Victoria Clark
Encyclopedia
Victoria Clark is an American musical theatre
singer and actress. Clark has performed in many Broadway
musicals and in other theatre, film and television work, and her soprano
voice can be heard on numerous cast albums and several animated films. In 2008 she released her first solo album.
Clark won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical
in 2005 for her performance in the musical The Light in the Piazza. She also won the Drama Desk Award
, Outer Critics Circle Award
, and the Joseph Jefferson Award for her performances in this role.
, the daughter of Lorraine and Jim Clark. She studied the piano and attended the Hockaday School, an all-girls school in Dallas
. She also attended the Interlochen Arts Academy before going to Yale University
, graduating in 1982. At Yale, at the age of eighteen, she sang the role of Mabel in Gilbert and Sullivan
's comic opera
The Pirates of Penzance
. She also sang the title role in Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience
and directed a production of Ruddigore
for the Yale Gilbert & Sullivan Society. After college, Clark studied at New York University
’s Musical Theatre Master’s Program as a stage director and began to direct operas and musicals professionally. Although she continues to direct, she has primarily focused on singing and acting.
Clark's stage work includes roles in the Broadway
musicals Sunday in the Park with George
(1985), Guys and Dolls (1992-93), A Grand Night for Singing
(1993-94), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
(1995-96, as Smitty), Titanic
(1997-99, creating the role of Alice Beane), Cabaret
(1999-2000, as Fraulein Kost) and Urinetown
(2003, as Penelope Pennywise), as well as numerous roles off-Broadway
, in national tours and in regional theatre
. She played Doris MacAfee in the City Center Encores!
production of Bye, Bye Birdie in 2004.
In 2005, Clark won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical
, a Drama Desk Award
, an Outer Critics Circle Award
, and the Joseph Jefferson Award for her performance in the musical The Light in the Piazza (2005-06). Broadway.com commented on Clark's performance, "What is indisputable is that Victoria Clark has created a character for the ages. Lucas has done a superb job in fleshing out Margaret within the confines of a musical-theater libretto, and Clark responds with consummate precision and grace. Calling hers the musical performance of the year would be accurate. It would also be a drastic understatement." She appeared as ex-showgirl Sally Durant Plummer in the Encores! staged concert presentation of Follies
in February 2007 at City Center
. She next created the role of Margaret Brennan in The Marriage of Bette and Boo off-Broadway in 2008 for the Roundabout.
Clark appeared in Prayer for My Enemy, a new play by Craig Lucas
at the off-Broadway theatre Playwrights Horizons
from November 14, 2008 through December 21, 2008. The play concerned the consequences that the Iraq war has had on an American family. The show co-starred Michelle Pawk and Jonathan Groff
and was directed by Bartlett Sher.
Clark has also been seen in movies, sung in several animated feature films, and appeared in roles in television episodes. She can be heard on a number of Broadway cast albums and other recordings. In 2008 she released her first solo album, Fifteen Seconds of Grace, produced by PS Classics
. Along with performing, Clark teaches voice and studies acting at the Michael Howard Studios
and voice with Edward Sayegh of New York and Los Angeles . She received the 2006 Distinguished Artist Award from the New York Singing Teachers' Association. Clark has a son named Thomas Luke.
Clark recently played the Mother Superior in the Broadway production of Sister Act, which opened on April 20, 2011. Previews began on March 24. For this role she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a 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...
singer and actress. Clark has performed in many 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...
musicals and in other theatre, film and television work, and her soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
voice can be heard on numerous cast albums and several animated films. In 2008 she released her first solo album.
Clark won the Tony Award for 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...
in 2005 for her performance in the musical The Light in the Piazza. She also won the Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
, Outer Critics Circle Award
Outer Critics Circle Award
The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on and Off-Broadway and were begun during the 1949-1950 theater season. The awards are decided upon by theater critics who review for out-of-town newspapers, national publications, and other media outlets...
, and the Joseph Jefferson Award for her performances in this role.
Life and career
Clark was born and raised in TexasTexas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, the daughter of Lorraine and Jim Clark. She studied the piano and attended the Hockaday School, an all-girls school in Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
. She also attended the Interlochen Arts Academy before going to Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, graduating in 1982. At Yale, at the age of eighteen, she sang the role of Mabel in 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...
's comic opera
Comic opera
Comic opera denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending.Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a new operatic genre, opera buffa, emerged as an alternative to opera seria...
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...
. She also sang the title role in Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience
Patience (opera)
Patience; or, Bunthorne's Bride, is a comic opera in two acts with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. First performed at the Opera Comique, London, on 23 April 1881, it moved to the 1,292-seat Savoy Theatre on 10 October 1881, where it was the first theatrical production in the...
and directed a production of Ruddigore
Ruddigore
Ruddigore; or, The Witch's Curse, originally called Ruddygore, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy Operas and the tenth of fourteen comic operas written together by Gilbert and Sullivan...
for the Yale Gilbert & Sullivan Society. After college, Clark studied at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
’s Musical Theatre Master’s Program as a stage director and began to direct operas and musicals professionally. Although she continues to direct, she has primarily focused on singing and acting.
