Lara Teeter
Encyclopedia
Lara Teeter is an American dancer, actor, singer, theatre director and college professor.
Born in Guthrie, Oklahoma
, Teeter earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Oklahoma City University
. He made his Broadway
debut in the short-lived 1980 musical Happy New Year
, followed by another flop, the stage adaptation of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
(1982). His third effort proved to be the charm, for the 1983 revival of On Your Toes
won him critical recognition and a Tony Award
nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical, in the role originally played by Ray Bolger
in 1936.
Additional Broadway credits include The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
and The Pirates of Penzance
. Off-Broadway and national touring credits include the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz
, The Robber Bridegroom
, She Loves Me
, My Fair Lady
, Little Shop of Horrors
, Singin' in the Rain
, Follies
, and Oklahoma!
. He has appeared with the New York City Opera
in Naughty Marietta
and The Most Happy Fella
at Lincoln Center as well as many productions at The Muny
Theater in St. Louis,Mo. He made his Carnegie Hall
debut in 2000 portraying Henry Higgins in a tribute to the work of Lerner and Loewe and his Lyric Opera of Chicago
debut in 2001 performing the role of Steve Sankey in Street Scene.
Teeter's recordings include On Your Toes
(Broadway Revival Cast, 1983), Lady, Be Good! (Studio Cast, 1992 – first recording ever of the show), The Musicality of Rodgers & Hart (Compilation, 1997) and The Wizard of Oz
(Original New York Cast, 1998 Grammy nomination).
His regional directing credits include My Fair Lady
(Opera Pacific), The Pirates of Penzance
(San Bernardino Civic Light Opera and Light Opera Works of Chicago), Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris
(Hollywood Cinegrill), The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
(Fullerton Civic Light Opera), Ragtime
(Light Opera Works of Chicago), and Candide
(Light Opera Works of Chicago).
Teeter's academic credits include positions at California State University, Fullerton
, Northwestern University
and Shenandoah University
. Since 2007 he has been a faculty member at The Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University
in St. Louis, Mo. where he now serves as an Associate Professor of Theatre and Head of Musical Theatre.
Born in Guthrie, Oklahoma
Guthrie, Oklahoma
Guthrie is a city in and the county seat of Logan County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City Metroplex. The population was 9,925 at the 2000 census.Guthrie was the territorial and later the first state capital for Oklahoma...
, Teeter earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Oklahoma City University
Oklahoma City University
Oklahoma City University, often referred to as OCU, is a coeducational, urban, private university historically affiliated with the United Methodist Church...
. He made his 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 the short-lived 1980 musical Happy New Year
Happy New Year (musical)
Happy New Year is a musical with a book by Burt Shevelove and music and lyrics by Cole Porter.Based on Philip Barry's comic 1928 play Holiday and its subsequent 1930 film adaptation and better known 1938 remake, it focuses on hedonistic young Wall Street attorney Johnny Case who, driven by his...
, followed by another flop, the stage adaptation of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (musical)
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is a musical with a book by Lawrence Kasha and David Landay, music by Gene de Paul, Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn, and lyrics by Johnny Mercer, Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn...
(1982). His third effort proved to be the charm, for the 1983 revival of On Your Toes
On Your Toes
On Your Toes is a musical with a book by Richard Rodgers, George Abbott, and Lorenz Hart, music by Rodgers, and lyrics by Hart. It was adapted into a film in 1939....
won him critical recognition and 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 Best Featured Actor in a Musical, in the role originally played by Ray Bolger
Ray Bolger
Raymond Wallace "Ray" Bolger was an American entertainer of stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of the Scarecrow and Kansas farmworker Hank in The Wizard of Oz.-Early life:...
in 1936.
Additional Broadway credits include The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas is a musical with a book by Texas author Larry L. King and Peter Masterson and music and lyrics by Carol Hall...
and The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...
. Off-Broadway and national touring credits include the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (adaptations)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a 1900 novel by L. Frank Baum, which has been adapted into several different works, the most famous being the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland...
, The Robber Bridegroom
The Robber Bridegroom
For other uses, see The Robber Bridegroom The Robber Bridegroom is a 1942 novella by Eudora Welty.The story, inspired by and loosely based on the Grimm fairy tale The Robber Bridegroom, is a Southern folk tale set in Mississippi. At the opening of the novella, the legendary Mike Fink meets...
, She Loves Me
She Loves Me
She Loves Me is a musical with a book by Joe Masteroff, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and music by Jerry Bock.The musical is the fifth adaptation of the play Parfumerie by Hungarian playwright Miklos Laszlo, following the 1940 James Stewart-Margaret Sullavan film The Shop around the Corner and the...
