Paula Leggett Chase
| Paula Leggett Chase | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 2, 1961 Evansville, Indiana, U.S. |
| 💼 Occupation | Actress |
| 📆 Years active | 1975–present |
| 👩 Spouse(s) |
|
| 👶 Children | 2 |
Paula Leggett Chase (born September 2, 1961) is an American television actress and Broadway performer, most noted for her tv roles in 30 Rock and The Sound of Music Live![1][2] She participated in multiple episodes of Law & Order and played Medeva on the PBS Kids game show, Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego? Chase has performed in many Broadway productions, among which A Chorus Line, Damn Yankees, and Bye Bye Birdie.[3] Off-Broadway, she had the lead roles in the Queen of Hearts at Theatre Row[4][5][6] and in Dolly Parton's 9 to 5 at the Music Theatre Wichita.[7]
Early life and education
Chase was born in Evansville, Indiana. When she was in the first grade, she began to take dancing lessons. However, by the third grade, she dropped out of dancing and decided to take jazz, tap, and acrobatics. Chase attended Evansville Harrison High and graduated in 1979.[8] Afterwards, she attended Indiana University as a voice major. She was a member of the Singing Hoosiers and did some choreography for the group. By 1983, she graduated from Indiana University.
Career
Chase received her first break on Broadway as an understudy in A Chorus Line (1975–1990). Small roles followed in Cabaret (1987–1989), Crazy for You (1992–1996). From 1994 she received significant Broadway roles in Damn Yankees (1994–1995), The Pajama Game (2006), Curtains (2007–2008), and Bye Bye Birdie (2009–2010).
Television performances started in 1996, participating as Medeva in Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego? (1996–1997), Judge Dorothy Parnell in Law & Order (2007–2008), Unforgettable (2011), Randi in 30 Rock (2011–2012),[9] Baroness Elberfeld in The Sound of Music Live! (2013), Brooklandia in Odd Mom Out (2015), Mrs. Kassidy in Feed the Beast (2016), and Jackie Dunn in Younger (2016). She voiced Medeva also in the 1997 & 1999 video game Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?/Carmen Sandiego’s Great Chase Through Time.
In between she took on lead and other roles off-Broadway and in theaters in the Northeastern US and in her hometown Evansville, Indiana. She had the lead roles of Lady Diana in the Queen of Hearts in 1999 at Theatre Row,[4] Violet in Dolly Parton's 9 to 5 in 1999 at the Music Theatre Wichita,[7] and Florence Foster Jenkins in Souvenir in 2017 at the Evansville's New Harmony Theatre.[8] Chase had three roles in the 2010 world premiere of Johnny Baseball at the Loeb Drama Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts,[9][10] played Jacqueline in La Cage aux Folles at Boston's North Shore Music Theatre,[2] and was a courtesan in the 2017 The Comedy of Errors at Hartford Stage.[11]
Acting
Broadway
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975‑1990 | A Chorus Line | Performer and Understudy | Was the replacement actress for Linda, Vicki, Judy, Kristine, and Sheila |
| 1987‑1989 | Cabaret | Lady | Touring production |
| 1992‑1996 | Crazy for You | Mitzi | Ensemble part |
| 1994‑1995 | Damn Yankees | Betty (main performer), Miss Stephens (understudy)[14] | |
| 1999‑2001 | Kiss Me, Kate | Swing | |
| 2005‑2006 | Dirty Rotten Scoundrels | Muriel Eubanks | Understudy and Replacement |
| 2006 | The Pajama Game | Brenda[15][16] | |
| 2007‑2008 | Curtains | Majorie Cook (main performer), Carmen Bernstein, Georgia Hendricks, Jessica Cranshaw (understudy)[17] | |
| 2009‑2010 | Bye Bye Birdie[8] | Gloria Rasputin, Parent/Reporter | |
| 2015 | On the Twentieth Century | Imelda Thornton (main performer),[18] Dr. Johnson (understudy) | The role of Imelda Thornton was an ensemble part |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-1997 | Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego? | Medeva | |
| 2007-2008 | Law & Order | Judge Dorothy Parnell | |
| 2011 | Bored to Death | Female Patron #1 | Minor role |
| 2011 | Unforgettable | Wife | |
| 2011-2012 | 30 Rock | Randi | |
| 2013 | The Sound of Music Live! | Baroness Elberfeld | |
| 2015 | Odd Mom Out | Brooklandia | |
| 2016 | Feed the Beast | Mrs. Kassidy | |
| 2016 | Younger | Jackie Dunn |
Video games
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 & 1999 | Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?/Carmen Sandiego’s Great Chase Through Time | Medeva | Voice role |
Personal life
Chase has been married to David Chase since 1992. They have two children, Frank and Charles Leggett.
