Laura Benanti

Laura Ilene Benanti (née Vidnovic; born July 15, 1979) is an American actress and singer.

Benanti made her Broadway debut as an ensemble member and later as Maria von Trapp in the 1998 revival of The Sound of Music. Benanti went on to win the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical playing Louise in the revival of Gypsy (2008). She was Tony-nominated for her roles in Swing! (2000), Into the Woods (2002), Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (2010), and She Loves Me (2016). Her other notable Broadway roles include Nine (2003), In the Next Room (2009), Meteor Shower (2017), and My Fair Lady (2018).

On television she has had roles as Lauren Bennett on the NBC sitcom Go On (2012–2013), Sadie Stone in the ABC musical drama series Nashville (2014–2015), Alura and Astra in the CBS series Supergirl (2015–2016), Edie Randall in the TBS comedy The Detour (2017–2019), Kiki Hope in the HBO Max revival Gossip Girl (2021–2023), and as Susan Blane in the HBO drama series The Gilded Age (2023).

From 2016 to its 2026 end, she had a recurring role as First Lady Melania Trump on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Early life Benanti was born in New York City to Linda Wonneberger, a vocal coach and former actress, and Martin Vidnovic, a Broadway actor and singer. She is of Serbian, German, and Irish heritage. Her parents divorced when she was young. She soon moved to Kinnelon, New Jersey, with her mother and stepfather Salvatore Benanti, a psychotherapist, whose name she took and refers to as her father.

Benanti remembers being "very serious" and "a bit of an ugly duckling" as a child; she was intensely interested in musical theatre, saying she "came out of the womb as a 40-year-old". She was particularly interested in the music of Stephen Sondheim at an early age and distanced herself from other children. In 2008, Benanti told The New York Times that she drew on this loneliness in her portrayal of the neglected Louise in Gypsy. She graduated from Kinnelon High School in 1997.

In 1999, Benanti appeared in the Broadway revue Swing!, for which she received a Tony nomination for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical. In 2000, she co-starred with Donna Murphy in the critically acclaimed New York City Center Encores! concert production of the Leonard Bernstein-Betty Comden-Adolph Green musical Wonderful Town. Benanti can be heard on the original cast albums of each of her Broadway roles, as well as compilation albums of Stephen Schwartz and Maury Yeston. She participated in a studio cast recording of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Allegro, which was released by Sony Classics in February 2009. She also appears as a guest artist on the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington, D.C.'s live album, You've Got to Be Carefully Taught: The Songs of Hammerstein & Sondheim, taken from a 2002 performance at the Kennedy Center. A songwriter and guitarist, Benanti has written songs privately since at least the early 2000s; Benanti was eventually replaced in the show by Erin Dilly. Eight months after her initial injury, Benanti was rediagnosed and received surgery that could have damaged her voice but was successful, though as of 2005 she still experienced neck pain and myelopathy. From April to December 2006, she played Julia Sullivan in the Broadway musical The Wedding Singer. In addition to stage roles, Benanti was a regular on the short-lived FX sitcom Starved (2005), which received mixed reviews, but Benanti described it as "a good experience. I got a lot of camera experience, which was something I just hadn't had." and Falling for Grace as Princess Alexandra. In 2008, Benanti had a recurring role on the ABC television series Eli Stone. She appeared in the pilot for the TV show as well.

2007–2015: Gypsy and acclaim

In July 2007, Benanti played in a three-week limited run of the musical Gypsy in the Encores! staged concert production at the New York City Center as Louise, alongside Patti LuPone as Rose and Boyd Gaines as Herbie. In March 2008, the production transferred to Broadway, where it ran until January 2009 and received widespread critical acclaim. Benanti's performance as Louise was praised, with The New York Timess Ben Brantley declaring it "the performance of her career". She won several awards, including a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical, and an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical.

