Danielle Ferland (born January 31, 1971) is an American

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

and singer, best known for originating the role of Little Red Ridinghood in

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March22, 1930November26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. Regarded as one of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theater, he is credited with reinventing the American musical. He received Lis ...

's ''

Into the Woods ''Into the Woods'' is a 1986 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 ...

'' on Broadway.

Career

Ferland attended Frank Scott Bunnell High School in

Stratford, Connecticut Stratford is a New England town, town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is situated on Long Island Sound at the mouth of the Housatonic River. The town is part of the Greater Bridgeport Planning Region, Connecticut, Greater Bri ...

, from 1985–1989 and attended

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. She made her Broadway debut at age 13 as Louise in

's ''

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. It was inspired by the French pointillist painter Georges Seurat's painting '' A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La G ...

'' (1984). She next appeared off-Broadway in ''Paradise!'' (1985). In 1987 she was the singing child star in Woody Allen's '' Radio Days''. She returned to Broadway, originating the role of

Little Red Riding Hood "Little Red Riding Hood" () is a fairy tale by Charles Perrault about a young girl and a Big Bad Wolf. Its origins can be traced back to several pre-17th-century European Fable, folk tales. It was later retold in the 19th-century by the Broth ...

in the 1987 musical ''

''. For her performance in ''Into the Woods'' she received the 1988 Theatre World Award and also was nominated for the 1988

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Awards are among the most esteemed honors in New York theater, recognizing outstanding achievements across Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway productions within the same categories. The awards are considered a signific ...

, Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical. She reunited with the original cast for three performances in 1989, which were filmed for the Season 10 premiere episode of PBS’s ''

American Playhouse ''American Playhouse'' is an American anthology television series periodically broadcast by Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). It premiered on January 12, 1982, with ''The Shady Hill Kidnapping'', written and narrated by John Cheever and direc ...

.'' Other credits include ''

The Crucible ''The Crucible'' is a 1953 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay from 1692 to 1693. Miller wrote ...

'' (1991), Fredrika in '' A Little Night Music'' Lincoln Center Revival in 1991, '' Uncommon Women and Others'' (1994), '' Tartuffe'' at the Delacorte Theatre in 1999, '' A Year with Frog and Toad'' (2003), ''Engaged'' (2004), '' She Stoops to Conquer'' at the Irish Repertory Company in 2005, the concert and recording of the

York Theatre The York Theatre Company is an Off-Broadway theatre company based on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. Established in 1969, The York is the only theater in New York City, and one of the few in the world, whose two-fold missio ...

production of '' Summer of '42'' (2006), ''Like Love'', New York Music Festival, 2007 and '' All My Sons'' (2008). She teaches Master Classes including in 2009 at the Boston Children's Theatre.Nargi, Ja
Broadway's Danielle Ferland Accentuates the Positive in BCT Master Class
broadwayworld.com, August 12, 2009 Ferland narrated an audio book version of ''A Mile In My Flip-Flops'' written by Melody Carlson. Since 2010, she has often performed in Sondheim Unplugged. She has sung for each of their three volumes, singing “Children and Art” in the second volume, “Hello Little Girl” in the second, and “It Takes Two” in the third. “Sondheim Unplugged NYC Sessions Volume 3” was nominated for a Grammy for the 2024 ceremony. In 2011 she directed '' A Year with Frog and Toad'' with Boston Children's Theatre. In 2012 Ferland starred in the Baltimore CenterStage and

Westport Country Playhouse Westport Country Playhouse is a not-for-profit regional theater in Westport, Connecticut, Westport, Connecticut. It was founded in 1931 by Lawrence Langner, a New York theater producer. Langner remodeled an 1830s tannery with a Broadway-quality ...

production of ''

'' as the Baker's Wife."FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Into the Woods Arrives! Previews Begin Tomorrow for Sondheim’s Fairy Tale Musical"
press release, ''CENTERSTAGE'', State Theater of Maryland, BALTIMORE, March 2012. In 2014 Ferland played the role of Estelle in

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

's drama '' The Normal Heart''. In 2015 Ferland appeared in Season 1 of the Netflix show '' Marvel's Jessica Jones''. In 2021, she appeared in

Lin-Manuel Miranda Lin-Manuel Miranda (; born January 16, 1980) is an American songwriter, actor, singer, filmmaker, rapper, and librettist. He created the Broadway musicals '' In the Heights'' and ''Hamilton'', and the soundtracks for the animated films '' Moana' ...

’s

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

of Jonathan Larson’s '' Tick, Tick… Boom!''.

Personal life

Ferland was born in

Derby, Connecticut Derby is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, approximately west-northwest of New Haven, Connecticut, New Haven. It is located in southwest Connecticut at the confluence of the Housatonic River, Housatonic and Naugatuck River ...

. She married Michael Goldstein ca. 2002; they have two sons.

Acting credits

Theatre

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* *
Internet Off-Broadway Database listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferland, Danielle 1971 births Living people New York University alumni American stage actresses American film actresses American television actresses People from Derby, Connecticut Actresses from Connecticut 21st-century American women