Barbara Walsh
Encyclopedia
Barbara Walsh is an American musical theatre
actress who has appeared in several prominent Broadway
productions. Walsh is known for her Drama Desk Award
winning and Tony
nominated role as Trina in the Broadway production of Falsettos
.
. She took voice lessons with Margaret Riddleberger. She attended Georgetown Visitation
, an all-girls Catholic high school and Montgomery College
, where she studied drama and music. After college Walsh worked in dinner theatre and summer stock in Warsaw
, Indiana. She performed in Forbidden Broadway
in the mid-1980s. She is married to Jack Cummings, the artistic director of the Transport Group.
film starring Tom Hanks
. She was in the 2006-2007 Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's Company
, playing the role of Joanne. This production was also taped for television and aired on PBS in February 2008. She has also appeared on Broadway in Rock 'n Roll! The First 5,000 Years (1982), Nine
as Francesca, as Mrs. Lyons in Blood Brothers (1993), and as Velma Von Tussle in Hairspray
. Her Off-Broadway credits include Birds of Paradise
(1987), Stars in Your Eyes (1999) and the Transport Group musical Normal (2005).
Regionally, she has been seen in A Little Night Music
as Desirée Armfeldt, (2008 Center Stage
, Baltimore, Md), The Most Happy Fella
, Houdini (1997 Goodspeed
), Exactly Like You
(Goodspeed
), and A Streetcar Named Desire
, and Master Class
(Paper Mill Playhouse, 2009) among others. Walsh replaced Donna Bullock in the role of "Mother" in the Chicago Cast of Ragtime
. She played the dual roles of Edith Beale and her daughter Little Edie in Grey Gardens
at the Studio Theatre (Washington, DC), from November 12 through December 21, 2008.
Walsh's television
credits include guest roles on Law & Order
, Law & Order: Criminal Intent
, and the re-occurring role of Judy Schulman-Brown on One Life to Live
. Walsh also appeared in the film Life with Mikey
.
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
actress who has appeared in several prominent Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
productions. Walsh is known for her Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
winning and Tony
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
nominated role as Trina in the Broadway production of Falsettos
Falsettos
Falsettos is a musical with a book by James Lapine and William Finn and music and lyrics by Finn, comprising March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland, the last two in a trio of one-act off-Broadway plays focusing on Marvin, his ex-wife Trina, his psychiatrist Mendel, his son Jason, and his gay...
.
Personal life and early work
Walsh grew up in Chevy Chase, MarylandChevy Chase, Maryland
Chevy Chase is the name of both a town and an unincorporated census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland. In addition, a number of villages in the same area of Montgomery County include "Chevy Chase" in their names...
. She took voice lessons with Margaret Riddleberger. She attended Georgetown Visitation
Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School
Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School was founded in Washington, DC in 1799 as the Georgetown Academy for Young Ladies. It was also formally referred to as the Convent and Academy of the Visitation. Since 1799, the school has continued for over 200 years as a college preparatory school for women...
, an all-girls Catholic high school and Montgomery College
Montgomery College
Montgomery College is a public, open access community college located in Montgomery County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C. in the United States. The college has three campuses, the largest of which is in Rockville; the other campuses are in Takoma Park/Silver Spring and Germantown...
, where she studied drama and music. After college Walsh worked in dinner theatre and summer stock in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, Indiana. She performed in Forbidden Broadway
Forbidden Broadway
Forbidden Broadway is an Off-Broadway satirical revue conceived, written and directed by Gerard Alessandrini. The original version of the revue opened on January 15, 1982 at Palsson's Supper Club in New York City and ran for 2,332 performances. Alessandrini has rewritten the show over a dozen...
in the mid-1980s. She is married to Jack Cummings, the artistic director of the Transport Group.
Work
Walsh appeared on Broadway in the short lived musical Big (1996), based on the Penny MarshallPenny Marshall
Penny Marshall is an American actress, producer and director.After playing several small roles for television, she was cast as Laverne DeFazio in the sitcom Laverne and Shirley...
film starring Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title...
. She was in the 2006-2007 Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's Company
Company (musical)
Company is a musical with a book by George Furth and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The original production was nominated for a record-setting fourteen Tony Awards and won six....