References
- ↑ Evansville Living Staff (July 2014). "Notable Alumni; Local graduates went on to big things". Evansville Living. Tucker Publishing Group. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
They’ve gone on to fame or fortune – or both – in a variety of ways. [...] We’ve compiled a list of some of the people you could’ve sat next to in an Evansville high school, and who probably should have been voted “most likely to succeed.” William Henry Harrison High School [...] Paula Leggett Chase (1979) – Television actress, best known for roles on “30 Rock” and “The Sound of Music Live!”
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Aucoin, Don (September 28, 2013). "Supporting cast, indelible score buoy 'La Cage'". Boston Globe.
There's also a treat for "30 Rock" fans: Paula Leggett Chase, so hilarious as Randi in the "Queen of Jordan" episodes of that late and much-missed NBC sitcom, plays Jacqueline, the owner of a prestigious restaurant. Jacqueline has always seemed a contrived character, arbitrarily shoehorned into "La Cage" as a plot device, and that's how she seems here as well, but Chase brings it off with brio, heavy French accent and all.
- ↑ Onofri, Adrienne (May 9, 2007). "Gypsy of the month: Paula Leggett Chase of 'Curtains'". Broadway World. New York City: Wisdom Digital Media. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Zoglin, Richard (April 19, 1999). "Theater: Queen of Hearts; By Stephen Stahl and Claudia Perry". Time. Vol. 153. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
Yet the musical boasts an appealing Diana in Paula Leggett Chase, who has the hairstyle and the gangly grace and (in songs like The Walls Are Closing In) makes a decent case for her emotional strength. In a more polished show, she might win a few hearts herself.
- ↑ Lyons, Donald (March 31, 1999). "'Queen': Don't take it to heart". New York Post. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
Paula Leggett Chase is a tall blonde, and she does imitate Di’s awkward stoop, but she looks more like Tina Brown than Di, and her voice is strained and dry.
- ↑ Parks, Brian (April 6, 1999). "Queen of Hearts". The Village Voice. New York City.
While actor James A Walsh has happily returned as wooden Prince Charles (complete with little braces that make his ears stick out), director Stahl has unfortunately recast Diana, replacing porcelain-hued Kendra Munger with Paula Leggett Chase. While she sings just fine, Chase, is a ham full of muggy facial tics its as if a number of small animals were living under her skin.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Curtright, Bob (June 28, 2012). "Colorful '9 to 5' celebrates female empowerment". The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
Paula Leggett Chase is a powerhouse as Violet, the overworked veteran who has grown cynical as she watches the men she trains be promoted over her. Chase has a terrific voice for her numbers. She also has an efficient, take-charge, wryly engaging presence.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Loesch, Sarah (July 26, 2017). "'Souvenir' to close out New Harmony Theatre season". Evansville Courier & Press. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
Paula Leggett Chase will take the stage as that operatic diva, portraying Jenkins and returning to her hometown at the same time. Chase graduated from Harrison High School before heading to college and then New York after that. She has done multiple Broadway shows including "Bye Bye Birdie."
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Inside Track column". Boston Herald. March 22, 2011.
That one of the faux "Real Housewives" featured on last week's "30 Rock" was none other than Paula Leggett Chase, whom you may recall from the Boston run of "Johnny Baseball." That was Paula who sang the show-stopper "Rivera" (as in Mariano) in "Johnny Baseball," and that was Paula hanging upside down off a stripper pole during an episode of Sherri Shepherd's "Queen of Jordan" on "30 Rock." Word is, the story line continues this week.
- ↑ Brantley, Ben (June 9, 2010). "The Bambino, and Other Curses of the Red Sox". The New York Times. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
- ↑ Arnott, Christopher (January 24, 2017). "Wacky 'Comedy of Errors' Overflows With Jokes At Hartford Stage". Hartford Courant. Retrieved September 30, 2018.
Paula Leggett Chase is the courtesan who croons "Never on Sunday" and becomes the most fluid conduit of the show's cartoon anarchy.
- ↑ Paula Leggett Chase - Broadway Cast & Staff | IBDB. Accessed August 14, 2018.
- ↑ Paula Leggett Chase Theatre Credits. Accessed August 14, 2018.
- ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=pyOS10wBhy4C&pg=PA431
- ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=i_A4MeqTEcIC&pg=PA47
- ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=p3Fnt-PkNAwC&pg=PA168
- ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=EuEND0l8ufkC&pg=PA64
- ↑ Vineberg, Steve (March 23, 2015). "On the 20th Century: Spiffy Ride". Critics at Large. Canada. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
As Lily, née Mildred Plotka, who begins, in flashback, as an audition pianist for a dreadful woman named Imelda Thornton (Paula Leggett Chase, in a perfectly calibrated one-scene performance) and becomes Oscar’s latest discovery
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