Judy Kuhn

Infobox actor


caption = Judy Kuhn
birthdate = birth date and age|1958|5|20
birthplace = New York City

Judy Kuhn (born May 20, 1958) is an American actress and singer.

Kuhn was born in New York City. Her training as a classical soprano was at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, from which she graduated in 1981. It is erroneously believed that she earned her first Broadway credit working as an assistant to the director of a short-lived musical, "Don't Step on My Olive Branch", in 1976. Her Broadway on-stage debut was in "The Mystery of Edwin Drood", a Rupert Holmes musical based on the unfinished Charles Dickens novel, in 1985. Her next appearance was in the ill-fated "Rags", which closed two days after opening night, but she hit paydirt with her next role, the New York premiere of "Les Misérables" (1987), in which she portrayed Cosette, and for which she received her first Tony Award nomination, as Best Featured Actress in a Musical.

The following year, Kuhn took on another transfer from London's West End, Florence in the Trevor Nunn-directed "Chess", with music by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus (formerly of ABBA) and lyrics by Tim Rice. Despite the show's huge success in London, its creative team decided to rework it for Broadway, with disastrous results. It was greeted indifferently by the critics and closed after a less than two-month run, but Kuhn managed to earn another Tony nod, this time as Best Actress. "Two Shakespearean Actors" (1992), despite an impressive cast that included Brian Bedford, Frances Conroy, Hope Davis, Victor Garber, Laura Innes, and Eric Stoltz, was even less successful, closing after only sixty-two performances.

Kuhn hit the jackpot once again with the 1993 Roundabout Theater Company production of revival of "She Loves Me" - the charming musical adaptation of the film "The Shop Around the Corner" - in which she portrayed Amalia Balash, a young Budapest shopgirl who is unaware that the co-worker she despises is the young man with whom she's been sharing an anonymous correspondence. Her performance was rewarded with a third Tony nomination.

Kuhn briefly appears in the movie Long Time Since in which she supplies the vocals for the movie's haunting soundtrack which includes a rendition of Auld Lang Syne.

Kuhn's most recent Broadway appearances were in concerts. "King David" was a 1997 Disney project with a book and lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Alan Menken and directed by Mike Ockrent, but despite its impressive credits it never evolved into a full-scale production. "Funny Girl" (2002), with an all-star cast - including a series of different actresses taking on the role of Fanny Brice - was the much-anticipated second annual benefit for The Actors' Fund, with Kuhn singing the plaintive "Who Are You Now?"

Kuhn's off-Broadway and regional theater credits include "Eli's Comin'" (for which she won an Obie Award), the title role in "The Ballad of Little Jo" at the Steppenwolf Theater Company in Chicago, "As Thousands Cheer" at the Drama Dept, "Strike Up The Band", "The Glass Menagerie", The Highest Yellow at the Signature Theater Company in Virginia, and "Martin Guerre". She appeared as Betty Schaefer in the pre-Broadway Los Angeles run of "Sunset Boulevard" with Glenn Close, and in London was nominated for an Olivier Award for her performance in "Metropolis". She sang the title role in Disney's animated film "Pocahontas", as well as in the straight-to-video sequel, "".

In the same year, Kuhn reprised her role as Cosette for the 10th anniversary production of "Les Misérables" at the Royal Albert Hall, London.

Kuhn's television credits include the NBC crime dramas "Law & Order" and ", the soap opera "All My Children" on ABC, and two PBS productions - "" and "In Performance At The White House".

Kuhn has performed in concert at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and Avery Fisher Hall in Manhattan, and at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

In addition to being a cast member on various original cast recordings, she released 2 solo albums, the first being "Just In Time: Judy Kuhn Sings Jule Styne". Kuhn released her second solo CD, "Serious Playground – The Songs of Laura Nyro", through Ghostlight Records (an imprint of Sh-K-Boom Records). This is the first-ever solo CD celebrating the pioneering jazz-pop song composer of the 1960s and 70s. The CD is based on her sold-out concert at the Lincoln Center American Songbook Series. That concert followed Judy’s Obie Award-winning role in the Off Broadway production of "Eli’s Comin’" at the Vineyard Theatre, which inspired her passion for Nyro’s music.

She was also the singing voice of Princess Ting-Ting in Mulan II.

In her most recent screen appearance, Kuhn plays a "burdened mother" as a cameo in the Disney film Enchanted.

On October 23 2007, Kuhn returned to the Broadway Production of 'Les Misérables' after 20 years, but this time assuming the role of Fantine. She succeeded Lea Salonga and she remained with the show until the revival ended on January 6 2008.

" [ [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/111107.html Playbill News: I Am My Own Mom: Judy Kuhn, Once a Cosette, Will Play Fantine in Les Miz ] ]

Judy currently lives with her daughter, Anna and husband David in New York City.

Discography

*"The Mystery of Edwin Drood" (1985 Original Broadway Cast)
*"Les Misérables" (1987 Original Broadway Cast)
*"Chess" (1988 Original Broadway Cast)
*"Metropolis" (1989 Original London Cast)
*"" (1995 Soundtrack)
*"Sunset Boulevard" (1994 Los Angeles Cast)
*"Just in Time: Judy Kuhn Sings Jule Styne" (1995)
*"Les Miserables - The Dream Cast in Concert" (1995)
*"Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World" (1998 Soundtrack)
*"As Thousands Cheer" (1998 New York Revival Cast)
*"Serious Playground – The Songs of Laura Nyro" (2007)
*"Enchanted" (2007)

References

External links

* [http://www.judykuhn.net/ Judy Kuhn's Official Website]
*imdb name|id=0474122|name=Judy Kuhn
*ibdb name|id=48517|name=Judy Kuhn
*tvtome person|id=28819|name=Judy Kunh
* [http://www.broadwaystars.com/judykuhn/ Judy Kuhn's unofficial website]
* [http://darkestnight.strangely-funny.net/ darkestnight: the works of Alain Boubil & Claude-Michel Schönberg]
* [http://www.sh-k-boom.com/JudyKuhn.html Judy Kuhn's Serious Playground Album] on Ghostlight Records