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Lara Teeter

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Lara Teeter
Born (1955-02-03) February 3, 1955 (age 69)
Guthrie, Oklahoma, United States
Occupation(s)Dancer, actor, singer, theater director, college professor
Years active1980–present
SpouseKristen Teeter (m. 1998)
Children4

Lara Teeter (born February 3, 1955) is an American dancer, actor, singer, theater director and college professor.

Biography

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Born in Guthrie, Oklahoma,[1] Teeter earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Oklahoma City University.[2]

He made his Broadway debut in the short-lived 1980 musical Happy New Year,[3] followed by another short-lived musical, the stage adaptation of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, which ran on Broadway in 1982 for five performances.[4]

For his third stage effort, the 1983 revival of On Your Toes he won critical recognition and a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical, as "The Hoofer" and "Junior",[5] originally played by Ray Bolger in 1936.[6] He also won the 1983 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Debut Performance.[7] The show ran for 505 performances.[5]

Additional Broadway credits include The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and The Pirates of Penzance (chorus).[8] Off-Broadway and national touring credits include the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz (in 1998),[9][10] The Robber Bridegroom, She Loves Me as Kodaly in 1987 at the Ahmanson Theatre,[11] My Fair Lady as Henry Higgins at the North Shore Music Theatre (Beverly, Massachusetts) in 1999,[12] Little Shop of Horrors, Follies in 2005 as "Buddy"[13] and Oklahoma! (national tour).[8]

He appeared with the New York City Opera in Naughty Marietta in 1979 as "Private Silas Slick"[14] and The Most Happy Fella at Lincoln Center in 1991 as "Herman".[15]

He performed in many productions at St. Louis Municipal Opera Theatre, commonly called The Muny, in St. Louis, Missouri, including "Scuttle" in The Little Mermaid, with his daughter playing "Flounder" in 2011. Teeter commented “At Webster, I teach it. At the Muny, I do it..."[16] He performed the role of Don in Singin' in the Rain at the Muny in 1995.[17]

He made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2000 portraying Henry Higgins in a tribute to the work of Lerner and Loewe[18] and his Lyric Opera of Chicago debut in 2001 performing the role of Steve Sankey in Street Scene.[19]

His regional directing credits include My Fair Lady (Opera Pacific) in 1989,[20] The Pirates of Penzance, at both the San Bernardino Civic Light Opera and the Light Opera Works of Chicago (in 2002),[8] Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (Hollywood Cinegrill) and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (Fullerton Civic Light Opera) in 1994.[21]

Teeter was the artistic director of Light Opera Works (Evanston, Illinois), starting in August 1999, and directed many shows there, starting with the Gilbert & Sullivan operetta The Gondoliers in May 2000[22] and including Ragtime (Light Opera Works of Chicago) in 2003[23] and Candide (Light Opera Works of Chicago) in 2004.[24]

Teaching

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Teeter's academic credits include positions at California State University, Fullerton, where he helped start the pilot program for a BFA in Musical Theatre and was an associate professor with the theatre and dance department.[25] He held positions at Northwestern University[24] and Shenandoah University.[24] Since 2007 he has been a faculty member at The Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri, where he now serves as an associate professor of theatre and head of musical theatre.[26]

Select recordings

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Teeter's recordings include On Your Toes (Broadway Revival Cast, 1983),[27] Lady, Be Good! (Studio Cast, Roxbury Recordings, 1992),[28] The Musicality of Rodgers & Hart (Compilation, 1997) [29] and The Wizard of Oz (Original New York Cast, 1998 Grammy nomination).[30][31]

  • On Your Toes (1983)
  • Lady Be Good (1992)
  • The Wizard of Oz (Grammy Award nominated) (1998)

Personal

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Teeter and his wife, Kristen, a dancer and teacher of jazz and contemporary dance classes, married at a Sonoma Valley winery in 1998. Cast members from the tour of The Wizard of Oz attended. They celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary in 2013. They have four children.[32]

