Priscilla Lopez

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Priscilla Lopez (born February 26, 1948) is an American singer, dancer, and actress.

Born in the Bronx, Lopez has the distinction of having appeared in two Broadway landmarks - one of its greatest hits, the highly-acclaimed, long-running A Chorus Line, and one of its biggest flops, the infamous musical version of Breakfast at Tiffany's, which closed before opening night. Lopez graduated from Manhattan's High School of Performing Arts (PA), where she majored in drama; her experience as a drama student are played out in the musical "A Chorus Line."

Had Tiffany's survived, it would have marked her debut on the Great White Way, but she - along with stars Richard Chamberlain and Mary Tyler Moore - sank in a production plagued with so many problems that its creative team deemed it impossible to fix. From there she moved on to Henry, Sweet Henry, which limped along for two months at the end of 1967. Her luck was no better the following year, when Her First Roman lasted a mere two weeks.

Lopez finally achieved success as a replacement in two shows - Stephen Sondheim's Company (1970), followed by Pippin in 1972. Two years later, she was invited by director and choreographer Michael Bennett to participate in a series of tape-recorded group therapy-style sessions in which chorus boys and girls - AKA "Gypsies" - bared their souls and discussed their lives, dreams, and frustrations. From this emerged A Chorus Line (1975), and Lopez was invited to join the cast portraying Diana Morales, a character patterned very much after herself. She introduced the hit song "What I Did for Love."

In her next production, A Day in Hollywood / A Night in the Ukraine (1980), Lopez stepped out of the ensemble and into the spotlight, utilizing both her comedic and vocal skills. The show had two acts, the first a Jerry Herman mini-musical about the early days of movie making, the second a send-up of the slapstick Marx Brothers movies, with Lopez in the role of Harpo. Both she and the show received rave reviews, and it ran nearly a year-and-a-half. And for this, she earned a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress.

In 1982, Tommy Tune, with whom she had worked in Hollywood/Ukraine, hired her as his assistant on Nine, the musical version of the Federico Fellini film 8½. Midway through the run, she joined the cast as a performer.

Lopez had a starring role in the movie "For the Love of My Child: The Anissa Ayala Story" in 1993. She played a mother, who, along with her husband, conceives a child to provide a suitable bone-marrow donor for their older daughter in 1990. Applauded by many as one of her best performances.

Lopez also appeared on Broadway in the critically-acclaimed play Anna in the Tropics (2003).

Her off-Broadway credits include Other People's Money, Key Exchange, Extremities, The Oldest Profession, Beauty of the Father and Class Mothers '68, for which she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award as Best Actress. She also was featured in the City Center Encores! production of Babes in Arms.

Lopez's television work includes several episodes of L.A. Law (in which she guest-starred as a judge), Law & Order, All in the Family, Trapper John, M.D., and Cosby.

She appeared in Maid in Manhattan with Jennifer Lopez, and recently completed the film version of the long-running off-Broadway hit, Tony 'n' Tina's Wedding.

Lopez currently appears in the 2008 hit musical, In The Heights, in the role of Camila, at the Richard Rodgers Theatre.

[edit] Awards and nominations

  • 1980 Tony Award Best Featured Actress in a Musical for A Day in Hollywood / A Night in the Ukraine (winner)
  • 1976 Tony Award Best Featured Actress in a Musical for A Chorus Line (nominee)
  • 1976 Obie Award for A Chorus Line (winner)
  • 1976 Theatre World Special Award for Ensemble Performance for A Chorus Line (winner)

[edit] External links


Awards
Preceded by
Carlin Glynn
for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas		 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical
1980
for A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine		 Succeeded by
Marilyn Cooper
for Woman of the Year