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Shona Tucker

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Shona Tucker
Shona in her dressing room for To Kill a Mockingbird
Tucker in her dressing room for To Kill a Mockingbird
Born
Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
EducationNorthwestern University (BS)
New York University (MFA)

Shona Tucker is an American actress and director. Beginning in the 1990s, she had roles in several television shows including Law & Order and New York Undercover. She has appeared in regional theater, including at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Off-Broadway at The Public Theater and elsewhere, in films such as 2016's King Cobra, and on Broadway in original cast of 2018's To Kill a Mockingbird with Jeff Daniels, and Death of a Salesman with Wendell Pierce. From 2008 until 2023 she taught in the Drama department at Vassar College, before becoming the chair of the Department of Theater Arts at the University of Louisville.[1]

Life and career

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Tucker was born in Louisville Kentucky, where she began acting at the Louisville Youth Performing Arts School. While still in high school, she began her long relationship with Actors Theatre of Louisville as assistant to Paul Owen, the resident scenic designer as an intern on The Louisville Zoo 2. She has returned to perform at Actors Theatre in five different plays.

A Fulbright Scholar, a Schomburg Fellow, and an Audelco Award winner,[2] she earned a BS from Northwestern University and MFA in Acting at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.[3] She has served as Professor of Drama at Vassar College from 2008 to the present.[4]

She was a company member at Oregon Shakespeare Festival from 2005 to 2008, acting in such plays as Fences,[5][6] A Midsummer Night's Dream,[7] Gem of the Ocean,[8] and Bus Stop.[9]

Her Off-Broadway theatre credits include productions at New York Theatre Workshop, Lincoln Center Theater Directors' Lab, The Public Theater, Circle in the Square Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, Manhattan Theatre Club, and La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club.

She played the role of Rita in the world premiere of the award-winning play Eclipsed at Yale Repertory Theatre.[10] She also created the roles of Sherry and Dr. Toros in Pulitzer Prize finalist Amy Herzog's Mary Jane, also at Yale Repertory Theatre.[11][12] She created the roles of Angela and Angie in the world premiere of Tough Titty at Williamstown Theatre Festival.[13]

Her feature film credits include: The Hating Game, James Franco's King Cobra (2016), Keane (2004), Preaching to the Choir (2005) and Boys on the Side (1995) with Whoopi Goldberg and Mary-Louise Parker.

Tucker has played roles in a number of television series including New York Undercover (recurring), Queens Supreme, Law & Order, and Third Watch. She has also acted in several TV movies and shorts.

Works

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Stage

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Broadway

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Title Role Venue Notes
To Kill A Mockingbird[14] Ensemble, U/S Calpurnia Shubert Theater Original Broadway Cast
Death of a Salesman[15] U/S Linda Loman, Jazz singer, Miss Forsythe Hudson Theatre Original Broadway Cast

Off-Broadway

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Title Role Venue Notes
Twelfth Night[16][17] Feste Joseph Papp Public Theatre
The African Company Presents Richard III][18] Sarah Joseph Papp Public Theatre Audelco Award
From the Mississippi Delta Phelia Circle in the Square Theatre
Light Shining in Buckinghamshire Hoskins New York Theatre Workshop
Marvin's Room[19] Dr. Charlotte Playwrights Horizons
The Investigation of the Murder in El Salvador [20] Singing Maid New York Theatre Workshop
Imperceptible Mutabilities [21] Buffy Manhattan Theatre Club

Regional Theater

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Title Role Venue Notes
Mary Jane[22] Sherry/Dr. Toros Yale Repertory Theatre Original Cast
Eclipsed[23] Rita Yale Repertory Theatre World Premiere
Love and Information[24] Many Roles American Conservatory Theater
Blithe Spirit[25] Ruth American Conservatory Theater
Tartuffe[26] Elmire American Conservatory Theater
Insurrection[27] Mama Mo'tel American Conservatory Theater
Fences[28] Rose Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Bus Stop[29] Grace Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Romeo and Juliet Lady Capulet Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Gem of the Ocean Black Mary Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Tough Titty Angela Williamstown Theatre Festival

Film

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Year Film Role
2016 King Cobra Detective Banks
2009 Walk the Fish(Short) Woman on the Bus
2005 Preaching to the Choir Claretha
2004 Keane Voice
1998 Trinity Medical Examiner
1995 Boys on the Side Hotel Clerk

