- Heidi Blickenstaff
Heidi Blickenstaff is an actress based in
New York City best known for playing a version of herself in the musical " [title of show| [title of show] " during itsOff-Broadway and Broadway runs." [title of show] "
Blickenstaff is a veteran Broadway performer who gained widespread notice for her work in " [title of show] " after years of working in understudy, supporting and ensemble roles.Isherwood, Charles. [http://theater2.nytimes.com/2008/07/18/theater/reviews/18titl.html?ref=theater Puttin’ on the Put-On, With Tunes] , 18 July, 2008. Retrieved July 24, 2008.]
The musical documents its own creation by two Broadway fans, who want to enter the New York Musical Theatre Festival and struggle to complete the show in three and a half weeks, and their two actress friends. The actors are also the writers and characters of the musical.
Blickenstaff has said her character in " [title of show] ", a struggling actor also named "Heidi," is a "concentrated version" of her actual personality.Gans, Andrews. [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/119364.html DIVA TALK: Chatting with title of show's Heidi Blickenstaff Plus Heights and Pacific on CD] , Playbill, 11 July, 2008. Retrieved July 23, 2008.]
She also has credited her experience in " [title of show] " with easing her chronic stage fright, a form of self-doubt immortalized in one of the show's songs, "Die Vampire Die."
"I also have a stage fright vampire," she told TheaterMania.com in 2006, during " [title of show] "'s extended off-Broadway run at the
Vineyard Theatre . "Certainly, " [title of show] " has been great medicine, because we talk about that stuff."Portantiere, Michael. [http://www.theatermania.com/content/news.cfm/story/8653 "Show" Girls] , TheaterMania.com, 19 July 2006. Retrieved July 24, 2008.]Other Work
Blickenstaff's other Broadway credits include " The Full Monty" on Broadway (as Susan Hershey) and " The Little Mermaid" (as Carlotta).
In 2006, she starred in the musical "
Meet John Doe " at theFord's Theatre inWashington, D.C. , winning aHelen Hayes Award for her performance.Lipton, Brian Scott. [http://www.theatermania.com/content/news.cfm/story/13722 Blickenstaff, Irwin, Jones, Kudisch, Ruhl, et al. Win Helen Hayes Awards] , TheaterMania.com, 29 April, 2008. Retrieved July 23, 2008.]Of Blickenstaff's performance in the musical -- an adaptation of the 1941
Frank Capra film of the same name -- Peter Marks wrote in the "Washington Post": "She's a dynamite successor to the movie's Barbara Stanwyck: It's a star performance, in fact. There's an effortless kind of kick to Blickenstaff's readings of Ann's sharp-elbowed lines. And she can sing, to boot."Marks, Peter. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032601994.html 'John Doe' Makes for Some Names to Remember] , "The Washington Post", 27 March, 2007. Retrieved July 23, 2008.]Blickenstaff's other regional credits include roles in "The Girl in the Frame" at the Goodspeed Opera House, "Bat Boy: The Musical" at Theatreworks in Palo Alto, Calif., and "Prairie" at New York Stage and Film.
She has also worked in touring productions of "The Full Monty", "Jekyll & Hyde", "Steel Pier", "
Dreamgirls " and The Who's "Tommy". [http://titleofshow.com/who.html title of show: The Players] , titleofshow.com. Retrieved July 23, 2008.] It was during the "Tommy" tour that Blickenstaff met her future " [title of show] " co-star (and the musical's co-creator/composer)Jeff Bowen .She has appeared in a television commercial for
Nationwide Insurance . [youtube|title=Nationwide Insurance commercial|url=http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=8aJYvGaeFVA] .Personal
Heidi grew up in
Fresno, California , and got her start in musical theater at the Good Company Players, where her roles included "Annie" in the musical of the same name.Munro, Donald. [http://www.fresnobee.com/lifestyle/arts/v-printerfriendly/story/518067.html Best of show: Theater veteran and Fresno native stars in a musical about a musical] , "The Fresno Bee", 10 April 2008. Retrieved July 24, 2008.]Her father, Dale Blickenstaff, is the former District Attorney of Fresno County.
She is a graduate of Roosevelt High School in Fresno, Calif., and
Duke University .References
External links
*ibdb|102615
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