, My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe...
, Little Shop of Horrors
Little Shop of Horrors (musical)
Little Shop of Horrors is a rock musical, by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman, about a hapless florist shop worker who raises a plant that feeds on human blood. The musical is based on the low-budget 1960 black comedy film The Little Shop of Horrors, directed by Roger Corman...
, Singin' in the Rain
Singin' in the Rain (musical)
Singin' in the Rain is a musical with a book by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, lyrics by Arthur Freed, and music by Nacio Herb Brown.Adapted from the 1952 movie of the same name, the plot closely adheres to the original...
, Follies
Follies
Follies is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The story concerns a reunion in a crumbling Broadway theatre, scheduled for demolition, of the past performers of the "Weismann's Follies," a musical revue , that played in that theatre between the World Wars...
, and Oklahoma!
Oklahoma!
Oklahoma! is the first musical written by composer Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in Oklahoma Territory outside the town of Claremore in 1906, it tells the story of cowboy Curly McLain and his romance...
. He has appeared with the New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
in Naughty Marietta
Naughty Marietta (operetta)
Naughty Marietta is an operetta in two acts, with libretto by Rida Johnson Young and music by Victor Herbert. Set in New Orleans in 1780, it tells how Captain Richard Warrington is commissioned to unmask and capture a notorious French pirate calling himself "Bras Priqué" – and how he is helped and...
and The Most Happy Fella
The Most Happy Fella
The Most Happy Fella is a 1956 musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Frank Loesser. The story, about a romance between an older man and younger woman, is based on the play They Knew What They Wanted by Sidney Howard...
at Lincoln Center as well as many productions at The Muny
The Muny
The Muny, short for The Municipal Theatre Association of St. Louis, is an outdoor musical theatre, located in Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri...
Theater in St. Louis,Mo. He made his 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....
debut in 2000 portraying Henry Higgins in a tribute to the work of Lerner and Loewe and his Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1952, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicolà Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria Callas's American debut in Norma...
debut in 2001 performing the role of Steve Sankey in Street Scene.
Teeter's recordings include On Your Toes
On Your Toes
On Your Toes is a musical with a book by Richard Rodgers, George Abbott, and Lorenz Hart, music by Rodgers, and lyrics by Hart. It was adapted into a film in 1939....
(Broadway Revival Cast, 1983), Lady, Be Good! (Studio Cast, 1992 – first recording ever of the show), The Musicality of Rodgers & Hart (Compilation, 1997) and The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (adaptations)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a 1900 novel by L. Frank Baum, which has been adapted into several different works, the most famous being the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland...
(Original New York Cast, 1998 Grammy nomination).
His regional directing credits include My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe...
(Opera Pacific), The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...
(San Bernardino Civic Light Opera and Light Opera Works of Chicago), Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris
Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris
Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris is an American musical revue of the songs of Jacques Brel.-Original Off-Broadway Production:...
(Hollywood Cinegrill), The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas is a musical with a book by Texas author Larry L. King and Peter Masterson and music and lyrics by Carol Hall...
(Fullerton Civic Light Opera), Ragtime
Ragtime
Ragtime is an original musical genre which enjoyed its peak popularity between 1897 and 1918. Its main characteristic trait is its syncopated, or "ragged," rhythm. It began as dance music in the red-light districts of American cities such as St. Louis and New Orleans years before being published...
(Light Opera Works of Chicago), and Candide
Candide
Candide, ou l'Optimisme is a French satire first published in 1759 by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment. The novella has been widely translated, with English versions titled Candide: or, All for the Best ; Candide: or, The Optimist ; and Candide: or, Optimism...
(Light Opera Works of Chicago).
Teeter's academic credits include positions at California State University, Fullerton
California State University, Fullerton
California State University, Fullerton is a public university located in Fullerton, California. It is the largest institution in the CSU System by enrollment, it offers long-distance education and adult-degree programs...
, Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
and Shenandoah University
Shenandoah University
Shenandoah University is a comprehensive private university located in Winchester, Virginia in the United States. It has an enrollment of approximately 3,800 students across more than ninety programs in six schools: College of Arts & Sciences, Harry F. Byrd, Jr. School of Business, Shenandoah...
. Since 2007 he has been a faculty member at The Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University
Webster University
Webster University is an American non-profit private university with its main campus in Webster Groves, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. Webster University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools...
in St. Louis, Mo. where he now serves as an Associate Professor of Theatre and Head of Musical Theatre.