Clark's stage work includes roles in the 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...
musicals Sunday in the Park with George
Sunday in the Park with George
Sunday in the Park with George is a 1984 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. The musical was inspired by the painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" by Georges Seurat...
(1985), Guys and Dolls (1992-93), A Grand Night for Singing
A Grand Night for Singing
A Grand Night for Singing is a musical revue showcasing the music of Richard Rodgers and the lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein II.Featuring songs from such lesser-known works as Allegro, Me and Juliet, State Fair, and Pipe Dream, modest successes like Flower Drum Song and hits like Carousel, Oklahoma!,...
(1993-94), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, and Willie Gilbert, based on Shepherd Mead's 1952 book of the same name....
(1995-96, as Smitty), Titanic
Titanic (musical)
Titanic is a musical with music and lyrics by Maury Yeston and a book by Peter Stone that opened on Broadway in 1997. It won five Tony Awards including the award for Best Musical...
(1997-99, creating the role of Alice Beane), Cabaret
Cabaret (musical)
Cabaret is a musical based on a book written by Christopher Isherwood, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The 1966 Broadway production became a hit and spawned a 1972 film as well as numerous subsequent productions....
(1999-2000, as Fraulein Kost) and 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...
(2003, as Penelope Pennywise), as well as numerous roles 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...
, in national tours and in regional theatre
Regional theatre in the United States
Regional theaters, or resident theaters, in the United States are professional or semi-professional, theater companies that produce their own seasons. The term regional theatre most often refers to professional theatres outside of New York City...
. She played Doris MacAfee in the 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...
production of Bye, Bye Birdie in 2004.
In 2005, Clark won the Tony Award for 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...
, a Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
, an Outer Critics Circle Award
Outer Critics Circle Award
The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on and Off-Broadway and were begun during the 1949-1950 theater season. The awards are decided upon by theater critics who review for out-of-town newspapers, national publications, and other media outlets...
, and the Joseph Jefferson Award for her performance in the musical The Light in the Piazza (2005-06). Broadway.com commented on Clark's performance, "What is indisputable is that Victoria Clark has created a character for the ages. Lucas has done a superb job in fleshing out Margaret within the confines of a musical-theater libretto, and Clark responds with consummate precision and grace. Calling hers the musical performance of the year would be accurate. It would also be a drastic understatement." She appeared as ex-showgirl Sally Durant Plummer in the Encores! staged concert presentation of 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...
in February 2007 at 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...
. She next created the role of Margaret Brennan in The Marriage of Bette and Boo off-Broadway in 2008 for the Roundabout.
Clark appeared in Prayer for My Enemy, a new play by Craig Lucas
Craig Lucas
Craig Lucas is an American playwright, screenwriter, theatre director, musical actor, and film director.-Biography:...
at the off-Broadway theatre Playwrights Horizons
Playwrights Horizons
Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work....
from November 14, 2008 through December 21, 2008. The play concerned the consequences that the Iraq war has had on an American family. The show co-starred Michelle Pawk and Jonathan Groff
Jonathan Groff
Jonathan Drew Groff is an American singer-songwriter, stage, television and film actor. He originated the role of Melchior Gabor in the stage musical Spring Awakening and appeared as Jesse St...
and was directed by Bartlett Sher.
Clark has also been seen in movies, sung in several animated feature films, and appeared in roles in television episodes. She can be heard on a number of Broadway cast albums and other recordings. In 2008 she released her first solo album, Fifteen Seconds of Grace, produced by PS Classics
PS Classics
PS Classics is a record label that specializes in musical theatre and standard vocals. Founded in 2000 by Grammy-nominated freelance producer Tommy Krasker and singer/actor Philip Chaffin, their releases have been critically acclaimed for their meticulous sonic detail and high-quality packaging and...
. Along with performing, Clark teaches voice and studies acting at the Michael Howard Studios
Michael Howard Studios
The Michael Howard Studios is an acting studio for the performing arts located in Manhattan, New York; the studio was founded in 1953 by actor/director Michael Howard.-History:...
and voice with Edward Sayegh of New York and Los Angeles . She received the 2006 Distinguished Artist Award from the New York Singing Teachers' Association. Clark has a son named Thomas Luke.
Clark recently played the Mother Superior in the Broadway production of Sister Act, which opened on April 20, 2011. Previews began on March 24. For this role she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.
External links
- Victoria Clark official website
- Broadway world's profile of Clark
- Excerpts from reviews by the major NYC newspapers
- Curtainup review of Clark's performance
- Victoria Clark - Downstage Center interview at American Theatre Wing.orgAmerican Theatre WingThe American Theatre Wing is a New York City-based organization "dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theatre," according to its mission statement...
- TonyAwards.com Interview with Victoria Clark
- Time Out New York Interview with Victoria Clark