Doreen Taylor is an American

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

singer, songwriter, Broadway performer, and actress. Her debut EP, ''Unbreakable'', was released in 2007. A follow-up LP album, ''Taylor Made Hits'', was released in 2008. She released a special multi-media album called ''Coming Home'' which benefited the American troops. Her first original country solo album ''Magic'' was released worldwide on April 11, 2012. Her single ''Colors of the USA'' benefiting the

National Parks Conservation Association The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) is the only independent, nonpartisan membership organization devoted exclusively to advocacy on behalf of the National Parks System. Its mission is "to protect and enhance America's National Pa ...

was released on April 11, 2014. She released her single, "TOY", nationwide on June 23, 2015, which reached the top 50 of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 31 on the

Adult Contemporary chart The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to ''Billboard'' by stati ...

. In 2016, she released her adult contemporary album ''Happily Ever After''. She made her Off-Broadway debut in 2017 in ''An Enchanted Evening: A Night with

Oscar Hammerstein Oscar Hammerstein may refer to: *Oscar Hammerstein I (1846–1919), cigar manufacturer, opera impresario and theatre builder *Oscar Hammerstein II Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II (; July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960) was an ...

'' and returned to the Off-Broadway stage in March 2019 in the original musical, ''Sincerely, Oscar''. In 2019, she returned to performing her original music in a new acoustic show titled ''My Favorite Things'' and in 2020, during the height of the Covid global pandemic, she released a new album, ''Doreen Taylor LIVE'' that sold out online in the first 4 days of its release.

Early life and education

Taylor was born in

Alden, New York Alden is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 10,865 at the 2010 census. The town is derived from a family name known to early settlers. Alden is in the northeast part of Erie County, east of Buffalo. It contain ...

. She began performing professionally at a young age. One of her earliest performances in which she was featured was with The Spirit of Youth, an international singing and dancing tour group. During her years at Alden High School, Taylor was active in theater. After graduating from high school, she attended the

Hartt School of Music The Hartt School is the performing arts conservatory of the University of Hartford, a private university in West Hartford, Connecticut. Founded in 1920 by Julius Hartt and Moshe Paranov, Hartt has been part of the University of Hartford since it ...

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

, where she received vocal training and graduated with honors and a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in Vocal Performance. While continuing to pursue the art of music, she received her

Master of Music The Master of Music (MM or MMus) is, as an academic title, the first graduate degree in music awarded by universities and conservatories. The MM combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization (usually performance in singing or i ...

degree in Opera Performance from

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Career

Early stage

In addition to numerous leading operatic roles in many opera companies throughout the United States, Taylor has had lead roles in two Broadway national tour groups. A few of her musical theater company credits throughout the United States include "Cunegonde" in

Candide ( , ) is a French satire written by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment, first published in 1759. The novella has been widely translated, with English versions titled ''Candide: or, All for the Best'' (1759); ''Candide: or, The ...

, "Christine" in ''

The Phantom of the Opera The Phantom of the Opera may refer to: Novel * The Phantom of the Opera (novel), ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (novel), 1910 novel by Gaston Leroux Characters * Erik (The Phantom of the Opera), Erik (''The Phantom of the Opera''), the title char ...

'', "Mother" in ''

Ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that had its peak from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its Syncopation, syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers ...

'', "Magnolia" in ''

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

'', and "Laurie" in ''

Oklahoma! ''Oklahoma!'' is the first musical theater, musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs's 1931 play, ''Green Grow the Lilacs (play), Green Grow the Lilacs''. Set in farm country outside the town of ...

''.

One-woman show

In early 2009, Taylor developed a one-woman stage act and performed it along the Eastern seaboard, including several key cities in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia. The one-woman act was signed to perform Friday and Saturday nights for ten weeks at the

Trump Taj Mahal The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City, formerly Trump Taj Mahal, is a casino and hotel on the Boardwalk, owned by Hard Rock International, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States. The casino was inaugurated in 1990 by its owner, Do ...

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city (New Jersey), city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of ...

, from July 3 to September 5, 2009, where she received glowing reviews and gained national recognition.

Post One-woman show

In 2010, Taylor was cast as an entertainment talk-show host in her own infomercial-style 30-minute internet show. The short-lived, 2-episode web series ''Taylor Made'' featured various guests in the entertainment industry and was a charitable venture through the Wish Upon A Hero organization and Wishtv.com. Taylor was selected in 2010 as one of Philadelphia's top 5 "Alpha Women" alongside successful entrepreneur Lindy Snider (the daughter of

Ed Snider Edward Malcolm Snider (January 6, 1933 – April 11, 2016) was an American business executive. He was the chairman of Comcast Spectacor, a Philadelphia-based sports and entertainment company that owns the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hock ...

the owner of the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

and former owner of the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlan ...

) and anchorwoman and Emmy Award-winning journalist Tracy Davidson. Doreen was featured on the cover of the October 3, 2012, issue of ''Steppin' Out'', the No. 1 entertainment magazine in New York City and New Jersey. Doreen was also featured on the cover of the international entertainment magazine in the December 2013 issue of ''Moshnews''. Subsequently, in December 2013, Taylor came on board as the celebrity music columnist for ''Moshnews''. Each month, Taylor interacts with fans via her Facebook page in a question and answer scenario; a more modern "Dear Abby" format. She then picks three or four questions to answer in print in the "Taylor's Tune" monthly column.

2013/14 National "Magic" tour

Taylor launched her first headline tour (her 2013/14 "Magic" tour in support of her solo debut album ''Magic'') on May 23, 2013, at the World Cafe Live in

. Following that, she subsequently appeared in cities from Los Angeles, New York City,

Buffalo Buffalo most commonly refers to: * True buffalo or Bubalina, a subtribe of wild cattle, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, a genus of wild cattle, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York, a city in the n ...

and three times in

. The finale show was held at the historic Theater of Living Arts on January 24, 2014, which benefited the charity UrbanPromise.

Celebrity Endorsements

In 2014, Taylor was selected as a celebrity face for Hades Footwear and in 2016, she was the celebrity face for Failte Vodka. She was involved in national ad campaigns for both brands. Taylor has also been an active advocate for charitable organizations like

Boys & Girls Clubs of America Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) is a national organization of local chapters which provide voluntary after-school programs for young people. The organization, which holds a congressional charter under Title 36 of the United States Code, has i ...

GLAAD GLAAD () is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization. Originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayals in the media and entertainment industries, it has since ...

and St. Jude's.

2017 Return to Musical Theatre/ Off Broadway

In 2017, Doreen Taylor created and produced her first ever full scale, theatrical production. The new docu-musical "An Enchanted Evening: A Night With Oscar Hammerstein" premiered at the Bristol Riverside Theatre on August 24. The show was sold out which prompted a 2-week, limited engagement Off Broadway run at the 777 Theatre in New York City. The production starred both Taylor and musical theatre veteran,

Davis Gaines Davis Gaines (born January 21, 1954, Orlando, Florida) is an American stage actor and baritone. He has performed as The Phantom in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical ''The Phantom of the Opera'' over 2,000 times, on Broadway, on tour, in Los Angele ...

(

Phantom of the Opera The Phantom of the Opera may refer to: Novel * ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (novel), 1910 novel by Gaston Leroux Characters * Erik (''The Phantom of the Opera''), the title character of the novel and its adaptations Theatre * ''Phantom of t ...

) December 8–17, 2017.

SINCERELY, OSCAR: The Musical

After a sold out debut in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, and an

Off Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

run in December 2017, "An Enchanted Evening: A Night With

II" was rebranded as "SINCERELY, OSCAR" and returned to Off Broadway in a full production remount opening in March 2019 and running for 52 performances at the

Acorn Theatre The Theatre Row Building is a complex of five Off-Broadway theatres at 410 West 42nd Street on Theatre Row in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, New York City. The building is owned by the 501(c)(3) organization non-profit Building for the Arts and is t ...

in NYC. Taylor not only starred, but also created and co-produced the show.

Other accomplishments

Taylor is a former beauty queen title holder and has performed the

National Anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...

for the

Philadelphia Phantoms The Philadelphia Phantoms were a professional ice hockey team that played in the American Hockey League (AHL) from 1996 to 2009. The club was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and played most of its home games at the Spectrum (arena), Spectrum ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

, the NHL's

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (N ...

and

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

, and the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

, a minor league baseball team. She modeled for the 32-page collection of recreations of famous pin-up girls of the 1940s, emulating such classics like

Betty Grable Elizabeth Ruth Grable (December 18, 1916 – July 2, 1973) was an American actress, pin-up girl, dancer, model, and singer. Her 42 films during the 1930s and 1940s grossed more than $100 million, and for 10 consecutive years (1942–1951) she p ...

Lana Turner Julia Jean "Lana" Turner ( ; February 8, 1921June 29, 1995) was an American actress. Over a career spanning nearly five decades, she achieved fame as both a pin-up model and a film actress, as well as for her highly publicized personal life. ...

Veronica Lake Constance Frances Marie Ockelman (November 14, 1922 – July 7, 1973), known professionally as Veronica Lake, was an American film, stage, and television actress. Lake was best known for her femme fatale roles in films noir with Alan Ladd durin ...

Ava Gardner Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an American actress during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She first signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew critics' att ...

and

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe ( ; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "Blonde stereotype#Blonde bombshell, blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex ...

. Along with the book, Doreen recorded 19 of the most well-known songs from the World War II era to accompany the book. Included songs are "I'll Be Seeing You" and "I Got Rhythm". Doreen teamed up with the

Special Operations Warrior Foundation The Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF) is an American tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1980 to provide college scholarships and educational counseling from "cradle to career" to the surviving children of America ...

, a nonprofit that supports more than 60,000 Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps special operations personnel and their families. 20% of the proceeds would be donated to the charity from the sale of the book and CD. Columnist, Kris Midgett of Strum Magazine described the new book and CD as "sensual and elegant". In early 2014, Doreen Taylor was selected to write and perform the national tribute "Colors of the USA" to benefit the

in honor of the US national parks' and

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

's 100th anniversary. Taylor performed the world premiere at the Salute to the Parks Gala in Washington, D.C., on April 9, 2014. The song was available for download to the general public at midnight, April 11, 2014, via the Official "Colors of the USA" website, and the official East Coast single release party was to be held in Philadelphia on April 22, 2014 and the west coast release party was held in Los Angeles on May 15, 2014. A percentage of the proceeds benefits the NPCA. On July 16, 2014 the

held a press conference in front of

Independence National Historical Park Independence National Historical Park is a federally protected historic district in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that preserves several sites associated with the American Revolution and the nation's founding history. Administered by the National ...

in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to publicly announce that award-winning country recording artist, Doreen Taylor has been awarded the title of the "Ambassador to the National Parks" for her inspirational work connecting new generations to the US national parks. As a champion to this cause, Taylor was selected by the National Parks Conservation Association to create a new song "Colors of the USA" honoring the national parks which has brought new audiences and inspired others to join the cause. 50% from every download is being donated to the NPCA to help preserve and protect these treasures for future generations.

Honors and awards

Taylor was awarded the 2012 Suggested Artist Songwriting Award for her song "Music's My Magic", from her album ''Magic'', by the Song of the Year Songwriting Competition. She was named Artist of the Week by ''Amped Sounds Magazine'' for the week of August 27 – September 3, 2012, for her critically acclaimed version of " Summertime" from ''

Porgy and Bess ''Porgy and Bess'' ( ) is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward's play ''Porgy (play), ...

'' on her album ''Magic''. Taylor was selected as the Spot-On Country Artist of the Week by the website Spotlight Country on October 8, 2012. Taylor's adult contemporary single ''TOY'' (released June 2015) charted on

Billboard's Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), on ...

and reached No. 31 on the

Adult Contemporary Chart The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to ''Billboard'' by stati ...

after receiving heavy airplay on radio stations nationwide. She was awarded the 2016 ''Inspiration Award'' from the Boys & Girls Club of Camden County.

Discography

Albums

* ''Taylor Made Hits'' (2008) * ''Coming Home'' (2010) * ''Magic'' (2012) * ''TOY'' (2015) single * ''Happily Ever After'' (2016) * ''Doreen Taylor LIVE'' (2020)

Music videos

* "Last Call (for the alcohol)" (2012) * "Heartbeat" (2012) * "Summertime" (2012) * "Judgment Day" (2012) * "Colors of the USA" (2014) * "My Christmas Wish (2015) * "Over" (2017) * "Unstoppable" (2017)

References

External links

Official Website

Official Facebook Page

Official YouTube Channel

Official Twitter

SINCERELY, OSCAR: The Musical Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Doreen Living people 21st-century American women singers American contemporary R&B singers American women pop singers American women singer-songwriters American women performance artists American performance artists Singer-songwriters from New York (state) People from Erie County, New York University of Hartford Hartt School alumni Temple University alumni Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American singer-songwriters