References

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  1. ^ "Oklahoma Native Nominated for Tony Award" newsok.com, May 18, 1993
  2. ^ "Distinguished Alumni" okcu.edu, accessed September 29, 2015
  3. ^ "'Happy New Year' Broadway Production" playbillvault.com, accessed September 29, 2015
  4. ^ "'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers' Broadway Production" playbillvault.com, accessed September 29, 2015
  5. ^ a b "'On Your Toes' Broadway Production" playbillvault.com, accessed September 29, 2015
  6. ^ "'On Your Toes' 1936 Broadway Listing" ibdb.com, accessed September 30, 2015
  7. ^ "Lara Teeter Broadway Credits and Awards" playbillvault.com, accessed September 29, 2015
  8. ^ a b c Murphy, H. Lee. "Light Opera Works' `Pirates' is old hat for artistic director" Chicago Tribune, December 27, 2002
  9. ^ Jones, Kenneth. "'Oz' Tour Will Be Kitt-Less; Yellow Brick Road Resumes in Philly Dec. 26" Playbill, November 5, 1998
  10. ^ The Wizard of Oz broadwayworld.com, accessed September 29, 2015
  11. ^ Shirley, Don. "Stage Review : A Nice And Easy 'She Loves Me'" Los Angeles Times, July 4, 1987
  12. ^ "'My Fair Lady', 1999" Archived 2015-10-01 at the Wayback Machine nsmt.org, accessed September 30, 2015
  13. ^ Gans, Andrew. "Starry 'Follies' Begins Barrington Run June 23" Playbill, June 23, 2005
  14. ^ Dietz, Dan. "Naughty Marietta at the New York State Theatre, August 30, 1979 to September 2, 1979, The New York City Opera Company", The Complete Book of 1970s Broadway Musicals, Rowman & Littlefield, 2015, ISBN 1442251662, p. 464
  15. ^ Rothstein, Edward. "Review/City Opera; Bride Arrives, Without Her Fidelity" The New York Times, September 6, 1991
  16. ^ "Lara, Elizabeth Teeter bring talents to 'The Little Mermaid'" websterjournal.com, August 17, 2011
  17. ^ Pollack, Joe. "'Singin' in the Rain' Shifts Nicely from Movie Classic to Muny Stage" Archived 2015-09-30 at the Wayback Machine excerpt from St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 19, 1995
  18. ^ Ehren, Christine. "Cabaret, Goulet, Chenoweth Sing Lerner & Loewe and More at Carnegie Hall June 14-15" Playbill, June 14, 2000
  19. ^ "'Street Scene' Recording, 2001" operapassion.com, accessed September 29, 2015
  20. ^ Smith, Mark Chalon. "O. C. Stage review. Refined 'My Fair Lady' Hits All the High Notes" Los Angeles Times, June 26, 1989
  21. ^ Herman, Jan. "Taking Libertines With the Costumes..." Los Angeles Times, July 15, 1994
  22. ^ Christiansen, Richard. "Theater Lara Teeter, the affable new artistic..." Chicago Tribune, May 28, 2000
  23. ^ Jones, Chris. "'Ragtime' shows a few flashes" Chicago Tribune, June 9, 2003
  24. ^ a b c Behrens, Web. "In 'Candide,' Light Opera tackles show with many faces" Chicago Tribune, August 13, 2004
  25. ^ "Pacific Musical Theatre" orlok.com, accessed September 30, 2015
  26. ^ "Faculty, Conservatory" Archived 2015-10-06 at the Wayback Machine Webster University, accessed September 29, 2015
  27. ^ "'On Your Toes' Original 1983 Broadway Cast" jayrecords.com, accessed September 29, 2015
  28. ^ Carnovale, Norbert. " Lady Be Good, Elektra Nonesuch (Roxbury Recordings)79308-2 CD (1992)", George Gershwin: A Bio-bibliography, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000, ISBN 0313260036, p.162
  29. ^ "'The Musicality of Rodgers & Hart' Listing" allmusicstores.com, accessed September 29, 2015
  30. ^ Mandelbaum, Ken. "Ken Mandelbaum's Musicals On Disc: TVT's Paper Mill Pair: 'Follies' & 'Oz'" Playbill, October 4, 1998
  31. ^ Jones, Kenneth. "Grammy Favors 'Lion King' Cast Recording, Shakespeare Kiddie Disc" Playbill, February 25, 1999
  32. ^ Russell, Stefene. "A Full House: The Teeter Family Signs Up For Adventure" St. Louis Magazine, March 21, 2013.
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