Coleen Sexton
Encyclopedia
Coleen Sexton is an American stage
actress who made her Broadway
debut at age 20 in Frank Wildhorn
and Leslie Bricusse
's Jekyll & Hyde
in 2000. She portrayed the starring role of Lucy Harris in the Broadway production, as an understudy from 1999, and took over the role from Luba Mason in January 2000. She can be seen on the DVD of the show starring Andrea Rivette as Emma Carew and David Hasslehoff in the title role. Before making her debut in Jekyll and Hyde Coleen was a singer/performer in a Germany based band called 5NY.
. When she took over the role, she had performed with Jack Wagner
(January to June '00), Sebastian Bach
(From June to October '00), and the show's final star David Hasselhoff
(From October to January '01). Furthermore, Joseph Mahowald was the alternate until October '00, when the original alternate Rob Evan
came back to the show for its final months. In December 2000, camera crews came in to film the show, live from the audience, which starred Sexton, Andrea Rivette, and Hasselhoff, who himself funded the project. It appeared on HBO several times in early 2001, and was released in September 2001. It has since been re-released, in November 2006, but has not seen on television
since 2003. Coleen has also toured with the Broadway National touring company of Chicago
, from 2004 until 2005.
In 2007, Coleen was the standby
for Elphaba
on the first North American tour of Wicked
. She joined the tour on January 3, 2007, and left October 28, 2007, playing the role in the absence of lead star Victoria Matlock
. Her first performance took place in Providence
on January 17, when she replaced Matlock mid-show.
Sexton was also in the national tour of Legally Blonde
, as exercise queen Brooke Wyndham.
Sexton is currently playing the role of Lady of the Lake
in Spamalot
at The Gateway Playhouse
until July 30th 2011.
Raised in Westfield, New Jersey
, Sexton wet into acting after graduating from Westfield High School
.
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
actress who made her Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
debut at age 20 in Frank Wildhorn
Frank Wildhorn
Frank Wildhorn is an American composer known for both his musicals and popular songs. He is most known for his musical Jekyll & Hyde, which ran four years on Broadway, and for writing the #1 International Hit song "Where Do Broken Hearts Go?" for Whitney Houston.-Early years:Wildhorn was born in...
and Leslie Bricusse
Leslie Bricusse
Leslie Bricusse is an English composer, lyricist, and playwright.Although best known for his partnership with Anthony Newley, Bricusse has worked with many other composers. He was educated at University College School in London and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge...
's Jekyll & Hyde
Jekyll & Hyde (musical)
Jekyll & Hyde is a musical based on the novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. The original stage conception was by Steve Cuden and Frank Wildhorn. The music is by Wildhorn and the lyrics and book are by Leslie Bricusse.The musical ran on Broadway for 1,543...
in 2000. She portrayed the starring role of Lucy Harris in the Broadway production, as an understudy from 1999, and took over the role from Luba Mason in January 2000. She can be seen on the DVD of the show starring Andrea Rivette as Emma Carew and David Hasslehoff in the title role. Before making her debut in Jekyll and Hyde Coleen was a singer/performer in a Germany based band called 5NY.
Theatre career
Her biggest role to date was Lucy, as stated in Jekyll & Hyde. Sexton is the only actress to play Lucy who had been seen with every Jekyll/Hyde, except for the original Robert CuccioliRobert Cuccioli
Robert Cuccioli is an American actor and singer born in Hempstead, New York. He is best known for originating the lead dual title roles in the musical Jekyll and Hyde, for which he received a Tony Award nomination and won the Joseph Jefferson Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award, the Drama Desk...
. When she took over the role, she had performed with Jack Wagner
Jack Wagner (actor)
Peter John "Jack" Wagner, II is an American actor and singer, best-known for his roles on the soap operas General Hospital, The Bold and the Beautiful, and Melrose Place.-Early years:...
(January to June '00), Sebastian Bach
Sebastian Bach
Sebastian Bach is a Canadian heavy metal singer who achieved mainstream success as frontman of Skid Row from 1987 to 1996. Since his departure from Skid Row, he has had many television roles, acted within Broadway plays, and leads a successful solo career.-Early life:Bach was born Sebastian...
