Laura Benanti

Laura Benanti is a Tony Award-winning actress and Broadway favorite. Her breakthrough theatrical performance came in March 1999 as she was promoted from understudy to star as Maria in the 1998 revival of The Sound of Music. This would be the start of an illustrious Broadway career, which saw her join the cast of Swing! in 1999 and then take on the roles of Cinderella in the 2002 revival of Into the Woods, Claudia in the 2003 revival of Nine, and Julia in the 2006 Broadway premiere of The Wedding Singer. She had already received Tony nominations for her appearances in Swing! and Into the Woods, however it wasn’t until 2008 that she finally took home her first Tony Award for her performance as Louise in the 2008 revival of Gypsy, which starred Patti LuPone as Mama Rose. She recently made headlines as a guest on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” with her spot-on, hilarious impersonation of Melania Trump. Ms. Benanti had a recurring role on “Law and Order: SVU,” “Royal Pains,” and “Eli Stone.” and had appearances on “The Big C” and “Elementary”. Website: LauraBenanti.com. Twitter: @LauraBenanti