Spencer Lemon Kayden (born May 27, 1968) is an American actress, comedian and writer. Kayden played Little Sally in the Broadway musical '' Urinetown'' and was a cast member on sketch comedy series '' MADtv.'' She also voiced Mrs. Pepper on '' Blue's Clues'', taking over the role from Penelope Jewkes after the first season.

Biography

Spencer Kayden was born the only girl out of four siblings to a father who worked as a pop-up book publisher and a mother who worked as a psychotherapist. Kayden grew up in Orange County, California, and went on to study drama at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.McKinley, Jesse
"Theater; 'Urinetown' Uptown? Her Moment Has Come"
''The New York Times'', September 2, 2001 She joined the Chicago cast of '' Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind'' and moved to New York in 1993 to start the New York run of the show. Kayden received critical acclaim and notice for her performance in the musical '' Urinetown'', where she played Little Sally, the pig-tailed girl who helps explain the plot. She played in the 1999 New York International Fringe Festival production, and then was in the original Off-Broadway and Broadway casts in 2001 and returned in 2003. Simonson, Robert and Jones, Kenneth
"Little Sally Comes Home: Spencer Kayden Returns to ''Urinetown'', March 25"
playbill.com, March 25, 2003 The ''CurtainUp'' reviewer noted in reviewing the Off-Broadway production: "But while Spencer Kayden does everything right in her portrayal of the droll little girl who alternates begging for 'penny for a pee' with Shirley Temple/Charlie McCarthy exchanges with the deceptively kindly neighborhood cop, her Sally is wrong. This 'bad' idea is outrageously good for lots of laughs. The central joke works." It is from her theater performances that she was discovered by

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelv ...

executives and cast as a featured performer on ''MADtv''. Kayden also played the role of Mrs. Pepper in the popular '' Nickelodeon'' kids series '' Blue's Clues'' since 1996. Kayden starred in the farce '' Don't Dress for Dinner'' at the Royal George Theatre, Chicago, Illinois, from November 2008 to January 2009. She reprised her role as the cook in the Broadway production, which opened in March 2012 at the

American Airlines Theatre The American Airlines Theatre, originally the Selwyn Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 227 West 42nd Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Built in 1918, it was designed by George Keister and developed by brothe ...

Personal life

Kayden is the sister of film director Michael Almereyda. She has been married to actor Mark Harelik since 2004, and they have one child together. She has listed Irene Dunne, Peter Sellers and Frances McDormand as some her acting idols.

Awards and nominations

''MADtv''

References

External links

*
Internet Off-Broadway Database
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kayden, Spencer 1968 births Living people American television actresses American voice actresses American stage actresses American musical theatre actresses Clarence Derwent Award winners Northwestern University School of Communication alumni American sketch comedians 21st-century American comedians Theatre World Award winners 21st-century American actresses