Susan Watson
Encyclopedia
Susan Watson is an American
actress and singer best known for her roles in musical theatre
.
Watson's first professional role was Velma in the original West End
production of West Side Story in 1958. She created the role of Luisa in The Fantasticks
and then played Kim on Broadway
in Bye Bye Birdie, beginning in 1960. Among many other roles in musicals, she was nominated for a Tony Award
for the role of Jenny in A Joyful Noise
(1966). She starred in the title role of the Broadway revival of No, No Nanette in 1971. Watson also appeared in several television series and specials.
, Watson was one of five children of a geologist
/geophysicist and a dance instructor. From an early age her life was filled with the music of Gilbert and Sullivan
and Rodgers and Hammerstein
. As a teenager she performed in summer stock
before being accepted at the Juilliard School
in Manhattan
. Her studies there were interrupted when she accepted a role as Velma and understudy for Maria in the original West End
production of West Side Story in 1958.
Stopping in Paris
after the show's run, Watson met her future sister-in-law, who was dating Tom Jones
and urged Watson to contact him when she arrived in New York City
. Jones and partner Harvey Schmidt
cast her in the lead role of Louisa, "The Girl", in their one-act musical
The Fantasticks
, which ran for one week in 1959, at Barnard College
's Minor Latham Playhouse, while the creative team tried to raise financing for an off-Broadway
production. While biding her time, Watson appeared in a revue
entitled Follies of 1910. Gower Champion
, who was in the process of casting Bye Bye Birdie, noticed Watson in Follies and offered her a role. She played the role of Kim throughout the entire Broadway
run (April 1960 - October 1961). She finally returned to The Fantasticks when it was televised by the Hallmark Hall of Fame
in 1964.
Following a national tour of Carnival, Watson returned to New York to play opposite Robert Preston
in Ben Franklin in Paris
(1964), a Lincoln Center revival of Carousel
(1965) as Carrie with John Raitt
and Jerry Orbach
, a New York City Center
staging of Where's Charley?
, and Jenny in the short-lived musical A Joyful Noise
(1966) (again with Raitt), for which she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
.
Watson reunited with Jones and Schmidt for their musical Celebration
, which opened on Broadway in January 1969 at the Ambassador Theatre
and played in Beggar on Horseback
(1970) in repertory
at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre
at Lincoln Center before taking on the title role in the Broadway revival of No, No Nanette (1971) with Ruby Keeler
. She appeared at the William Inge Theatre Festival in Independence, Kansas
, in a tribute to Jones and Schmidt on April 25, 2009.
Watson's television credits include several episodes of the Bell Telephone Hour (1964–1966) and guest appearances on the television series Newhart
(1982), St. Elsewhere
(1984), Wings (1993), and the soap opera
General Hospital
(1987). She is one of dozens of Broadway musical performers in the documentary
Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age, scheduled for broadcast on PBS in 2010.
Watson is a founding member of the Musical Theatre Guild, a group of professionals who perform musicals at the Pasadena Playhouse
, California.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actress and singer best known for her roles in musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
.
Watson's first professional role was Velma in the original West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
production of West Side Story in 1958. She created the role of 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...
and then played Kim on 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...
in Bye Bye Birdie, beginning in 1960. Among many other roles in musicals, she was nominated for 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...
for the role of Jenny in A Joyful Noise
A Joyful Noise
A Joyful Noise is a musical with a book by Edward Padula and music and lyrics by Oscar Brand and Paul Nassau. The 1966 Broadway production was a flop but introduced choreographer Michael Bennett in his Broadway debut....
(1966). She starred in the title role of the Broadway revival of No, No Nanette in 1971. Watson also appeared in several television series and specials.
Biography
Born in Tulsa, OklahomaTulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
, Watson was one of five children of a geologist
Geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...
/geophysicist and a dance instructor. From an early age her life was filled with the music of Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
and Rodgers and Hammerstein
Rodgers and Hammerstein
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were a well-known American songwriting duo, usually referred to as Rodgers and Hammerstein. They created a string of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age of the medium...
. As a teenager she performed in summer stock
Summer Stock
For the article about the theatre genre, see Summer stock theatre.Summer Stock is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical made in 1950. The film was directed by Charles Walters and stars Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Eddie Bracken, Gloria DeHaven, Marjorie Main, and Phil Silvers...
before being accepted at the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. Her studies there were interrupted when she accepted a role as Velma and understudy for Maria in the original West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
production of West Side Story in 1958.
Stopping in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
after the show's run, Watson met her future sister-in-law, who was dating Tom Jones
Tom Jones (writer)
Tom Jones is a lyricist of musical theatre. His best known work is The Fantasticks, which ran off-Broadway from 1960 until 2002, and the hit song from the same, Try to Remember. Other songs from "The Fantasticks" include "Soon It's Gonna Rain", "Much More" and "I Can See It"...
and urged Watson to contact him when she arrived in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Jones and partner Harvey Schmidt
Harvey Schmidt
Harvey Lester Schmidt is an American composer for musical theatre. He is best known for composing the music for the longest running musical in history, The Fantasticks, which ran off-Broadway from 1960 - 2002.-Biography:...
cast her in the lead role of Louisa, "The Girl", in their one-act musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
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...
, which ran for one week in 1959, at Barnard College
Barnard College
Barnard College is a private women's liberal arts college and a member of the Seven Sisters. Founded in 1889, Barnard has been affiliated with Columbia University since 1900. The campus stretches along Broadway between 116th and 120th Streets in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough...
's Minor Latham Playhouse, while the creative team tried to raise financing for an 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...
production. While biding her time, Watson appeared in a revue
Revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...
entitled Follies of 1910. Gower Champion
Gower Champion
Gower Carlyle Champion was an American actor, theatre director, choreographer, and dancer.-Early years:Champion was born in Geneva, Illinois, the son of John W. Champion and Beatrice Carlisle. He was raised in Los Angeles, California, where he graduated from Fairfax High School...