Television

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Year Show Role Episode(s)
2011 Lights Out Mary Reade "The Comeback"
2003 Queens Supreme Voice "One Angry Man"
1999 Third Watch Detox Counselor "Anywhere But Here"
1994 New York Undercover Det. Presley "Tasha", "Garbage"
1990-1993 Law & Order Dolores Ruffin (1993), Records Clerk (1990) "Born Bad" (Dolores Ruffin), "Prescription for Death" (Records Clerk)

References

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  1. ^ "Faculty & Staff — Department of Theatre Arts". louisville.edu. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  2. ^ "Yara Arts Group's "Fire Water Night" at La MaMa". BRAMA.
  3. ^ "Drama professor Shona Tucker found roots in television". The Miscellany News. 13 February 2013.
  4. ^ "Shona Tucker - Drama Department". Vassar College.
  5. ^ Varble, Bill. "Review: August Wilson's 'Fences' is poetic, powerful". Mail Tribune.
  6. ^ "Shakespeare Fest: The plays". OregonLive.com. 22 February 2008.
  7. ^ "Beyond 'Othello': African American actors at Oregon Shakespeare Festival". The Oregonian. 20 February 2010.
  8. ^ Varble, Bill. "Wilson's 'Gem' is a diamond in the rough". Mail Tribune.
  9. ^ "'Bus Stop' a journey worth taking with Oregon Shakespeare Festival". East Bay Times. 1 June 2006.
  10. ^ Isherwood, Charles (2 November 2009). "Theater Review - 'Eclipsed' - Prisoners of War and Sex At Yale Rep". The New York Times.
  11. ^ ARNOTT, CHRISTOPHER. "Yale Rep's 'Mary Jane' A Medical Drama With Tears, Hope". Courant.
  12. ^ Teachout, Terry (11 May 2017). "'Mary Jane' Review: An Ordinary Heroine". Wall Street Journal.
  13. ^ RIZZO, FRANK (9 June 2005). "SMART, 'LADY WINDERMERE'S FAN' AT WILLIAMSTOWN". Hartford Courant.
  14. ^ Green, Jesse (13 December 2018). "Review: A Broadway 'Mockingbird,' Elegiac and Effective". The New York Times.
  15. ^ Wild, Stephi (15 September 2022). "DEATH OF A SALESMAN Sets Rush Ticket Policy; Complete Cast Announced". Broadway World.
  16. ^ O'Connor, Patrick (2016). A Directory of Shakespeare in Performance since 1991 (3 ed.). New York City: Springer Publishing Co. p. 1894.
  17. ^ O'Connor, Patrick (2016). A Directory of Shakespeare in Performance since 1991 (3 ed.). New York City: Springer Publishing Co. p. 1894. [verification needed]
  18. ^ Brantley, Ben (19 May 1994). "Review/Theater; Giving Shakespeare a Racial Twist". The New York Times.
  19. ^ "Shona Tucker Theatre Credits". Broadway World.
  20. ^ "NYTW / The Investigation of the Murder in El Salvador". NYTW.
  21. ^ Gussow, Mel (20 September 1989). "Review/Theater; Identity Loss in 'Imperceptible Mutabilities'". The New York Times.
  22. ^ Teachout, Terry (11 May 2017). "'Mary Jane' Review: An Ordinary Heroine". The Wall Street Journal.
  23. ^ BWW News Desk. "Yale Repertory Theatre's ECLIPSED Continues Through 11/14". Broadway World.
  24. ^ "Love and Information - the STAGE REVIEW". the STAGE REVIEW.
  25. ^ "Blithe Spirit at American Conservatory Theater Geary Theater 2001-2002". www.abouttheartists.com.
  26. ^ Harvey, Dennis (28 June 1999). "Tartuffe". Variety.
  27. ^ O'Hara, Robert (1991). Insurrection: Holding History (1 ed.). New York City: Theatre Communications Group. p. 8.
  28. ^ Varble, Bill. "Review: August Wilson's 'Fences' is poetic, powerful". Mail Tribune.
  29. ^ Filichia, Peter. "Stop, Look, and Listen". TheaterMania.com.
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