Laura Michelle Kelly makes her Feinstein's/54 Below debut on May 2, 16, & 30 with a personal new show that uses Broadway favorites and pop hits to tell her story of coming to New York and making it her home.
Kelly made her mark on the international theatre scene as the titular character in Disney's world premiere production of Mary Poppins, winning critical acclaim and a 2005 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical.
She made her Broadway debut as Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof. In London, she played Eliza in My Fair Lady, Sophie in Mamma Mia, Eponine in Les Miserables, Swallow in Whistle Down the Wind, Karen in Speed-the-Plow and Galadriel in the original production of The Lord of the Rings The Musical. At the Muny, LMK played Ana in The King and I and Nellie Forbush in South Pacific. Plus, she made her film debut as Lucy Barker/Beggar Woman in the Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd.
Currently, Laura Michelle Kelly is breaking Broadway audiences' hearts as single mother Sylvia Llewelyn Davis in Finding Neverland
.Needless to say, Kelly has played her fair share of fantastic theatrical roles, so what roles out there is the Olivier winner still dying to tackle? BroadwayBox caught up with Laura Michelle Kelly to find out.
Maria Callas
I’d like to play Maria Callas in a movie when I’m older. I grew up listening to her. My singing teacher taught me opera as a kid, and I would listen to her every single day. I loved the fact that she could technically do everything right but she let the emotion overcome in the moment, and I’m very much the same. I can do the technical really well but I get carried away sometimes in the emotion, and I learned that from her.
Mrs. Lovett (Sweeney Todd)
Because I was in Sweeney Todd the movie, I always want to play Mrs. Lovett…really badly! I could play that one now probably—I think those character roles are pretty ageless and you could age up easily if I needed to. Angela Lansbury is one of my icons. I rewatched some of her version of Mrs. Lovett recently and I thought, ‘Ugh! I have to play it one day.’ Terrence Mann would be really good [as Sweeney]. He was my Frohman in Finding Neverland so we always talked about it; or maybe Brian Stokes Mitchell—we did Camelot together. There’s a lot of cool people who could play it I’m sure.
Margaret Johnson (The Light in the Piazza)
I’d like to play Margaret Johnson, the mother, one day in The Light in the Piazza. I think my time to play the daughter might be over maybe, but I’d like to sing it in a concert. I just watched Kelli O’Hara play it, and it changed my life. I’ve listened to “The Beauty Is” on repeat—one day I’ll do that here [at 54] —that and “Dividing Day”. I believe one day I might play that part; in ten years’ time, I’ll be ready.
Don't miss Laura Michelle Kelly's new show at Feinstein's/54 Below on May 2, 16 and 30 or see her on B'way in 'Finding Neverland'.
