July 6, 2009

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PLAYBILL.COM'S CUE & A: Laura Benanti

By Ernio Hernandez
25 Mar 2008

Laura Benanti
Laura Benanti

Laura Benanti — star of Broadway's current revival of Gypsy — fills out Playbill.com's questionnaire with random facts, backstage trivia and pop culture tidbits.


Full given name: Laura Ilene Benanti
Hometown: Kinnelon, NJ (but I was born in Manhattan)
Zodiac sign: Cancer (and I really am...through and through)
Audition song: I sang "One More Kiss" from Follies for my first Broadway audition (The Sound of Music)
Special skills: I don't know. I am learning how to cook and I am actually pretty good so maybe that?
First Broadway show ever saw: The first Broadway show I remember seeing is The Tap Dance Kid.
If you could go back in time and catch any Broadway show, what would it be? I would go back in time and see all the original R and H shows...and I would want to see the original West Side Story and Gypsy.
Current show you have been recommending to friends: August: Osage County. I didn't want it to be over. It is the most astonishing thing I have seen in years. That ensemble of actors went beyond any "acting" I have ever seen.
Favorite showtune: My favorite show tune is literally anything that Stephen Sondheim ever wrote. I am not kissing up. It is true!
MAC or PC? MAC...but it is basically a glorified typewriter to me. I am not computer literate.
One CD you couldn't live without: Tori Amos..."Little Earthquakes."
Last book you read: Arthur Laurents "Original Story By." Again...not kissing up...totally true.
Must-see TV show: "Pushing Daisies." I love that show. Oh...and "Eli Stone." :-)
Favorite card/board game: A variation on solitaire that my grandma taught me. I call her mamoo and I call the game mamoootsie. Favorite board game is "Catch Phrase" my entire family is obsessed.
Pop culture guilty pleasure: Trashy magazines. They are terrible but I convince myself that it all evens out because I also read the New York Times. Much like I convince myself that it's okay to eat French fries because I also eat carrots.
First stage kiss: My first professional stage kiss was Richard Chamberlain. Not to shabby huh?
Favorite pre-/post-show meal: Pre-show: carrots. Post-show: French fries ;-)
How you got your Equity card: Doing Jane Eyre (not the musical) and Man of La Mancha at the wonderful Papermill Playhouse.
Worst flubbed line: When I went up during "Do Re Mi" and a 6-year-old fed me my lines...."A needle pulling thread." Pretty embarrassing.
Who have you played on "Law & Order"? Which edition? I have NEVER been on "Law & Order." Seriously, I hope they read this. I think the time has come.
Worst costume ever: Lets just say that the 80's weren't really my decade.
Favorite cereal: I eat a weird hot cereal called Quinoa flakes. It's actually really good.
Who would play you in the movie? My sister Marielle. She would be great.
Worst job you ever had: Shoveling manure into bags at the farmers market in my town when I was 17. Hysterically enough I was on Broadway three months after that job ended. During tech, I always remind myself that I could be shoveling poo.
What leading lady role have you been dying to play? I have always wanted to play Eliza in My Fair Lady, Fiona in Brigadoon and Fosca in Passion. Not to sound cheesy but playing Louise in Gypsy is a dream. Please don't wake me.



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