Julia Kathleen Murney (born January 14, 1969) 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 Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

, also known for

television commercial A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

voice-overs Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique used in radio, television, filmmaking, theatre, and other media in which a descriptive or expository voice that is not part of the narrative (i.e., non-d ...

. Until 2005, she was commonly known as the Broadway actress who had technically never appeared on Broadway, because her fame came mostly from her performances on the Broadway charity circuit and not traditional Broadway productions. She played the role of Elphaba in the musical '' Wicked'', both on the US national tour (2006) and on Broadway (2007). She is also a two-time

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 ...

nominee, for '' The Wild Party'' (2000) and ''Falling'' (2013).

Early life

The daughter of actor

Christopher Murney Christopher Murney is an American actor and voice artist. Early life and education Murney earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Rhode Island and a Master of Fine Arts in theatre from Pennsylvania State University. Career Murney ...

and Anne Murney, Murney was named after the song "Julia" from

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

' '' White Album''. She has a younger sister, Caitlin (born 1977), who is a film producer and lives in Los Angeles, and younger brother, Patrick (born 1987), who is an actor and graduated from Syracuse University with a drama degree in 2009. Murney attended Stagedoor Manor summer camp. Murney attended the

High School of Music & Art The High School of Music & Art, informally known as Music & Art (or M&A), was a public specialized high school located at 443-465 West 135th Street in the borough of Manhattan, New York, from 1936 until 1984. In 1961, Music & Art and the High S ...

(later

Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, often referred to simply as LaGuardia or "LaG", is a public High school (North America), high school specializing in teaching visual arts and performing arts, near Lincoln ...

) as a voice majorGans, Andrew
"DIVA TALK: Catching Up with Wicked's Julia Murney Plus News of Callaway and Salonga,"
''Playbill'' (February 9, 2007). and graduated from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

in 1990.

Career

In the liner notes from Murney's album ''I'm Not Waiting'', composer

Andrew Lippa Andrew Lippa (born December 22, 1964) is an American composer, lyricist, libretto, book writer, performer, and theatrical producer, producer. He is a resident artist at the Ars Nova Theater in New York City. Early life Lippa was born in Leeds, E ...

says that he first met her in June 1996. He said,

I was the music director for a
Stephen Schwartz Stephen Lawrence Schwartz (born March 6, 1948) is an American musical theatre composer and lyricist. In a career spanning over five decades, Schwartz has written hit musicals such as ''Godspell'' (1971), ''Pippin (musical), Pippin'' (1972), and ...

compendium A compendium ( compendia or compendiums) is a comprehensive collection of information and analysis pertaining to a body of knowledge. A compendium may concisely summarize a larger work. In most cases, the body of knowledge will concern a specific ...
called ''Snapshots'', auditions were going well, if uninspiring, until a certain Julia Murney (with whom I was, at the time, unacquainted) strutted into the room. She sang a song, a forever favorite ever since, called ''Imagine My Surprise''. Heartbreaking. Seeing as I was about to do the reading of ''The Wild Party'' in August, I wrote on my notes "Is she Queenie?!?!?" followed by several stars and excited doodles. Then, the director asked for another song, preferably something by Stephen Schwartz.

la Murney: I know Meadowlark
la director: That'd be great
I didn't bring the music
la pianist: (panic)
la Lippa: (heroically) I know it, what key? (oh, the swagger, the cock-suredness. I did want to impress her, after all)

Murney's

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 ...

theatrical credits include originating the role of 'Queenie' in

's '' The Wild Party'' (2000) at the

Manhattan Theatre Club Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) is a theatre company located in New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres. Lynne Meadow has been the company’s Artistic Director and visionary since 1972. Barry Grove joined the company in 19 ...

, opposite

Brian d'Arcy James Brian d'Arcy James (born June 29, 1968) is an American actor and musician. He is known primarily for his Broadway roles, including Shrek in '' Shrek the Musical'', Nick Bottom in '' Something Rotten!'', King George III in '' Hamilton'', and T ...