, playing the role of Joanne. This production was also taped for television and aired on PBS in February 2008. She has also appeared on Broadway in Rock 'n Roll! The First 5,000 Years (1982), Nine
Nine (musical)
Nine is a musical with a book by Arthur Kopit, music and lyrics by Maury Yeston. The story is based on Federico Fellini's semi-autobiographical film 8½...
as Francesca, as Mrs. Lyons in Blood Brothers (1993), and as Velma Von Tussle in Hairspray
Hairspray (musical)
Hairspray is a musical with music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman and a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, based on the 1988 John Waters film Hairspray. The songs include 1960s-style dance music and "downtown" rhythm and blues...
. Her Off-Broadway credits include Birds of Paradise
Birds of Paradise (musical)
Birds of Paradise is a musical with music by David Evans, lyrics by Winnie Holzman, and the book by Evans and Holzman. It had a brief run Off-Broadway in 1987...
(1987), Stars in Your Eyes (1999) and the Transport Group musical Normal (2005).
Regionally, she has been seen in A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Its title is a literal English translation of the German name for Mozart's Serenade...
as Desirée Armfeldt, (2008 Center Stage
Center Stage (theater)
Center Stage is the state theater of Maryland and Baltimore's largest professional producing theater. Center Stage was founded in 1963 as a regional playhouse....
, Baltimore, Md), The Most Happy Fella
The Most Happy Fella
The Most Happy Fella is a 1956 musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Frank Loesser. The story, about a romance between an older man and younger woman, is based on the play They Knew What They Wanted by Sidney Howard...
, Houdini (1997 Goodspeed
Goodspeed Musicals
Goodspeed Musicals, a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and advancement of musical theater and the creation of new works, was formed in 1959 to restore the Goodspeed Opera House, located in East Haddam, Connecticut, to its original Victorian appearance. Each year, Goodspeed...
), Exactly Like You
Exactly Like You (musical)
Exactly Like You is a 1999 musical by composer Cy Coleman and the book writer A. E. Hotchner....
(Goodspeed
Goodspeed Musicals
Goodspeed Musicals, a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and advancement of musical theater and the creation of new works, was formed in 1959 to restore the Goodspeed Opera House, located in East Haddam, Connecticut, to its original Victorian appearance. Each year, Goodspeed...
), and A Streetcar Named Desire
A Streetcar Named Desire (play)
A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1947 play written by American playwright Tennessee Williams for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1948. The play opened on Broadway on December 3, 1947, and closed on December 17, 1949, in the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. The Broadway production was...
, and Master Class
Master Class
Master Class is a play by Terrence McNally, with incidental music by Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, and Vincenzo Bellini.The play originally was staged by the Philadelphia Theatre Company and the Mark Taper Forum. After twelve previews, the Broadway production, directed by Leonard Foglia, opened...
(Paper Mill Playhouse, 2009) among others. Walsh replaced Donna Bullock in the role of "Mother" in the Chicago Cast of Ragtime
Ragtime (musical)
Ragtime is a musical with a book by Terrence McNally, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and music by Stephen Flaherty.Based on the 1975 novel by E. L. Doctorow, Ragtime tells the story of three groups in America, represented by Coalhouse Walker Jr., a Harlem musician; Mother, the matriarch of a WASP family in...
. She played the dual roles of Edith Beale and her daughter Little Edie in Grey Gardens
Grey Gardens (musical)
Grey Gardens is an American musical with book by Doug Wright, music by Scott Frankel, and lyrics by Michael Korie, based on the 1975 documentary of the same title about the lives of Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edith Bouvier Beale by Albert and David Maysles. The Beales were...
at the Studio Theatre (Washington, DC), from November 12 through December 21, 2008.
Walsh's television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
credits include guest roles on Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
, Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it was also primarily produced. Created and produced by Dick Wolf and René Balcer, the series premiered on September 30, 2001, as the second spin-off of Wolf's successful crime drama...
, and the re-occurring role of Judy Schulman-Brown on One Life to Live
One Life to Live
One Life to Live is an American soap opera which debuted on July 15, 1968 and has been broadcast on the ABC television network. Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature racially and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social...
. Walsh also appeared in the film Life with Mikey
Life with Mikey
Life with Mikey is a 1993 comedy film starring Michael J. Fox, Christina Vidal, Nathan Lane, Cyndi Lauper and David Krumholtz....
.
External links
- Internet Off-Broadway Database listing
- 2006 DIVA TALK: In Good Company: Chatting with Barbara Walsh", Andrew GansPlaybill, December 15, 2006
- Barbara Walsh Downstage Center interview at American Theatre Wing, January 2007