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Barbara Walsh

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For the journalist, see Barbara Walsh (journalist).
Barbara Walsh
Born (1955-06-03) June 3, 1955 (age 69)
Washington, D.C., U.S.[1]
Alma materMontgomery College
OccupationActress
SpouseJack Cummings III

Barbara Walsh (born June 3, 1955)[1] is an American musical theatre actress who has appeared in several prominent Broadway productions. Walsh is known for her Drama Desk Award and Tony Award nominated role as Trina in the original Broadway production of Falsettos, as well as her turn as Joanne in the 2006 Broadway Revival of Stephen Sondheim's musical Company.

Early life

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Walsh grew up with seven siblings in Chevy Chase, Maryland.[2] Skilled at singing and performing impressions from a young age, she began performing in theater during high school. She attended Georgetown Visitation, an all-girls Catholic high school, and began performing in musicals at a local boys' high school.[3] She then attended Montgomery College,[4] where she studied drama and music. After college, Walsh worked in dinner theatre and summer stock in Warsaw, Indiana.[3] Her voice teacher of 30 years was Margaret Riddleberger.[4]

Career

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Walsh is known for her role as Trina in the Tony Award-winning original Broadway production of William Finn and James Lapine's Falsettos (1992). She first performed in the role in the production directed by Graciela Daniele at the Hartford Stage in Connecticut in 1990, the first staging of March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland as a single show.[5] She then remained in the role when Falsettos went to Broadway. She received a Tony Award nomination, a Drama Desk Award nomination, and a Los Angeles Ovation Award for the role.[6] She later reprised this role for the show's national tour in 1994.[7]

Walsh previously made her Broadway debut in 1982 in the cast of musical revue Rock 'N Roll! The First 5,000 Years. She then appeared in Nine as Francesca. She also appeared on Broadway in 1993 in Blood Brothers, originating the role of Mrs. Lyons. In 1996, Walsh played Mrs. Baskin in the original production of Big. In 2002, she took over the role of Velma Von Tussle in the Broadway production of Hairspray.[8] She played Joanne in the 2006 Tony Award-winning Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's Company, for which she received a Drama Desk Award nomination.[9] This production was taped for television and aired on PBS in February 2008.

Walsh performed Off-Broadway in Forbidden Broadway in the mid-1980s, parodying figures such as Barbra Streisand and Bernadette Peters.[2] Her other Off-Broadway credits include Birds of Paradise (1987), Stars in Your Eyes (1999), the Transport Group's Jonathan Larson Award-winning musical Normal (2005),[10] and Transport Group's Three Days to See (2015). Later in 2015, she appeared in Michael John LaChiusa's First Daughter Suite at The Public Theater, playing the role of Pat Nixon.[11]

Walsh's other work includes national touring productions of Oklahoma!, Les Misérables, the 1990 US tour of Chess, for which her performance as Svetlana earned her a Carbonell Award,[12] and the 1984 national tour of Nine, in which she reprised her role as Francesca from the Broadway production.[13]

Regionally, Walsh has been seen in Houdini in 1997 and Exactly Like You in 1998 at Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut.[14][15] She starred in Gretna Theatre's 1997 production of A Streetcar Named Desire as Blanche DuBois. Walsh replaced Donna Bullock in the role of Mother in the Chicago cast of Ragtime in 1998.[16] She played Pfeni Rosensweig in the Wendy Wasserstein play The Sisters Rosensweig at New Jersey's George Street Playhouse in 2002.[17] In 2006, Walsh played Joanne in John Doyle's production of Company at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, a role she reprised when the production later transferred to Broadway.[18] She appeared in A Little Night Music in 2008 as Desirée Armfeldt at Center Stage in Baltimore.[19] She played the dual roles of Edith Beale and her daughter Little Edie in Grey Gardens in 2008 at the Studio Theatre in Washington, D.C.[20] In 2009 she played Maria Callas in Paper Mill Playhouse's Master Class.[21] She was cast in First Wives Club at the Old Globe Theatre in 2009.[22] She performed in Capital Repertory Theatre's 33 Variations in 2010.[23] She starred in George Street Playhouse's 2010 production of Creating Claire.[24] She played Sonia in Center Stage's 2014 production of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike.[25] In 2014, she played Margaret White in Studio 2ndStage's Carrie: the Musical,[26] a role for which she won a Helen Hayes Award.[27] In April 2016, it was announced that Walsh would join the cast of new musical Presto Change-O as part of Barrington Stage Company's 2016 season.[28] Presto Change-O opened May 18, 2016, with Walsh playing the role of Mary.[29] In August 2016, Walsh joined Gloucester Stage Company's production of Songs for a New World.[30] In March 2017, Walsh portrayed Eliza Hamilton and Hillary Clinton in the Mohammed Fairouz opera The New Prince at the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam.[31] She played Hannah Pitt and others in the Actors Theatre of Louisville's October 2017 production of Angels in America.[32]

