Heidi Blickenstaff
| Heidi Blickenstaff | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
Heidi Blickenstaff December 28, 1971 Fresno, California |
| Alma mater | Duke University |
| Occupation | Actress, singer |
| Years active | 1996–present |
Heidi Blickenstaff (born December 28, 1971) is an actress based in New York City best known for playing a version of herself in the musical [title of show] during its Off-Broadway and Broadway runs, as well as for originating the role of Bea in the 2015 musical Something Rotten!.
Personal life
Blickenstaff grew up in Fresno, California, and got her start in musical theater at the Good Company Players, where her roles included "Annie" in the musical of the same name.[1] She is a graduate of Roosevelt High School in Fresno, Calif., and Duke University.[2]
Her father, Dale Blickenstaff, is the former District Attorney of Fresno County.[1] In 2015, she married Nicholas Rohlfing.[3]
Career
[title of show]
Blickenstaff is a Broadway performer who gained widespread notice for her work in [title of show] after some years of working in understudy, supporting and ensemble roles.[4] The musical documents its own creation by Broadway fans Jeff Bowen and Hunter Bell, who want to enter the New York Musical Theatre Festival and struggle to complete the show in three and a half weeks with their two actress friends. The actors are also the writers and characters of the musical. Blickenstaff has said her character in [title of show], a struggling actor also named "Heidi," is a "concentrated version" of her actual personality.[5]
She also has credited her experience in [title of show] with easing her chronic stage fright, a form of self-doubt immortalized in one of the show's songs, "Die Vampire Die." "I also have a stage fright vampire," she told TheaterMania.com in 2006, during [title of show]'s extended off-Broadway run at the Vineyard Theatre. "Certainly, [title of show] has been great medicine, because we talk about that stuff."[6]
Other work
Blickenstaff's other Broadway credits include The Full Monty on Broadway (as Susan Hershey) and The Little Mermaid (as Carlotta/Ensemble and u/s for Ursula).
In 2006, she starred in the musical Meet John Doe at the Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., winning a Helen Hayes Award for her performance.[7]
Of Blickenstaff's performance in the musical—an adaptation of the 1941 Frank Capra film of the same name—Peter Marks wrote in the Washington Post: "She's a dynamite successor to the movie's Barbara Stanwyck: It's a star performance, in fact. There's an effortless kind of kick to Blickenstaff's readings of Ann's sharp-elbowed lines. And she can sing, to boot."[8]
Blickenstaff's other regional credits include roles in The Girl in the Frame at the Goodspeed Opera House, Bat Boy: The Musical at Theatreworks in Palo Alto, Calif., and Prairie at New York Stage and Film.
She has also worked in touring productions of The Full Monty, Jekyll & Hyde (as the understudy for the role of Lucy Harris), Steel Pier, Dreamgirls and The Who's Tommy.[2] It was during the Tommy tour that Blickenstaff met her future [title of show] co-star (and the musical's co-creator/composer) Jeff Bowen.[5]
She has appeared in a television commercials for Nationwide Insurance and Foster Grant.[9]
She replaced Sherie Rene Scott as Ursula in the Broadway production of The Little Mermaid on January 27, 2009 and stayed with the show till April 5, 2009.[10] She was succeeded by Faith Prince.
She replaced Carolee Carmello as Alice Beineke in The Addams Family on March 8, 2011.[11]
Blickenstaff was a member of the original cast of the review First You Dream: The Music of Kander and Ebb, which premiered at the Signature Theatre (Arlington, Virginia) in 2009,[12] and then again in the revival that played at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., in June 2012.[13]
In July 2013, Blickenstaff played the role of Diana in Next to Normal at the Weston Playhouse in Weston, Vermont.[14][15]
In April 2014 she played Cleo in the City Center Encores! staging of The Most Happy Fella with Laura Benanti and Cheyenne Jackson.[16]
Blickenstaff played the role of Jane/Bonnie in the world premiere of Dog and Pony at The Old Globe Theatre from May–July, 2014 with Nicole Parker, Beth Leavel, Jon Patrick Walker, and Eric William Morris. Dog and Pony has a book by Rick Elice, music and lyrics by Michael Patrick Walker, and was directed by Roger Rees.[17]
From November 2014-January 2015, Blickenstaff played the role of Emily Hobbs in Paper Mill Playhouse's production of Elf: The Musical.[18]
Blickenstaff returned to Broadway in March 2015, playing the role of Bea in Something Rotten!, alongside Christian Borle and Brian d'Arcy James.[19]
Blickenstaff can be heard on the cast recordings of [title of show], Now. Here. This., Meet John Doe, The Little Mermaid, and Something Rotten!. She can also be heard on "Sweet Bye and Bye," featuring the music of Vernon Duke; "Jerome Kern: The Land Where the Good Songs Go"; Michael Kooman and Christopher Dimond's "Out of Our Heads"; "Keys: The Music of Scott Alan"; and Georgia Stitt's "My Lifelong Love."[20]
Credits
Theatre
| Year | Show | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | The Who's Tommy | Ensemble | National tour; left in 1997 |
