Lauren Tolbert Worsham (born April 4, 1982) is an American actress and singer known for her work in the opera and musical theatre. She received a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her role in '' A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder''. She is also known for being the lead singer of the band Sky-Pony, which has released two albums with original songs titled "Say You Love Me Like You Mean It" and "Raptured Live".

Early life and education

Worsham is the daughter of Belinda (née Petty) and Dennis Worsham, who works in real estate. She was raised in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

, United States, and graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

with a degree in Spanish. While at Yale, she was involved with theatre and music, and performed with the acapella group, ''Shades''. During a summer at Yale she traveled to Scotland to perform theatre at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She has a brother, Parker Ainsworth, who is also a musician.

Career

Theatre

One of Worsham's first jobs was in 2005 working at the Shubert Theatre during ''

Spamalot ''Spamalot'' (also known as ''Monty Python's Spamalot'') is a musical comedy with music by John Du Prez and Eric Idle, and lyrics and book by Idle. It is adapted from the 1975 film ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail''. Like the motion pictu ...

''. She also worked for several years as a personal assistant for

Tony Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...

winning Broadway producer Ruth Hendel. In 2006, she played the role of Olive Ostrovsky in the first national tour of ''

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee ''The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee'' is a musical comedy with music and lyrics by William Finn, based on a book by Rachel Sheinkin, conceived by Rebecca Feldman with additional material by Jay Reiss. The show centers on a fictional spe ...

'' that was played on Broadway by

Celia Keenan-Bolger Celia Keenan-Bolger (born January 26, 1978) is an American actress and singer. She is known for portraying Scout Finch in the play ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' (2018), which earned her a Tony Award. She has also won three Drama Desk Awards and an ...

. In 2008, she was cast as Cunégonde in the

New York City Opera The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through 2013 (when it filed for bankruptcy), and again since 2016 when it was revived. The opera company, du ...

production of '' Candide'' and also played Clara Johnson in the Weston Playhouse production of '' The Light in the Piazza''. In 2009, Worsham competed in the Lotte Lenya Singing Competition, placing second. Also in 2009 she appeared in the ''

Paper Mill Playhouse Paper Mill Playhouse is a regional theater with approximately 1200 seats, located in Millburn, New Jersey on the Rahway River. Due to its relatively close location to Manhattan, it draws from the pool of actors (and audience members) who live i ...

'' production of ''

Master Class A master class is a class given to students of a particular discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also science, painting, drama, games, or on any other occasion where skills are being developed. "Masterclass" is als ...

'' as Sophie de Palma and in Kansas City Rep's production of ''

Into the Woods ''Into the Woods'' is a 1987 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. The musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales, exploring the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests. T ...

'' as Cinderella. In 2010, she played the lead role of Lili Daurier in '' Carnival!'' at the ''

Goodspeed Opera House Goodspeed Musicals is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and advancement of musical theater and the creation of new works, located in East Haddam, Connecticut. A distinctive feature of the view from the Connecticut River, th ...

''. In 2012, Worsham earned critical acclaim for originating the role of Lisa in the opera '' Dog Days'' and in 2013 she played Flora in the New York City Opera's production of ''

The Turn of the Screw ''The Turn of the Screw'' is an 1898 horror novella by Henry James which first appeared in serial format in '' Collier's Weekly'' (January 27 – April 16, 1898). In October 1898, it was collected in ''The Two Magics'', published by Macmil ...

. In 2014 she made her Broadway debut as Phoebe D'Ysquith in '' A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder'', for which she was nominated for the 2014

for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. Worsham won the 2014 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical (in a tie with Anika Larsen) for this role. In November 2014 she made her

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

debut as Magnolia in a revival of Kern and Hammerstein's ''

Show Boat ''Show Boat'' is a musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the performers, stagehands and dock worke ...

''. Worsham created a theatre company titled The Coterie with Royce Vavrek that creates and performs original works.

Film

Worsham appeared in '' The Last Day of August'' as Lisa and ''Saint Janet'' as Kim.

Personal life

In 2011, she married

Kyle Jarrow Kyle Jarrow (born October 7, 1979) is a Los Angeles–based writer and rock musician. Career Writing Jarrow's writing career began in theater, winning an Obie Award with director Alex Timbers in 2004 for ''A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's ...

. The couple are frequent collaborators and reside in Brooklyn, New York. In December 2015, Worsham and Jarrow announced they were expecting their first child.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Worsham, Lauren 1982 births Living people American musical theatre actresses 21st-century American actresses American operatic sopranos Musicians from Austin, Texas 21st-century American women opera singers Singers from Texas Theatre World Award winners Yale College alumni Actresses from Austin, Texas 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers Classical musicians from Texas