Laura Ann Osnes (born November 19, 1985) is an American actress and singer known for her work on the Broadway theatre 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 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 her second Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. She left New York and her Broadway career in 2021, moving to Nashville.
In 2015, Osnes was a judge and mentor for the Songbook Academy, a summer intensive for high school students operated by the Great American Songbook Foundation and founded by Michael Feinstein.
Osnes and Crumm played their final performances as Sandy and Danny on July 20, 2008, and they were succeeded by Ashley Spencer and Derek Keeling, two of the runners-up of Grease: You're the One that I Want!.
Osnes then played Hope Harcourt in the Broadway revival of Anything Goes, which began previews on March 10, 2011, and officially opened on April 7, 2011, starring Sutton Foster and Joel Grey. For this role Osnes received nominations for the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical as well as the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical. She was also nominated for an Astaire Award for excellence in dance. Osnes departed the production on September 11, 2011.
Beginning previews on November 4, 2011, with a December 1 opening night, Osnes once again played Bonnie, this time in the Broadway debut of Bonnie and Clyde at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. She was joined by her Asolo Rep castmate Jeremy Jordan as Clyde. The show received negative reviews, had lackluster ticket sales and closed on December 30, 2011. However, despite the critics' distaste for the production, Osnes received rave reviews for her performance as well as her first Tony Award nomination for Best Leading Actress in a Musical. "Laura Osnes Broadway Credits and Awards" playbillvault.com, accessed September 27, 2015
Osnes next performed at the 2011 Kennedy Center Honors in a tribute to Barbara Cook alongside Sutton Foster, Rebecca Luker, Kelli O'Hara, Patti LuPone, Glenn Close and Audra McDonald.
In January 2012, she played the title character in a reading of a reworked adaptation of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, Cinderella. She then led the Encores! stage concert production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Pipe Dream, based on John Steinbeck's novel Sweet Thursday. Under the direction of Marc Bruni, the production ran from March 28 to April 1, 2012. On April 24, 2012, Osnes headlined a concert performance of The Sound of Music at Carnegie Hall (New York City) as Maria. Also featured were Tony Goldwyn as Captain von Trapp, Brooke Shields as Elsa Schraeder and Patrick Page as Max Detweiler.
Osnes starred in the title role of Cinderella on Broadway, which began previews at the Broadway Theatre on January 25 and opened on March 3, 2013. Osnes received positive reviews, won a 2013 Drama Desk award and was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance. She left the production on January 26, 2014, and was replaced by Carly Rae Jepsen.
Osnes starred as Polly Peachum in the Atlantic Theatre Company's Off-Broadway revival of The Threepenny Opera from March to May 2014. For this role, Osnes received her second nomination for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical. Osnes starred as Julie Jordan in the Lyric Opera of Chicago's production of Carousel, alongside Steven Pasquale, in spring 2015. The production closed on May 3, 2015. The production received positive reviews.
She took part in the world premiere of the new original musical, Bandstand, directed and choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler, which premiered at the Paper Mill Playhouse, New Jersey from October 8 through November 8, 2015. The musical has music by Richard Oberacker and book and lyrics by Robert Taylor and Oberacker. Osnes most recently starred in the musical on Broadway at the Jacobs Theatre, with her co-star Corey Cott. It opened on April 26, 2017, with previews beginning March 31. The production closed on Broadway on September 17, 2017, after 24 previews and 166 regular performances.
Following the closing of Bandstand, Osnes has performed frequently in the Broadway Princess Party show that premiered at Feinstein's/54 Below, which she also hosts and co-developed with music director Benjamin Rauhala. The Princess Party has become a recurring live event at that venue that gathers both popular and up-and-coming stage actresses; at these performances, each actress assumes the identity of a Disney Princess and performs a song from stage or screen in character as that princess, with Osnes typically emceeing and performing as Cinderella. She also performed in this show on the road with fellow Broadway actresses Susan Egan ( Beauty and the Beast, Hercules) and Courtney Reed ( Aladdin).
In August 2021, Osnes exited a concert production of Crazy For You at the Guild Hall in East Hampton, NY after the producers mandated COVID-19 vaccinations for performers, though she denied the initial reports that said she was fired and said she chose to exit, defending her decision to not get vaccinated.
“In 2021 I faced some cancel culture with a tabloid news article in the paper,” said Osnes. “The community disowned me and deserted me, and we definitely felt a need for a change. We felt we had to get out. It wasn’t even safe for me to remain in New York anymore.”Osnes began performing with Shiners, a musical circus in Nashville following her departure from New York City.