| 1997 | Dreamgirls | Ensemble | National tour; left in 1998 |
| 1998 | Steel Pier | Dora Foster | National tour; left in 1999 |
| 1999 | Jekyll & Hyde | Ensemble/Lucy Harris (u/s) | National tour; left in 2000 |
| 2000 | The Full Monty | Susan Hershey/Vicky Nichols (u/s) | National tour; left in 2001 |
| 2002 | Broadway; closed in 2002 | ||
| 2003 | Bat Boy: The Musical | Theatreworks, Jul. 19 - Aug. 10, 2003 | |
| Prairie | New York Fringe Festival | ||
| 2004 | [title of show] | Stacia | New York Musical Theatre Festival, Sep. 2004 |
| 2005 | The Girl in the Frame | Goodspeed Opera House | |
| [title of show] | Heidi | Eugene O'Neill Theater Center | |
| off-off-Broadway; Sep. 2005 | |||
| 2006 | off-Broadway; Feb. 26 - Oct. 1, 2006 | ||
| Meet John Doe | Ann Mitchell | Ford's Theatre | |
| The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas | Dogette | Broadway concert | |
| 2007 | The Little Mermaid | Carlotta/Ursula (u/s) | Broadway; Nov. 3, 2007 - Apr. 21, 2008 |
| 2008 | [title of show] | Heidi | Broadway; Jul. 17 - Oct. 8, 2008 |
| 2009 | The Little Mermaid | Ursula | Broadway; Jan. 27 - Apr. 6, 2009 |
| First You Dream: The Music of Kander and Ebb | Performer | Signature Theatre | |
| 2011 | The Addams Family | Alice Beineke | Broadway; Mar. 7 - Dec. 31, 2011 |
| 2012 | First You Dream: The Music of Kander and Ebb | Performer | Kennedy Center |
| Now. Here. This. | Heidi | off-Broadway; Mar. 7 - Apr. 28, 2012 | |
| 2013 | Next to Normal | Diana | Weston Playhouse Theatre Company |
| 2014 | The Most Happy Fella | Cleo | Encores!, Apr. 2014 |
| Dog and Pony | Jane/Bonnie | Old Globe Theatre, May - July 2014 (world premiere) | |
| Elf | Emily Hobbs | Papermill Playhouse, Nov. 2014 - Jan. 2015 | |
| 2015 | Something Rotten! | Bea Bottom | Broadway; Apr. 22, 2015 - July 16, 2016 |
| 2016 | Freaky Friday | Katherine Blake | Signature Theatre; Oct. 4 - Nov. 20, 2016 |
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | The Rebound | Morning Mom | |
| 2013 | Sing Along | Ms. Kelly | short |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Hope & Faith | Woman | 1 episode |
| 2006/08 | The [title of show] Show | Heidi | 6 episodes |
| 2008 | The 53rd Drama Desk Awards | Host | TV special |
| 2014 | Submissions Only | Diana Rioux | 1 episode |
| 2015 | First You Dream: The Music of Kander and Ebb | Performer | TV film |
| Renaissance Woman: Backstage at Something Rotten! with Heidi Blickenstaff | Self | 8 episodes |
Discography
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | [title of show] (Original cast recording) | On fourteen tracks |
| 2008 | The Little Mermaid (Original Broadway cast recording) | Mainly background singing |
| 2012 | Now. Here. This. (Original cast recording) | On fourteen tracks |
| 2015 | Something Rotten! (Original Broadway cast recording) | On four tracks |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Helen Hayes Award | Best Actress in a Musical | Meet John Doe | Won |
| Obie Award | Special Citations | [title of show] | Won | |
| Drama League Award | Distinguished Performance | Nominated | ||
| 2009 | Broadway.com Audience Award | Favorite Ensemble Cast | Won | |
| Favorite Featured Actress in a Musical | Nominated | |||
| Favorite Diva Performance | Nominated | |||
| Favorite Breakthrough Performance (Female) | Nominated | |||
| Favorite Replacement (Female) | The Little Mermaid | Nominated | ||
| 2015 | Outer Critics Circle Award | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | Something Rotten! | Nominated |
References
- 1 2 Munro, Donald. Best of show: Theater veteran and Fresno native stars in a musical about a musical, The Fresno Bee, 10 April 2008. Retrieved July 24, 2008.
- 1 2 title of show: The Players, titleofshow.com. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
- ↑ She found her right hand man accessed 4/27/2015
- ↑ Isherwood, Charles. Puttin’ on the Put-On, With Tunes, 18 July 2008. Retrieved July 24, 2008.
- 1 2 Gans, Andrews. DIVA TALK: Chatting with title of show's Heidi Blickenstaff Plus Heights and Pacific on CD, Playbill, 11 July 2008. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
- ↑ Portantiere, Michael. Show Girls, TheaterMania.com, 19 July 2006. Retrieved July 24, 2008.
- ↑ Lipton, Brian Scott. Blickenstaff, Irwin, Jones, Kudisch, Ruhl, et al. Win Helen Hayes Awards, TheaterMania.com, 29 April 2008. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
- ↑ Marks, Peter. 'John Doe' Makes for Some Names to Remember, The Washington Post, 27 March 2007. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
- ↑ http://www.ispot.tv/ad/7gvf/foster-grant-readers-menu-featuring-brooke-shields
- ↑ "Heidi Blickenstaff to Replace Scott as 'Ursula' in 'THE LITTLE MERMAID' in 2009 broadwayworld.com
- ↑ Healy, Patrick.Roger Rees to Replace Nathan Lane in ‘The Addams Family’"New York Times, October 28, 2010
- ↑ http://washingtondc.showbizradio.net/2009/09/15/review-st-first-you-dream/
- ↑ http://www.kennedy-center.org/events/?event=TMTSG
- ↑ Next to Normal vermont.broadwayworld.com
- ↑ "Review" chestertelegraph.org
- ↑ nycitycenter.org
- ↑ Dog and Pony theoldglobe.org
- ↑ "Press Release" papermill.org
- ↑ Hetrick, Adam. " 'Something Rotten!' Puts a Shakespearean Twist On Broadway Musical Comedy, Starting Tonight" playbill.com, March 23, 2015
- ↑ Recordings amazon.com