, who was in the process of casting Bye Bye Birdie, noticed Watson in Follies and offered her a role. She played the role of Kim throughout the entire 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...
run (April 1960 - October 1961). She finally returned to The Fantasticks when it was televised by the Hallmark Hall of Fame
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The second longest-running television program in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning in 1951 and continuing into 2011...
in 1964.
Following a national tour of Carnival, Watson returned to New York to play opposite Robert Preston
Robert Preston (actor)
-Early life:Preston was born Robert Preston Meservey in Newton, Massachusetts, the son of Ruth L. and Frank Wesley Meservey, a garment worker and billing clerk for American Express. After attending Abraham Lincoln High School in Los Angeles, California, he studied acting at the Pasadena Community...
in Ben Franklin in Paris
Ben Franklin in Paris
Ben Franklin in Paris is a musical with a book and lyrics by Sidney Michaels, and music by Mark Sandrich, Jr. with two songs contributed by Jerry Herman.The story is a somewhat fictionalized account of Benjamin Franklin's adventures in the French capital...
(1964), a Lincoln Center revival 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...
(1965) as Carrie with John Raitt
John Raitt
John Emmett Raitt was an American actor and singer best known for his performances in musical theater.-Early years:...
and Jerry Orbach
Jerry Orbach
Jerome Bernard "Jerry" Orbach was an American actor and singer. He was well known for his starring role as Detective Lennie Briscoe in the Law & Order television series and as the voice of Lumière in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. As well, Orbach was a noted musical theatre star...
, a New York City Center
New York City Center
New York City Center is a 2,750-seat Moorish Revival theater located at 131 West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues in Manhattan, New York City. It is one block south of Carnegie Hall...
staging of Where's Charley?
Where's Charley?
Where's Charley? is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by George Abbott. The story was based on the play Charley's Aunt by Brandon Thomas. The musical debuted on Broadway in 1948 and was revived on Broadway and in the West End...
, and Jenny in the short-lived musical A Joyful Noise
A Joyful Noise
A Joyful Noise is a musical with a book by Edward Padula and music and lyrics by Oscar Brand and Paul Nassau. The 1966 Broadway production was a flop but introduced choreographer Michael Bennett in his Broadway debut....
(1966) (again with Raitt), for which she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
This is a list of the winners and nominations of the Tony Award for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical. The award, introduced in 1950, was previously named as Best Performance by a Featured or Supporting Actress in a Musical until 1976....
.
Watson reunited with Jones and Schmidt for their musical Celebration
Celebration (musical)
Celebration is a musical with a book and lyrics by Tom Jones and music by Harvey Schmidt.A musical fable set on New Year's Eve, it focuses on four characters: Orphan, an idealistic and cheerfully optimistic young man, in possession of the stained-glass eye of God, who reminds Edgar Allen Rich, a...
, which opened on Broadway in January 1969 at the Ambassador Theatre
Ambassador Theatre
Ambassador Theatre can refer to:* Ambassador Theatre * Ambassador Theatre * Ambassador Theatre * Ambassadors Theatre...
and played in Beggar on Horseback
Beggar on Horseback
Beggar on Horseback is a play by George S. Kaufman and Marc Connelly.A parody of the expressionistic parables that were popular at the time, it rails against the perils of trading one's artistic talents for commercial gain. At its core is Neil McRae, a poor, young classical composer...
(1970) in repertory
Repertory
Repertory or rep, also called stock in the United States, is a term used in Western theatre and opera.A repertory theatre can be a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation...
at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre
Vivian Beaumont Theatre
The Vivian Beaumont Theater is a theatre located in the Lincoln Center complex at 150 West 65th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The structure was designed by Finnish American architect Eero Saarinen, and Jo Mielziner was responsible for the design of the stage and interior.The Vivian...
at Lincoln Center before taking on the title role in the Broadway revival of No, No Nanette (1971) with Ruby Keeler
Ruby Keeler
Ruby Keeler, born Ethel Hilda Keeler, was an actress, singer, and dancer most famous for her on-screen coupling with Dick Powell in a string of successful early musicals at Warner Brothers, particularly 42nd Street . From 1928 to 1940, she was married to singer Al Jolson...
. She appeared at the William Inge Theatre Festival in Independence, Kansas
Independence, Kansas
Independence is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 9,483.-Geography:...
, in a tribute to Jones and Schmidt on April 25, 2009.
Watson's television credits include several episodes of the Bell Telephone Hour (1964–1966) and guest appearances on the television series Newhart
Newhart
Newhart is a television situation comedy starring comedian Bob Newhart and actress Mary Frann as an author and wife who owned and operated an inn located in a small, rural Vermont town that was home to many eccentric characters. The show aired on the CBS network from October 25, 1982 to May 21, 1990...
(1982), St. Elsewhere
St. Elsewhere
St. Elsewhere is an American medical drama television series that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982 to May 25, 1988. The series is set at fictional St. Eligius, a decaying urban teaching hospital in Boston's South End neighborhood...
(1984), Wings (1993), and the soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
General Hospital
General Hospital
General Hospital is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera currently in production and the third longest running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light and As the World Turns....
(1987). She is one of dozens of Broadway musical performers in the documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age, scheduled for broadcast on PBS in 2010.
Watson is a founding member of the Musical Theatre Guild, a group of professionals who perform musicals at the Pasadena Playhouse
Pasadena Playhouse
The Pasadena Playhouse is a historic performing arts venue located 39 S El Molino Avenue in Pasadena, California. The 686-seat auditorium produces a variety of cultural and artistic events, professional shows, and community engagements each year.-History:...
, California.