(From June to October '00), and the show's final star David Hasselhoff
David Hasselhoff
David Michael Hasselhoff is an American actor, singer, producer and businessman. He is best known for his lead roles as Michael Knight in the popular 1980s US series Knight Rider and as L.A. County Lifeguard Mitch Buchannon in the series Baywatch...
(From October to January '01). Furthermore, Joseph Mahowald was the alternate until October '00, when the original alternate Rob Evan
Rob Evan
Rob Evan is a singer and actor, best known as a lead performer in numerous Broadway musicals, a performer in national and international tours of musical productions, and a featured vocalist on several music albums.-Personal:...
came back to the show for its final months. In December 2000, camera crews came in to film the show, live from the audience, which starred Sexton, Andrea Rivette, and Hasselhoff, who himself funded the project. It appeared on HBO several times in early 2001, and was released in September 2001. It has since been re-released, in November 2006, but has not seen on television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
since 2003. Coleen has also toured with the Broadway National touring company of Chicago
Chicago (musical)
Chicago is a musical set in Prohibition-era Chicago. The music is by John Kander with lyrics by Fred Ebb and a book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal"...
, from 2004 until 2005.
In 2007, Coleen was the standby
Understudy
In theater, an understudy is a performer who learns the lines and blocking/choreography of a regular actor or actress in a play. Should the regular actor or actress be unable to appear on stage because of illness or emergencies, the understudy takes over the part...
for Elphaba
Elphaba
Elphaba Thropp is a fictional character in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, as well as in the Broadway and West End adaptations, Wicked. In the original L. Frank Baum book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch of the West is unnamed and little...
on the first North American tour of Wicked
Wicked (musical)
Wicked is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman. It is based on the Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West , a parallel novel of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and L. Frank Baum's classic story The Wonderful Wizard...
. She joined the tour on January 3, 2007, and left October 28, 2007, playing the role in the absence of lead star Victoria Matlock
Victoria Matlock
Victoria Matlock is an American musical theatre actress. She appeared in the Broadway production of Million Dollar Quartet in the role of Dyanne..She has been involved in several regional theatre productions including Godspell and The Sound of Music...
. Her first performance took place in Providence
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
on January 17, when she replaced Matlock mid-show.
Sexton was also in the national tour of Legally Blonde
Legally Blonde (musical)
Legally Blonde is a musical with music and lyrics by Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin and book by Heather Hach. The story is based on the novel Legally Blonde by Amanda Brown and the 2001 film of the same name. It tells the story of Elle Woods, a sorority girl who enrolls at Harvard Law School to...
, as exercise queen Brooke Wyndham.
Sexton is currently playing the role of Lady of the Lake
Lady of the Lake
The Lady of the Lake is the name of several related characters who play parts in the Arthurian legend. These characters' roles include giving King Arthur his sword Excalibur, enchanting Merlin, and raising Lancelot after the death of his father...
in Spamalot
Spamalot
Monty Python's Spamalot is a musical comedy "lovingly ripped off from" the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Like the film, it is a highly irreverent parody of the Arthurian Legend, but it differs from the film in many ways, especially in its parodies of Broadway theatre...
at The Gateway Playhouse
Gateway Playhouse
Gateway Playhouse is a summer theatre located on the eastern edge of Bellport, Long Island. The street address is 215 South Country Road. It's the oldest of three professional theatres on the island and nationally recognized as one of the top ten summer theatres in the nation. Gateway Playhouse...
until July 30th 2011.
Raised in Westfield, New Jersey
Westfield, New Jersey
Westfield is a town in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town population was 30,316. The old village area, now the downtown district, was settled in 1720 as part of the Elizabethtown Tract....
, Sexton wet into acting after graduating from Westfield High School
Westfield High School (New Jersey)
Westfield Senior High School, or simply, Westfield High School is the only public high school located in Westfield, in Union County, New Jersey, operating as part of the Westfield Public Schools. It was established in the early 1900s at its original location on Elm Street until 1951 when it was...
.