More Info on Judy KuhnSimilar Undetermined MusicSearch Artistopia
Biography
Infobox musical artist| image =| caption = Judy Kuhn| birth_date = birth date and age|1958|05|20| birth_place = New York City, New York , U.S.| occupation = Singer, actress| years_active = 1990–present| background=solo_singer Judy Kuhn (born May 20, 1958) is an United States|American mezzo-soprano singer and actress.
Life and career
Kuhn (pronounced "coon") was born in New York City and grew up in Bethesda, Maryland . She attended Georgetown Day School in Washington, D.C.
She entered Oberlin College in 1976. Although she was very interested in singing and theater, she began Oberlin in the College, not the Conservatory. After taking voice lessons with http://www.laopera.com/artist/farina.franco.aspx Frank Farinaduring her freshman year, Kuhn decided to transfer into the conservatory. She transferred her sophomore year. Unlike other Oberlin Conservatory vocal performance majors, Kuhn was never interested in singing classical music, preferring musical theater and other types of music instead. Citation needed|date=September 2011 She trained as a classical soprano and graduated in 1981. After college, she moved to Boston, where she waited tables and studied acting.
After appearing in summer stock, Kuhn moved to New York where she was cast in the U.S touring production of The King and I (musical)|The King and I with Yul Brynner .
1985-1989
Her Broadway debut was in The Mystery of Edwin Drood (musical)|The Mystery of Edwin Drood , a Rupert Holmes musical based on the unfinished Charles Dickens novel, in 1985. Her next appearance was in the ill-fated Rags (musical)|Rags , which closed after just four performances but managed to attract some Tony nominations. Her next role of Cosette in the 1987 multiple award winning Broadway production of Les Misérables (musical)|Les Misérables brought her the first Tony Award nomination, as Best Featured Actress in a Musical, Drama Desk Award nomination as Outstanding Featured Actress in A Musical. Citation needed|date=September 2011 The following year, Kuhn took on a transfer from London 's West End of London|West End , playing one of the main roles (Florence Vassy) in the Trevor Nunn -directed Chess (musical)|Chess , with music by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus (formerly of ABBA ) and lyrics by Tim Rice . Despite the show's success in London, Trevor Nunn decided to rework it for Broadway from a pop/rock opera as staged in London into a more conventional musical theater piece with a new book by Richard Nelson . As a result, the new show was greeted with mostly negative reviews and closed after less than a two-month run. Kuhn's performance in the musical, however, received unanimous praise from the critics. "Her beautiful pop-soprano voice is the show's chief pleasure. She acts the sympathetic, gutsy role with spirit and heart", wrote Variety (magazine)|Variety . Village Voice|The Village Voice noted that "she pours a river of feeling and lush vocal tone into...the role". She garnered her second Tony Award nomination, this time as Best Actress in a Musical, and a Drama Desk Award nomination as Outstanding Actress in a Musical. In addition, The Original Broadway Cast recording of the musical was nominated for a Grammy Award .
She reprised her role of Florence Vassy later in 1988 in a Carnegie Hall concert performance with the rest of the Broadway cast, and in a 1989 concert version in Skelleftea , Sweden, during a chess World Cup final tournament, where she joined forces with Tommy Korberg and Murray Head , two principal actors from 1986 West End of London|West End production of the musical.
Kuhn made her London debut in 1989, when she starred in the West End of London|West End production of Metropolis (musical)|Metropolis , for which she received an Olivier Award nomination as Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical|Best Actress in a Musical .
1990-1996
Kuhn's next major Broadway project Two Shakespearean Actors (1992), despite an impressive cast that included Brian Bedford , Frances Conroy , Hope Davis , Victor Garber , Laura Innes and Eric Stoltz , was again commercially unsuccessful, closing after 62 performances.
In 1993, Kuhn took part in a Roundabout Theater Company 's revival of She Loves Me , based on the film The Shop Around the Corner , portraying Amalia Balash, a young Budapest shopgirl who is unaware that the co-worker she despises is the young man with whom she's been sharing an anonymous correspondence. Her performance earned her a third Tony Award nomination.
Later in 1993, Kuhn played the role of Betty Schaefer in the U.S premier production of Sunset Boulevard (musical)|Sunset Boulevard at the Shubert Theatre in Los Angeles. The L.A production recorded a cast album, which is the only unabridged cast recording of the show, the original London recording being cut by thirty minutes.
Regional theatre credits in the early 1990s include, The Glass Menagerie at the McCarter Theatre in 1991 and Martin Guerre , a Hartford Stage production in 1993.
Kuhn reprised her role as Cosette in 1995, for the 10th anniversary concert performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London, which was released on DVD as Les Miserables: The Dream Cast in Concert . 1995 also saw the release of her first solo album Just in Time: Judy Kuhn sings Jule Styne
Kuhn sang the title role in the 1995 Disney animated film, Pocahontas (1995 film)|Pocahontas , the film included her rendition of the song Colors of the Wind , which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for its composers Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz . Kuhn would go on to sing as Pocahontas in the straight-to-video sequel Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World and in If You Can Dream , a Disney Princess song.
1997-2006
Kuhn appeared in the Broadway concert, King David (musical)|King David which was a 1997 The Walt Disney Company|Disney project with a book and lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Alan Menken and directed by Mike Ockrent , but despite its impressive credits it never evolved into a full-scale production. It played for a nine-performance limited run at the New Amsterdam Theatre . Again at the New Amsterdam theatre, Funny Girl (musical)|Funny Girl in 2002, with an all-star cast - including a series of different actresses taking on the role of Fanny Brice - was the much-anticipated second annual benefit for The Actors' Fund, with Kuhn singing the plaintive "Who Are You Now? " Citation needed|date=September 2011 In 1998 Kuhn briefly appeared in the film Long Time Since and supplied the vocals for the movie's haunting soundtrack , which includes a rendition of Auld Lang Syne
Kuhn's off-Broadway and regional theater credits in this period include, As Thousands Cheer off-Broadway in 1998 at the Drama Department, Greenwich House Theatre, Strike up the Band (musical)|Strike up the Band off-Broadway Encores! Concerts in 1998 at the New York City Center Theatre, the title role in The Ballad of Little Jo in 2000 at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago , ''Eli's Comin off-Broadway in 2001 at the Vineyard Theatre Company ( for which she won an Obie Award ) The Highest Yellow in 2004 at the Signature Theater Company in Virginia and Three Sisters in 2005 at the Intiman Theatre Company in Seattle.
Her television credits include Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU , All My Children and two Public Broadcasting Service|PBS productions - My Favorite Broadway: The Leading Ladies and In Performance At The White House . Kuhn has performed in concert at Carnegie Hall , Alice Tully Hall , and Avery Fisher Hall in Manhattan , and at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
2007-Present
On October 23, 2007, Kuhn returned to the Broadway Production of Les Misérables after 20 years, but this time assuming the role of Fantine . She succeeded Lea Salonga and remained with the show until the revival ended on January 6, 2008. http://www.playbill.com/news/article/111107.html Playbill News: I Am My Own Mom: Judy Kuhn, Once a Cosette, Will Play Fantine in Les Miz
October 2007 also saw the release of Kuhn's second solo album Serious Playground: The Songs of Laura Nyro
Kuhn also teaches a song interpretation class at Michael Howard Studios in New York City. Citation needed|date=September 2011 In 2012, it was announced that Kuhn is set to play Fosca in the upcoming Classic Stage Revival of the Stephen Sondheim , James Lapine musical Passion (musical)|Passion . http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/19/judy-kuhn-and-melissa-errico-cast-in-passion-revival/ Kuhn has previously played the role of Fosca in 2002 in Washington D.C, for a limited run, as part of the Stephen Sondheim celebration at the Kennedy Center. http://www.sondheimguide.com/passion.html#KC
Personal life
Kuhn currently lives with her husband and daughter in New York City.
Discography
The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1985 Original Broadway Cast) - Grammy Award nomination
Les Misérables (1987 Original Broadway Cast) - Grammy Award
Chess (1988 Original Broadway Cast) - Grammy Award nomination
Note: The Grammy nominations are credited to the composers and producers and not the artists, the Grammy for Les Miserables was awarded to Claude-Michel Schönberg (composer and producer), Herbert Kretzmer (lyricist) and Alain Boublil (producer).
Awards and nominations
1987 Tony Award for Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical|Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Les Miserables - nominated
1987 Drama Desk Award for Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical|Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Les Miserables & Rags (musical)|Rags - nominated
1988 Tony Award Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical|Best Lead Actress in a Musical for Chess (musical)|Chess - nominated
1988 Drama Desk Award for Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical|Best Actress in a Musical for Chess - nominated
1989 Olivier Award for Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical|Best Actress in a Musical for Metropolis (musical)|Metropolis - nominated
1994 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for She Loves Me - nominated
2001 Obie Award for "Performance" for Eli's Comin - won
References
reflist
External links
http://www.judykuhn.net/ Judy Kuhn's Official Website
http://darkestnight.strangely-funny.net/ darkestnight: the works of Alain Boubil & Claude-Michel Schönberg
http://www.sh-k-boom.com/JudyKuhn.html Judy Kuhn's Serious Playground Album on Ghostlight Records
Persondata | NAME =Kuhn, Judy | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH =May 20, 1958 | PLACE OF BIRTH = New York City , New York , USA | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH =
it:Judy Kuhn
DEFAULTSORT:Kuhn, Judy Category:1958 births Category:Actors from Maryland Category:American female singers Category:American musical theatre actors Category:American mezzo-sopranos Category:American voice actors Category:Living people Category:Oberlin College alumni Category:People from Bethesda, Maryland
Copyright Citations
This article is licensed under the GNU License
Click here for original article: Judy Kuhn
