little Night Music" Playbill.com, October 5, 2010
  15. ^ Gans, Andrew. Broadway's A Little Night Music, with Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch, Recoups" Playbill, January 6, 2011