Sarah Rudinoff (born August 26, 1971) is an American actress, singer, and writer. She was the recipient of a 2004 Genius Award from the

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington alternative weekly newspaper '' The Stranger''.

Life and career

Born in

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...

, and raised on the island of

Kauai Kauai (), anglicized as Kauai ( or ), is one of the main Hawaiian Islands. It has an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), making it the fourth-largest of the islands and the 21st-largest island in the United States. Kauai lies 73 m ...

, Rudinoff, a self-described "half- Episcopalian, half-

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

" Steve Wiecking
Best Woman in Man's Clothing
'' Seattle Weekly'' Best of Seattle issue, August 4, 2004. Accessed 20 March 2006. has lived and worked in a number of North American cities. She has appeared in ''Negative Space'' and Richard Foreman's Ontological Hysteric in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and in several new plays at the Mark Taper Forum in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

; she is based in Seattle. Described by David-Edward Hughes of ''Talkin' Broadway'', as "a big-boned, whiskey voiced stunner", she has appeared in many of Seattle's professional theatres including starring as Ruth in "Wonderful Town" and Hildy in "On the Town" at the 5th Avenue Theatre. Rudinoff is probably best known to rock audiences for her turn as Yitzhak in the original Seattle production '' Hedwig and the Angry Inch'' and her solo shows ''Broad Perspective'' (1998), ''Go There'' (2003) or ''The Last State'' (2004), a piece about growing up '' haole'' in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. In presenting her the Genius Award, Sean Nelson of ''The Stranger'' wrote that she "is one of maybe 10 performers in town who have achieved the distinction of local stardom in non-rock-band live performance. She sings like a demon, equally comfortable belting rock, jazz, or blues... Rudinoff is not the kind of actress who 'disappears' into the roles she plays. She's the kind of actress who explodes out of her roles with heroic, instinctive, and fearless performances." The rival '' Seattle Weekly'' named her "Best Woman in Man's Clothing" for her title role in ''Ubu'', Ki Gottberg’s reworking of Alfred Jarry's ''Ubu'' plays. As a musician and singer Rudinoff makes music with We Are Golden and in 2010 she was included in photography book chronicling 100 Seattlites that make a difference to culture in the city – A Seattle 100. Rudinoff is a star of Wes Hurley's musical comedy '' Waxie Moon in Fallen Jewel'' in which she plays two roles and performs the musical number "Everything is On Fire". Rudinoff also sang the title song composed by Eric Lane Barnes for the documentary '' Waxie Moon'' also directed by Hurley. In 2013 Sarah Rudinoff and Gretta Harley premiered their original play, ''These Streets'' based on real-life stories of female rockers during the

Grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...

era of

's music scene. As part of their research for the play Rudinoff, Harley and filmmaker Wes Hurley conducted dozens of video interviews of female musicians of the era, including Vanessa Veselka and Carla Torgerson of The Walkabouts. Rudinoff is a graduate of Iolani School and Pitzer College. She works as a real estate agent.David Schmader
Actor's Market: The Mysterious Link Between Performance Art and Real Estate
'' The Stranger'', March 16–22, 2006. Accessed 20 March 2006.

References

External links

Sarah Rudinoff
official site {{DEFAULTSORT:Rudinoff, Sarah 1971 births Living people American musical theatre actresses American stage actresses American women non-fiction writers Actresses from Hawaii 21st-century American women Jewish American actresses Jewish American non-fiction writers Jewish American artists Jewish women writers