Jennifer Laura Thompson
Encyclopedia
Jennifer Laura Thompson (born December 5, 1969 in Southfield, Michigan
) is an American
stage
actress and singer. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts
in Musical Theatre from the University of Michigan
and graduated in 1991.
Thompson made her Broadway
debut in 1998 as Ariel Moore in the original cast of Footloose
. She also originated the role of Hope Cladwell in both the off-Broadway
and Broadway productions of Urinetown
. She received a Tony Award
nomination for the 2002 Best Leading Actress in a Musical
category for her performance as Hope in Urinetown; the award went to Sutton Foster
for her performance in Thoroughly Modern Millie
.
She was then cast as Kristin Chenoweth
's replacement (for the role of Glinda
) in the Broadway hit musical Wicked
at the Gershwin Theatre. Her first performance took place on July 20, 2004 and she continued in the role for over ten months, departing the company on May 29, 2005. She was replaced by Megan Hilty
, who had served as her standby. Thompson would later return to the theatre on October 27, 2008, to take part in a one-off performance titled "The Yellow Brick Road Not Taken", a presentation of rough scenes and songs cut from early drafts of Wicked.
Off-Broadway
, Thompson played the lead role of Charlotte in the Michael John LaChiusa
musical, Little Fish
at the Second Stage Theatre. She also appeared in A Doll's Life at the York Theatre, Good News at the Westchester Broadway Theatre (as Connie), Pardon My English
, Strike up the Band!, and most recently, Of Thee I Sing
for City Center Encores!
, and Tip-Toes
at Carnegie Hall
. She played Julie Jordan in the first national tour of Carousel
, and appeared in national tours for Jesus Christ Superstar
(as Mary) and The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber
. Regionally, she has played roles such as Laura in The Glass Menagerie
, Corie in Barefoot in the Park
and Luisa in The Fantasticks
. She has also made a guest appearance on television
's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
.
She also starred in the Encores!
production of On the Town which ran from November 19–23, 2008.
Thompson most recently starred as Diana in the Broadway revival of Lend Me a Tenor
, which officially opened April 4, 2010 at the Music Box Theatre
.
On December 17, 2010 it was announced that she will be featured in the premiere of the presumably Broadway-bound musical version of the film Little Miss Sunshine
at the La Jolla Playhouse
in La Jolla, California. Little Miss Sunshine
will run from Feb. 15-March 27, 2011.
Thompson has a husband, John, and a son, Tommy.
Southfield, Michigan
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which 0.04% is water. The main branch of the River Rouge runs through Southfield. The city is bounded to the south by Eight Mile Road, its western border is Inkster Road, and to the east it is bounded by Greenfield Road...
) is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
stage
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 and singer. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts
Bachelor of Fine Arts
In the United States and Canada, the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, usually abbreviated BFA, is the standard undergraduate degree for students seeking a professional education in the visual or performing arts. In some countries such a degree is called a Bachelor of Creative Arts or BCA...
in Musical Theatre from the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
and graduated in 1991.
Thompson 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 in 1998 as Ariel Moore in the original cast of Footloose
Footloose (musical)
Footloose is a 1998 musical based on the 1984 film of the same name. The music is by Tom Snow , the lyrics by Dean Pitchford , and the book by Pitchford and Walter Bobbie.-Act 1:...
. She also originated the role of Hope Cladwell in both the off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
and Broadway productions of Urinetown
Urinetown
Urinetown: The Musical is a satirical comedy musical, with music by Mark Hollmann, lyrics by Hollmann and Greg Kotis, and book by Kotis. It satirizes the legal system, capitalism, social irresponsibility, populism, bureaucracy, corporate mismanagement, and municipal politics...
. She received a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
nomination for the 2002 Best Leading Actress in a Musical
Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical
The Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical is the Tony Awards award given to the actress who was voted as the best leading actress in a musical, whether a new production or a revival...
category for her performance as Hope in Urinetown; the award went to Sutton Foster
Sutton Foster
Sutton Lenore Foster is an American actress, singer and dancer. Foster has received two Tony Awards, in 2002 for her role of Millie Dillmount in Thoroughly Modern Millie and in 2011 for her role of Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes...
for her performance in Thoroughly Modern Millie
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Thoroughly Modern Millie is a 1967 American musical film directed by George Roy Hill and starring Julie Andrews. The screenplay by Richard Morris focuses on a naive young woman who finds herself in the midst of a series of madcap adventures when she sets her sights on marrying her wealthy boss.The...
.
She was then cast as Kristin Chenoweth
Kristin Chenoweth
Kristin Chenoweth is an American singer and actress, with credits in musical theatre, film and television. She is best known on Broadway for her performance as Sally Brown in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown , for which she won a Tony Award, and for originating the role of Glinda in the musical...
's replacement (for the role of Glinda
Glinda
Glinda is a fictional character in the Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. She is the most powerful sorceress of Oz, ruler of the Quadling Country south of the Emerald City, and protector of Princess Ozma.- Literature :Baum's 1900 children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
) in the Broadway hit musical 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...
at the Gershwin Theatre. Her first performance took place on July 20, 2004 and she continued in the role for over ten months, departing the company on May 29, 2005. She was replaced by Megan Hilty
Megan Hilty
Megan Kathleen Hilty is an American stage and television actress.- Early years :Hilty was born in Bellevue, Washington and is the daughter of Jack and Donna Hilty. She attended Sammamish High School in Bellevue and the Washington Academy of Performing Arts Conservatory High School in Redmond,...