Benanti appeared in The Public Theater's world-premiere production of Christopher Durang's play Why Torture Is Wrong, And the People Who Love Them from April 6 to 26, 2009. She next appeared in the Lincoln Center Theater's production of Sarah Ruhl's In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play) beginning previews on October 22, 2009, and opening on November 19, 2009, at the Lyceum Theatre. Benanti appeared in the new musical Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown on Broadway from October 8, 2010, until January 2, 2011. She received a Tony nomination and won the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance. In 2011, she was cast in the NBC series The Playboy Club, which was canceled after three episodes. Benanti played the wife of Dr. Atticus Sherman on Episode 11 of Season Two of The Big C, entitled "Fight Or Flight". In 2011 and 2012, Benanti had a recurring role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Detective Nick Amaro's wife. Benanti played the role of Lauren Bennett, a leader of a support group, on the NBC series, Go On. Go On was canceled in May 2013 after one season.

In June 2013, Benanti performed as the soprano soloist in the San Francisco premiere of Andrew Lippa's oratorio, I Am Harvey Milk. She played Goddess in The Public Theater's musical adaptation of The Tempest, which was presented at the Delacorte Theatre from September 6 through 8, 2013. She had a recurring role on the USA series Royal Pains. On October 17, 2013, Benanti appeared in an episode of Elementary on CBS. She also appeared in Nurse Jackie and The Good Wife. On December 5, 2013, Benanti played Elsa Schräder in the NBC production of The Sound of Music Live! In Constant Search of the Right Kind of Attention, a live recording of Benanti's concert engagement at 54 Below, was released by Broadway Records in September 2013. In 2014, she was cast as country singer Sadie Stone in the ABC musical drama series Nashville for its third season, recording and performing several songs during her arc. From April 2 through 6, 2014, Benanti starred as Rosabella in the New York City Center Encores! staged concert production of Frank Loesser's The Most Happy Fella alongside Shuler Hensley, Cheyenne Jackson, Jay Armstrong Johnson, and Heidi Blickenstaff.

In 2015, she joined the cast of Supergirl, where she has a recurring role as Alura In-Ze, Zor-El's wife and mother of Kara and Alura's twin sister General Astra, who wants to take over Earth as its new ruler and destroy her niece Kara. In July 2017, it was announced that Benanti would not return to the series for its third season due to her work schedule and that Erica Durance would assume the role of Alura. Benanti guest-starred as Edie, a United States Postal Service inspector, in the second season of The Detour and was later promoted to a series regular for season three. On February 16, 2015, Benanti played Lucille Frank in the Manhattan Concert Productions presentation of Parade at Avery Fisher Hall, alongside Jeremy Jordan as Leo Frank. She appeared in New York Spring Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall from March 12 through May 7, 2015.

2016–present Benanti has portrayed Melania Trump (pictured) in skits on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Benanti starred in the lead role of Amalia Balash in the 2016 Roundabout Theatre Company Broadway revival of She Loves Me opposite Zachary Levi. The production began previews at Studio 54 on February 19, 2016, and opened on March 17 for a limited engagement through July 10. She received a nomination for Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for this role. On July 19, 2016, Benanti first impersonated Melania Trump on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert during the run-up to that year's U.S. presidential election, a role she reprised in subsequent appearances on that show. In 2017, Benanti once again acted on Broadway in Steve Martin's comedic play Meteor Shower, along with Keegan-Michael Key as Gerald, Amy Schumer as Corky, and Jeremy Shamos as Norm. The play premiered on Broadway on November 1, 2017, in previews, officially on November 29, 2017, at the Booth Theatre. The play closed on January 21, 2018.

In March 2017, Tangled: Before Ever After, she voiced the character Lady Caine, serving as the film's main antagonist, leading a pirate gang. She reprised the role in Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure, from 2017 to 2019, where Lady Caine was a recurring character. Caine's character was praised for her appearance, with the character also described as "fierce", "devious", and a "total badass."

