Laura Osnes
Laura Osnes
Laura Ann Osnes is an American actress and singer known for her work on the Broadway stage. She has played starring roles in Grease as Sandy, South Pacific as Nellie Forbush, Anything Goes as Hope Harcourt, and Bonnie and Clyde as Bonnie Parker, for which she received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. She also starred in the title role of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella on Broadway, for which she received a Drama Desk Award and...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionStage Actress
Date of Birth19 November 1985
CityBurnsville, MN
CountryUnited States of America
Cinderella is making her Broadway debut. It's an honor to step into that position and, in that way, I am creating a role because it's never been done on Broadway. I feel so honored.
'Grease' was my Broadway debut. That was eye-opening. At the same time, it was very familiar. It was a Broadway show, but it's kind of the same as doing a show in Minnesota. It's the same type of rehearsal process. You are doing 8 shows a week, but I worked at a theatre in Minnesota that did 11 shows a week.
After high school, I went to the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point for a year, and I studied musical theatre. By that point, I was like, 'This is what I want to do.'
I've always wanted to be on an original cast recording. I grew up listening to them, and now to know that my voice is heard on three or four of them is just surreal. I never thought I would be that person.
I found an agent midway through my year-long run at 'Grease' and just started to audition. I fortunately booked 'South Pacific' six months after 'Grease' was over, and I feel like that was a huge turning point in legitimizing myself in the Broadway community, and getting to do that was absolutely amazing.
People say I have my own Cinderella story, and in a way, I guess I do.
Getting to do 'December Songs' in a cabaret-style format was so interesting because it's like a one-woman song cycle that actually tells a story. It feels like a theatrical experience more than a cabaret because I didn't talk in between. We went from one song to the next, nine songs in a row - bam - I told the story in half an hour.
That's the joy of getting to be an actor - getting to play all kinds of different roles and showing so many different sides of yourself.
I'm doing what I wanted to do since I was a young girl. I pinch myself every day to make sure it's true.
Oh, I am such a nerd when it comes to music - I only listen to Broadway!
As wonderful as being on stage is, family comes first.
I did my first show in second grade. I was a munchkin in 'The Wizard of Oz.'
I was born in Burnsville, Minnesota, and raised in Eagan, which is right by Burnsville. I've been in that area my whole life.
If I can impact people with my music, that's what I want.