Walsh's television credits include multiple guest appearances on Law & Order and Law & Order: Criminal Intent, as well as the re-occurring role of Judy Schulman-Brown on One Life to Live. Walsh also appeared in the film Life with Mikey.[33]

Personal life

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Walsh is married to Jack Cummings III, the artistic director of Transport Group Theatre Company.[34]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Barbara Walsh". Playbill. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Rosati, Nancy (November 20, 2002). "An Interview with Barbara Walsh". Talkin' Broadway. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
  3. ^ a b Maupin, Elizabeth (August 7, 2011). "Broadway actor Barbara Walsh gives a master class". orlandotheater.wordpress.com.
  4. ^ a b Markowitz, Joel (2007-12-23). "Barbara Walsh". DC Theatre Scene. Retrieved 2011-08-23.
  5. ^ Rich, Frank (October 15, 1991). "Review/Theater; The 'Falsetto' Musicals United at Hartford Stage". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
  6. ^ "Falsettos – Broadway Musical – Original". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  7. ^ Willis, John, ed. (1996). "Falsettos". John Willis Theatre World 1993-1994 Season Volume 50. Applause Theatre Book Publishers. p. 150. ISBN 1-55783-235-8. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  8. ^ "Barbara Walsh Theatre Credits, News, Bio and Photos". BroadwayWorld. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
  9. ^ Lipton, Brian Scott (April 25, 2007). "2007 Drama Desk Award Nominations Announced". TheaterMania.
  10. ^ Sommer, Elyse (October 30, 2005). "Normal, a CurtainUp review". CurtainUp.
  11. ^ McPhee, Ryan (August 5, 2015). "Caissie Levy & More Join Rachel Bay Jones & Mary Testa for LaChiusa's First Daughter Suite Off-Broadway". Broadway.com.
  12. ^ "The 15th Annual Carbonell Awards". The Carbonell Awards.
  13. ^ "Credits for Nine (National Tour, 1984)". Ovrtur.
  14. ^ Taylor, Markland (November 15, 1997). "Review: 'Houdini'". Variety. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
  15. ^ Viagas, Robert (May 31, 1998). "Cy Coleman's Exactly Like You To Close at Goodspeed May 31". Playbill.
  16. ^ Christiansen, Richard (May 25, 1999). "Cast Changes Make 'Ragtime' Even Stronger". The Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  17. ^ Lefkowitz, David (February 12, 2002). "Found a Pfeni: Barbara Walsh to Be in NJ Sisters Rosensweig, Feb. 12-March 10". Playbill.
  18. ^ "Barbara Walsh & Heather Laws to Join Esparza in Cincinnati Company". Broadway.com. December 20, 2005.
  19. ^ Blank, Matthew (March 19, 2008). "PHOTO CALL: A Little Night Music at Baltimore Centerstage". Playbill.
  20. ^ Jones, Kenneth (November 12, 2008). "Walsh Slips Into Edie's Regalia in DC Grey Gardens Nov. 12-Dec. 21". Playbill. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  21. ^ Lipton, Brian Scott (February 9, 2009). "Barbara Walsh Replaces Kate Mulgrew in Paper Mill Playhouse's Master Class". TheaterMania.
  22. ^ "Casting Announced For Broadway-Bound THE FIRST WIVES CLUB Musical". BroadwayWorld.com. May 15, 2009.
  23. ^ King, Carol (September 18, 2010). "Theater review: Cap Rep actors brilliant in riveting '33 Variations'". The Daily Gazette.
  24. ^ Gans, Andrew (May 21, 2010). "George Street's Creating Claire, with Barbara Walsh, Opens May 21". Playbill.
  25. ^ "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike". Baltimore Center Stage. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  26. ^ "Carrie: the Musical | The Artists". Studio Theatre. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  27. ^ "2015 Helen Hayes Awards". The Washington Post. 2015-04-06. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2016-04-21.
  28. ^ McPhee, Ryan (April 13, 2016). "Will Swenson, Jarrod Spector, Barbara Walsh & More Set for Barrington Stage Company's Summer Season". Broadway.com. Retrieved 2016-04-21.
  29. ^ Borak, Jeffrey (May 19, 2016). "New musical at Barrington Stage creates magic out of thin air". The Berkshire Eagle. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  30. ^ "Songs for a New World". gloucesterstage.com. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  31. ^ "The New Prince". www.operaballet.nl. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
  32. ^ Humble, Laura (2017-07-25). "ANGELS IN AMERICA, Tony Kushner's Two-Part Masterpiece, Kicks Off Actors Theatre's 2017-2018 Season". Actors Theatre of Louisville. Archived from the original on 2017-11-11. Retrieved 2017-11-10.
  33. ^ "Barbara Walsh". IMDb. Retrieved August 23, 2011.
  34. ^ "Boards". Transport Group Theatre Company. Archived from the original on October 4, 2011. Retrieved August 23, 2011.
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