, who had served as her standby. Thompson would later return to the theatre on October 27, 2008, to take part in a one-off performance titled "The Yellow Brick Road Not Taken", a presentation of rough scenes and songs cut from early drafts of Wicked.
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
, Thompson played the lead role of Charlotte in the Michael John LaChiusa
Michael John LaChiusa
Michael John LaChiusa is an American musical theatre and opera composer, lyricist, and librettist. He is best known for complex, musically challenging shows such as Hello Again, Marie Christine, The Wild Party, and See What I Wanna See...
musical, Little Fish
Little Fish (musical)
Little Fish is a musical with music, lyrics and book by Michael John LaChiusa. The musical is suggested by two short stories by Deborah Eisenberg, "Days " and "Flotsam ". It concerns a group of friends living in New York City, one of whom, Charlotte, decides to stop smoking and then swims to...
at the Second Stage Theatre. She also appeared in A Doll's Life at the York Theatre, Good News at the Westchester Broadway Theatre (as Connie), Pardon My English
Pardon My English
Pardon My English is a musical with a book by Herbert Fields and Morrie Ryskind, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and music by George Gershwin. Set in 1933 Dresden, the farcical plot satirizes the Prohibition era.-Production history:Producers Alex A...
, Strike up the Band!, and most recently, Of Thee I Sing
Of Thee I Sing
Of Thee I Sing is a musical with a score by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and a book by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind. The musical lampoons American politics; the story concerns John P. Wintergreen, who runs for President of the United States on the "love" platform...
for City Center Encores!
Encores!
Encores! Great American Musicals in Concert is a program that has been presented by New York City Center since 1994. Encores! is dedicated to performing the full score of musicals that rarely are heard in New York City...
, and Tip-Toes
Tip-Toes
Tip-Toes is a musical with a book by Guy Bolton and Fred Thompson , lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and music by George Gershwin. It centers on a vaudeville act known as the Three Kayes - composed of Al, Uncle Hen, and Tip-Toes - who try to pass themselves off as aristocrats in the upper class community of...
at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
. She played Julie Jordan in the first national tour of Carousel
Carousel (musical)
Carousel is the second stage musical by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II . The work premiered in 1945 and was adapted from Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play Liliom, transplanting its Budapest setting to the Maine coastline...
, and appeared in national tours for Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Tim Rice. The musical started off as a rock opera concept recording before its first staging on Broadway in 1971...
(as Mary) and The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
. Regionally, she has played roles such as Laura in The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie is a four-character memory play by Tennessee Williams. Williams worked on various drafts of the play prior to writing a version of it as a screenplay for MGM, to whom Williams was contracted...
, Corie in Barefoot in the Park
Barefoot in the Park
This article is about the Broadway production. For the film adaptation see Barefoot in the Park .Barefoot in the Park is a romantic comedy by Neil Simon. The original Broadway production, directed by Mike Nichols, opened October 23, 1963, with the four lead roles taken by actors Elizabeth Ashley ,...
and Luisa in The Fantasticks
The Fantasticks
The Fantasticks is a 1960 musical with music by Harvey Schmidt and lyrics by Tom Jones. It was produced by Lore Noto. It tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the play "The Romancers" by Edmond Rostand, concerning two neighboring fathers who trick their children, Luisa and Matt, into...
. She has also made a guest appearance on television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced...
.
She also starred in the Encores!
Encores!
Encores! Great American Musicals in Concert is a program that has been presented by New York City Center since 1994. Encores! is dedicated to performing the full score of musicals that rarely are heard in New York City...
production of On the Town which ran from November 19–23, 2008.
Thompson most recently starred as Diana in the Broadway revival of Lend Me a Tenor
Lend Me a Tenor
Lend Me a Tenor is a comedy by Ken Ludwig. The play was produced on both the West End and Broadway . Although it received seven Tony Award nominations, it won only one, for Best Actor. A Broadway revival opened in 2010. Lend Me a Tenor has been translated into sixteen languages and produced in...
, which officially opened April 4, 2010 at the Music Box Theatre
Music Box Theatre
The Music Box Theater is a Broadway theatre located at 239 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan.The once most aptly named theater on Broadway, the intimate Music Box was designed by architect C. Howard Crane and constructed by composer Irving Berlin and producer Sam H. Harris specifically to...
.
On December 17, 2010 it was announced that she will be featured in the premiere of the presumably Broadway-bound musical version of the film Little Miss Sunshine
Little Miss Sunshine
Little Miss Sunshine is a 2006 American comedy-drama film. The road movie's plot follows a family's trip to a children's beauty pageant.Little Miss Sunshine was the directorial film debut of the husband-wife team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. The screenplay was written by first-time writer...
at the La Jolla Playhouse
La Jolla Playhouse
La Jolla Playhouse is a not-for-profit, professional theatre-in-residence on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. -Background:...
in La Jolla, California. Little Miss Sunshine
Little Miss Sunshine (musical)
Little Miss Sunshine is a musical adapted from the 2006 film of the same name, with music and lyrics by William Finn and book and direction by James Lapine...
will run from Feb. 15-March 27, 2011.
Thompson has a husband, John, and a son, Tommy.