In 2015, she was the guest artist for the annual Pioneer Day Concert of the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, Music for a Summer Evening, broadcast on BYUtv. She also performed with the Tabernacle Choir, the Orchestra at Temple Square, and the Bells on Temple Square for the annual Christmas Concerts of the Tabernacle Choir in December (2015), broadcast on PBS. On July 4, 2017, she performed in PBS's A Capitol Fourth, which was broadcast live from the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol.
Osnes starred in the Hallmark Channel film In the Key of Love, starring alongside Scott Michael Foster, as Maggie Case. The movie was released on the network on August 11, 2019. She also starred as Charlotte in Hallmark Movies & Mysteries' A Homecoming for the Holidays and as Anna in Hallmark Channel's One Royal Holiday alongside Aaron Tveit and Victoria Clark. Osnes has gone on to star in several more Hallmark Channel and Great American Family made-for-television films.
2018 | Julia Trojan | Professional musical recording, aired in theaters | |
2020 | Between the Black | Lucy | Short film |
2012–2013 | City of Dreams | Laura Osnes | Web series; 2 episodes |
2013 | Late Show with David Letterman | Herself | Performer; season 20, episode 125 |
Minute Motivations | Episode: "Holiday Special" | ||
Team Umizoomi | Sunny the Sunshine Fairy (Voice) | Episode: "The Sunshine Fairy" | |
Elementary | Celia Carroll | Episode: "We Are Everyone" | |
Six by Sondheim | Beth | HBO television documentary | |
2017 | A Capitol Fourth | Herself | Performer |
2018 | The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel | Lizzie | Episode: "Midnight at the Concord" |
2019 | A Capitol Fourth | Herself | Performer |
Fosse/Verdon | Shirley MacLaine | Episode: "Life Is a Cabaret" | |
In the Key of Love | Maggie Case | Hallmark Channel Television Film | |
A Homecoming for the Holidays | Charlotte Quinn | Hallmark Channel Television Film | |
2020 | Dynasty | Donna | Episode: "You Make Being a Priest Sound Like Something Bad" |
A Killer Party | Vivika Orsonwelles | 7 episodes; also associate producer | |
One Royal Holiday | Anna Jordan | Hallmark Channel Television Film | |
2021 | A Capitol Fourth | Herself | Performer |
Raise a Glass to Love | Jenna | Hallmark Channel Television Film | |
Christmas in Tahoe | Claire Rhodes | Hallmark Channel Television Film | |
2023–2024 | Chip Chilla | Chinny Chilla | First animated kids' series from The Daily Wire |
2023 | A Dash of Christmas | Megan Blake | Great American Family Television Film |
2024 | Just in Time | Hannah | Great American Family Television Film |
2024 | A Little Women's Christmas | Beth March | Great American Family Television Film |
2013 | The Princess Diary | Herself | Broadway.com video blog |
2017 | With the Band | Herself | Broadway.com video blog |
2007–08 | Grease | Sandy | Brooks Atkinson Theatre | Broadway |
2008 | Pride and Prejudice | Eastman Theatre | Rochester Concert | |
2008–09 | South Pacific | Nellie Forbush | Vivian Beaumont Theater | Broadway |
2009 | Bonnie and Clyde | Bonnie Parker | La Jolla Playhouse | Regional |
2010 | Asolo Repertory Theatre | |||
2011 | Anything Goes | Hope Harcourt | Stephen Sondheim Theatre | Broadway |
Bonnie and Clyde | Bonnie Parker | Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre | ||
2012 | The Sound of Music | Maria Von Trapp | Carnegie Hall | New York Concert |
Pipe Dream | Suzy | Encores! | ||
2013–14 | Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella | Cinderella | Broadway theatre | Broadway |
2014 | Threepenny Opera | Polly Peachum | Atlantic Theater Company | Off-Broadway |
Randy Newman's Faust | Margaret | Encores! | New York Concert | |
The Band Wagon | Gabriella | |||
Sayu Yagami | English concept album | |||
2015 | Carousel | Julie Jordan | Civic Opera House | Regional |
The Bandstand | Julia Trojan | Paper Mill Playhouse | Out-of-town tryout | |
2017 | Crazy For You | Polly Baker | David Geffen Hall | New York Concert |
Bandstand | Julia Trojan | Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre | Broadway | |
