| Carmen Cusack | |
|---|---|
| Born | Carmen Cusack Denver, Colorado |
Carmen Cusack (originally from Denver, Colorado) is a musical theater actress and singer, best known for playing Elphaba in the Chicago, National Tour and Melbourne productions of the hit musical Wicked.
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Carmen was born in Denver, Colorado and at a young age started to sing at her church. She attended the University of North Texas and graduated with a Performing Arts degree. She trained in Opera, Ballet, Jazz, and Tap.[1]
After completing school she accepted a job on the Queen Elizabeth II, which changed the course of her career. She eventually ended up in Manchester, United Kingdom where she had her breakthrough opportunity to star as Christine Daae in The Phantom of the Opera. Soon after she made her West End debut as Fantine in Les Misérables. She also appeared in the original West End casts of The Secret Garden and Personals.
Cusack later returned to America, and on December 12, 2006, joined the Chicago production of Wicked as the standby for the lead role of Elphaba. Impressed with her portrayal of the character, the producers later asked her to star in the lead role on the show's First National Tour. She accepted, and departed Chicago on October 7, 2007. Her role as standby was taken over by Jennifer DiNoia.
She began performances on tour, replacing Victoria Matlock, on November 6, 2007. She starred alongside Katie Rose Clarke as Glinda. After spending one year on the road, she departed the role on November 2, 2008, and was replaced by Donna Vivino, who served as her standby.
Cusack was next seen in the Melbourne production in Australia, as the temporary standby for Elphaba, as Amanda Harrison had taken a break from the show, due to illness, and regular standby Jemma Rix had been assigned the lead role. She joined the company on June 10, 2009 and departed on Friday July 10, 2009, to begin rehearsals for South Pacific.
She recently starred as Nellie Forbush on the First National Tour of South Pacific. Based on the 2008 Broadway revival, performances began September 18, 2009 in San Francisco.[2] For this role Cusack was nominated for the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Non Resident Production.[3]
She will originate the role of Miss Gardener in the Off-Broadway revival of Carrie - The Musical, which will begin performances at the Lucille Lortel Theatre on January 31, 2012.[4]