Benanti replaced Lauren Ambrose as Eliza Doolittle in the Broadway Lincoln Center Theater revival of My Fair Lady, beginning October 23, 2018, for a limited run through February 17, 2019, except for Tuesday nights with Kerstin Anderson in the role. Benanti extended her appearance in the musical to July 7, 2019. In 2019, she joined the cast of Younger, playing the role of businesswoman and author Quinn Tyler. Benanti released her self-titled first solo album in 2020. In 2021, Benanti played the role of Francine in the film Here Today, co-written and directed by Billy Crystal, starring Crystal and Tiffany Haddish. In 2023, she played the role of Allison Becker in No Hard Feelings, which starred Jennifer Lawrence. In 2025, she also starred in season 4 of Mayor of Kingstown, as a prison guard and love interest of the main character.

Personal life Benanti met Chris Barron, lead singer of the Spin Doctors, in the early 2000s. They married on July 25, 2005, but by the end of that year were in the process of a divorce, which was finalized in 2006.

On June 12, 2015, she became engaged to Patrick Brown. They married on November 15, 2015. In 2017, they had a daughter, Ella. A second daughter, Louisa, was born via surrogate in 2022. On April 7, 2023, Benanti announced that she had suffered a miscarriage while on stage on a Broadway themed cruise. Knowing she was having the miscarriage, she continued to perform saying that "if it had been our first loss, or even our second, I likely wouldn't have been able to go on […] but unfortunately I am not a stranger to the pain and emptiness of losing a pregnancy".

Acting credits Film

Television

Theater

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Nominated work Result 2000 Tony Award Best Featured Actress in a Musical Swing! 2002 Tony Award Best Featured Actress in a Musical Into the Woods Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actress in a Musical Outer Critics Circle Award Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical 2003 Drama League Award Distinguished Performance Nine Outer Critics Circle Award Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical 2008 Tony Award Best Featured Actress in a Musical Gypsy Drama Desk Award Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical Drama League Award Distinguished Performance Outer Critics Circle Award Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical 2010 Drama League Award Distinguished Performance In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play) Outer Critics Circle Award Outstanding Actress in a Play 2011 Tony Award Best Featured Actress in a Musical Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown Drama Desk Award Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical Drama League Award Distinguished Performance Outer Critics Circle Award Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical 2016 Tony Award Best Actress in a Musical She Loves Me Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actress in a Musical Drama League Award Distinguished Performance Outer Critics Circle Award Outstanding Actress in a Musical Saturn Awards Best Guest Starring Role on Television Supergirl 2018 Drama League Award Distinguished Performance Meteor Shower

Discography Year Title Record label 2013 In Constant Search of the Right Kind of Attention Broadway Records 2020 Laura Benanti Masterworks Broadway

Singles "I Like Musicals" (2016)

Broadway recordings The Sound of Music (1998 Broadway Revival Cast Recording) Swing! (1998 Original Broadway Cast Recording) Into the Woods (2002 Broadway Revival Cast Recording) Nine (2003 Broadway Revival Cast Recording) The Wedding Singer (2006 Original Broadway Cast Recording) Gypsy (2008 Broadway Revival Cast Recording) Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (2011 Original Broadway Cast Recording) She Loves Me (2016 Revival Cast Recording) Songs From My Fair Lady (2019 Revival EP Recording)

Studio and concert recordings The Stephen Schwartz Album – 1999 Studio Recording The Maury Yeston Songbook – 2003 Studio Recording NEO (New, Emerging... Outstanding!) – 2003 Concert Recording You've Got To Be Carefully Taught: The Songs of Sondheim & Hammerstein – 2003 Gay Men's Chorus Of Washington D.C. Recording Hair – 2004 Concert Recording Wall to Wall Stephen Sondheim – 2006 Concert Recording Allegro – 2008 Studio Recording A Little Princess – 2010 Studio Recording Songs from Amberland: Edie's Reckoning – 2022 Single Recording

Soundtracks The Sound of Music Live: Music from the NBC Television Event – 2013 Soundtrack The Music of Nashville: Season 3, Volume 1 — 2014 Soundtrack (contributed 3 tracks: "Can't Help My Heart" with Will Chase, "Sad Song" and "Novocaine" with Jonathan Jackson) The Music of Nashville: Season 3, Volume 2 – 2015 Soundtrack (contributed 1 track: "Gasoline and Matches" with Connie Britton)