2018 | On The Town | Claire DeLoone | Symphony Hall | Boston Concert |
Show Boat | Magnolia Hawkes | Bucks County Playhouse | Philadelphia Concert | |
2019 | The Scarlet Pimpernel | Marguerite St. Just | David Geffen Hall | New York Concert |
2022-23 | Shiners | Violet | Woolworth Theater | Nashville comedy, music, and cirque act show |
2007 | Grease | Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey | Sandy Dumbrowski |
2010 | Pride and Prejudice (Demo) | Amanda Jacobs, Lindsay Warren Baker | Elizabeth Bennet |
2011 | Bonnie & Clyde (Demo) | Lyrics by Don Black, Music by Frank Wildhorn | Bonnie Parker |
2011 | Anything Goes | Cole Porter | Hope Harcourt |
2012 | Bonnie & Clyde | Lyrics by Don Black, Music by Frank Wildhorn | Bonnie Parker |
2012 | Encores! Pipe Dream (Live Recording) | Music by Richard Rodgers, Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II | Suzy |
2013 | Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella | Music by Richard Rodgers, Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II | Ella |
2014 | Lyrics by Jack Murphy, Music by Frank Wildhorn | Sayu Yagami | |
2017 | Bandstand | Music by Richard Oberacker, Lyrics by Richard Oberacker and Robert Taylor | Julia Trojan |
2007 | Carols for a Cure, Vol. 7 | Holiday songs; sold to benefit BC/EFA | "Jolly Old St. Nicholas/Up on the Housetop" with Grease cast |
2009 | Untitled (Demo) | Kait Kerrigan, Bree Lowdermilk | "How to Return Home" |
2010 | What I Wanna Be When I Grow Up | Scott Alan | "Easy" |
2011 | Our First Mistake | Kait Kerrigan, Bree Lowdermilk | "My Heart is Split" with Meghann Fahy |
2012 | Scott Alan: Live | Scott Alan | "Now" |
2013 | K-L Live | Kait Kerrigan, Bree Lowdermilk | "The Girl Who Drove Away" |
2013 | Carols for a Cure, Vol. 15 | Holiday songs; sold to benefit BC/EFA | "Happy Christmas, Little Friend" with Santino Fontana & Ann Harada |
2014 | Songs of Daniel and Laura Curtis | Daniel and Laura Curtis | "When You Smile" |
2014 | Where the Sky Ends: The Songs of Michael Mott | Michael Mott | "Dare to Dream" |
2016 | Hallelujah! | Mormon Tabernacle Choir | "Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful", "Do You Hear What I Hear?", "The Secret of Christmas", "Christmas Bell Fantasy", "Angels from the Realms of Glory" |
2022 | Magic: Disney Through Time | BYU Vocal Point | "I See The Light" |
2012 | Dream a Little Dream: Live at the Cafe Carlyle | Featuring Jeremy Jordan, Tom Wopat and husband Nathan Johnson |
2013 | If I Tell You (Songs of Maury Yeston) | Based on Osnes' 2012 Maury Yeston concert at 54 Below |
2022 | On the Other Side, Part 1 | Extended Play (EP) Digital Download |
2003 | Star Tribune Theatre Award | Outstanding Youth Performer of the Year | The Wizard of Oz | |
2009 | San Diego Theatre Critics Circle | Lead Performance in a Musical | Bonnie & Clyde | |
Broadway.com Audience Award | Favorite Replacement | South Pacific | ||
2011 | Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | Anything Goes | |
Outer Critics Circle Award | ||||
Astaire Award | Excellence in Dance | |||
2012 | Tony Award | Best Lead Actress in a Musical | Bonnie & Clyde | |
Broadway.com Audience Award | Favorite Lead Actress in a Musical | |||
Broadway.com Audience Award | Favorite Onstage Pair (with co-star Jeremy Jordan) | |||
2013 | Tony Award | Best Lead Actress in a Musical | Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella | |
Outer Critics Circle Award | ||||
Drama Desk Award | ||||
Drama League Award | Distinguished Performance | |||
Astaire Award | Excellence in Dance | |||
Broadway.com Audience Award | Favorite Lead Actress in a Musical | |||
Broadway.com Audience Award | Favorite Onstage Pair (with co-star Santino Fontana) | |||
2014 | Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | The Threepenny Opera | |
2017 | Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Actress in a Musical | Bandstand | |
Drama League Award | Distinguished Performance | |||
Broadway.com Audience Award | Favorite Leading Actress in a Musical | |||
Favorite Diva Performance | ||||
Favorite Onstage Pair (with co-star Corey Cott) |
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