Idina Menzel Idina Kim Menzel ( ; ; born May 30, 1971) is an American actress and singer. Particularly known for her work in Musical theatre, musicals on Broadway theatre, Broadway, she has been Honorific nicknames in popular music, nicknamed the "Queen of ...

, and Taye Diggs, for which she was nominated for the

for Outstanding Actress in a Musical. She was also seen in ''

The Vagina Monologues ''The Vagina Monologues'' is an episodic play written in 1996 by Eve Ensler which developed and premiered at HERE Arts Center, Off-Off-Broadway in New York and was followed by an Off-Broadway run at the Westside Theatre. The play explores ...

'', ''

Crimes of the Heart ''Crimes of the Heart'' is a play by American playwright Beth Henley. It is set in Hazlehurst, Mississippi in the mid-20th century. The play won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play. In 1986, th ...

'' (2001), '' A Class Act'' (2000), ''Time and Again'' (2001), and ''

First Lady Suite ''First Lady Suite'' is a Chamber music, chamber musical by Michael John LaChiusa. The musical contains four separate segments about four of the First Ladies of the United States of America and the people surrounding them. They are: Eleanor Roosev ...

''. She appeared in a musical version of the film ''

Saved! ''Saved!'' is a 2004 American independent satirical black comedy film directed by Brian Dannelly, and starring Jena Malone, Mandy Moore, Macaulay Culkin, Patrick Fugit, Eva Amurri, Martin Donovan, and Mary-Louise Parker. Its plot follows a ...

'' at the

Playwrights Horizons Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit American 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. ...

Theatre, which began previews on May 9 and opened on June 3, 2008. In August 2008, Murney played the title role in Andrew Lloyd Webber's '' Evita'' at the

Wells Fargo Pavilion The UC Davis Health Pavilion is a theatre venue, located in Sacramento, California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to th ...

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

. Murney made her debut on Broadway in 2005, in the short-lived musical '' Lennon''. She was also seen in the Actors' Fund benefit concerts of '' Funny Girl'', ''

Chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

'', ''

Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and ...

'', and the World AIDS Day Benefit Concert Pippin. She has also been featured on television in ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO, based on Sex and the City (newspaper column), the newspaper column and 1996 book by Candace Bushnell. It premiered in th ...

'', '' Ed'', ''

NYPD Blue ''NYPD Blue'' is an American police procedural television series set in New York City, exploring the struggles of the fictional 15th Precinct detective squad in Manhattan. Each episode typically intertwines several plots involving an ensemble ca ...

'', and various episodes of ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment and Universal Television, launching the ''Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire ...

''. Afterwards, Murney succeeded Stephanie J. Block in the lead role of Elphaba in the first national touring company of the musical '' Wicked'' on March 6, 2006. In that role, she won an Acclaim Award from the ''

Cincinnati Enquirer ''The Cincinnati Enquirer'' is a morning daily newspaper published by Gannett in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. First published in 1841, the ''Enquirer'' is the last remaining daily newspaper in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, altho ...

'' for leading performer in a musical. She departed the tour on September 3, 2006, after six months, and was replaced by

Shoshana Bean Shoshana E. Bean (born September 1, 1977) is an Americans, American actress, singer and songwriter. She has appeared in numerous Musical theatre, musicals, performing in major Off-Broadway and Broadway theatre, Broadway theatres, including in the ...

. Murney then transferred to the Broadway production, reprising the role of Elphaba for a nine-month engagement, beginning January 9, 2007, replacing Ana Gasteyer. She played her final performance on October 7, 2007 and was replaced by Stephanie J. Block. Both on tour and on Broadway, she starred opposite Kendra Kassebaum as Glinda. Her debut solo album, ''I'm Not Waiting'', was released in May 2006 on the Sh-K-Boom Records label. The album's title song was written specially for Murney by

, with whom she has a strong artistic relationship. Also on the album are a jazz acoustic version of the song "I'm Not That Girl" from '' Wicked'' and "Perfect", which was written with Tom Kitt. Murney can be heard on the original cast albums of ''The Wild Party'' and ''A Class Act'' as well as the Actors' Fund recordings of ''

'' and ''

''. Murney played Mrs. Walker in ''

The Who's Tommy ''The Who's Tommy'' is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Pete Townshend and a book by Townshend and Des McAnuff. It is based on the 1969 rock opera '' Tommy'' by The Who. Productions The musical opened at La Jolla Playhouse in San Di ...

'' in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

from February 5–21, 2009. In September 2009, she appeared in the Signature Theatre's production of ''First You Dream - The Songs of

Kander and Ebb Kander and Ebb were a highly successful American songwriting team consisting of composer John Kander (born March 18, 1927) and lyricist Fred Ebb (April 8, 1928 – September 11, 2004). Known primarily for their stage musical theatre, musicals, whi ...

'' in Arlington, Virginia, with

Norm Lewis Norm Lewis (born June 2, 1963) is an American actor and baritone singer. He has appeared on Broadway and in London's West End, film, television, recordings and regional theatre. He is also noted for his wide vocal range. Lewis was the second ...

, Matthew Scott, Heidi Blickenstaff, Eleasha Gamble, and James Clow. Her other Off-Broadway credits include '' Queen of the Mist'' and '' Closer Than Ever''. In 2013, Murney received a nomination for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play for her role as Tami in the play ''Falling''. She played

Princess Fiona Princess Fiona is a fictional character in DreamWorks Animation, DreamWorks' ''Shrek (franchise), Shrek'' franchise. One of the film series' List of Shrek (franchise) characters#Main, main characters, Fiona first appears in ''Shrek'' (2001) as a ...

The Muny The St. Louis Municipal Opera Theatre (commonly known as The Muny) is an amphitheater located in St. Louis, Missouri. The theatre seats 11,000 people with about 1,500 free seats in the last nine rows that are available on a first come, first s ...

's production of '' Shrek the Musical'' from June 24–30, 2013. She returned to The Muny in 2014 to play Mayzie LaBird in '' Seussical'' and in 2016 to play Donna Sheridan in '' Mamma Mia!''. Murney played Rose in the 2017 Cape Playhouse production of ''

Gypsy {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...

''. In May 2013 Murney sang with the Omaha Symphony in the concert "The Wizard and I - The Musical Journey of Stephen Schwartz" at the Holland Performing Arts Center in Omaha, Nebraska. The concert featured songs from ''

Godspell ''Godspell'' is a musical in two acts with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by John-Michael Tebelak. The show is structured as a series of parables, primarily based on the Gospel of Matthew, interspersed with music mostly set t ...

'' and '' Wicked'' and the song " Meadowlark". In 2017, Murney played Sara Jane Moore in

Yale Repertory Theatre Yale Repertory Theatre at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut was founded by Robert Brustein, dean of Yale School of Drama, in 1966, with the goal of facilitating a meaningful collaboration between theatre professionals and talented stud ...

's production of

Assassins An assassin is a person who commits targeted murder. The origin of the term is the medieval Order of Assassins, a sect of Shia Islam 1090–1275 CE. Assassin, or variants, may also refer to: Fictional characters * Assassin, in the Japanese adult ...

In 2021, Murney played the role of Arlene in Out of the Box Theatrical's immersive off-Broadway revival of the musical "Baby". In 2022 Murney appeared in the off-broadway production of '' Between the Lines'' in the role of Grace/Queen Maureen. Both productions released cast albums in 2023 which Murney appeared on.

Selected theater credits

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

* * * *
archive
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archive

Behind the Scenes: Getting Green with Wicked Leading Lady Julia Murney

Credits Broadwayworld.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murney, Julia 1969 births Living people American women singers American film actresses American musical theatre actresses American stage actresses American television actresses American video game actresses American voice actresses People from State College, Pennsylvania The High School of Music & Art alumni Syracuse University alumni 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses