I was born in Omaha Nebraska, the youngest of six children. My drama instructor in high school was, unbelievably, a relative of Henrik Ibsen’s. Dwayne Ibsen was a brilliant and inspired person who encouraged his students to research and create their own plays as well as read and perform, of course, everything ever written by his great great uncle. As a sophomore at Coe College, I went on New York term. The very first night in New York, I took the subway all by myself to the Performing Garage to see The Marilyn Project. The next night, I saw STREAMERS by David Rabe and the following evening a double bill of Meredith Monk and Merce Cunningham. The fourth night, I sat onstage for EQUUS with Richard Burton. I was forever changed. For the better. Six months in New York at that time cemented my love of alternative ways of expressing oneself, whether it was the mad humanity of Richard Foreman or the meditative formalism of Laura Dean. I moved to Minneapolis where I became involved with several theater companies dedicated to creating new work for the stage, including Illusion Theater and the Playwright’s Center. I got my professional start at the Guthrie Theater during the dual artistic leadership of Liviu Ciulei, the brilliant Romanian wonder, and Garland Wright, the Texas born director whose humor and visually stunning productions made a huge impression on me. I met my future husband Ken LaZebnik at the Guthrie. I also met a group of people at the Guthrie, many of whom were graduates of NYU, Juilliard and Yale. They had formed a theater company in New York City and I joined it when I moved there in 1984. The company was called DearKnows and its artistic heads were the deeply intelligent and inventive Chris Markle and the inimitable Paul Walker. Together we created theater pieces based on works such as Joyce’s DUBLINERS and Victorian children’s literature. I continued to work in regional theater on the east coast and memorable projects include CRIME AND PUNISHMENT at Arena Stage directed by the famed Russian Yuri Lyubimov, and MAN IST MAN at Portland Stage directed by Liz Diamond, a colleague and friend with whom I worked often and gladly. While working on a new musical, GALILEO, directed by Jack Hofsiss, choreographed by Robert LaFoss with music by Jeanine Tesori and Alexa Junge, I discovered I was pregnant with my first son, Jack.
My husband Ken and I moved to Los Angeles in 1991 and my transition into working in television and film came a year later when I was cast in a guest role on JACK’S PLACE, a show for which Ken was writing. I also did guest stars on TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL, another show for which Ken wrote, as well as many co-star spots on network television. I have continued to work in the theater, doing a season at the Utah Shakseparean Festival as Blanche in STREETCAR and Raymonde in A FLEA IN HER EAR. One of my most treasured experiences was doing OUR TOWN at the LaJolla Playhouse with Michael Greif directing. More recently, I worked on an adaptation of MY ANTONIA at the Rubicon Theater in Ventura directed by Scott Schwartz with music by Stephen Schwartz. A colleague from New York theater days, Michael Mayer, cast me in the national tour of SPRING AWAKENING as the female understudy and I worked on that tour during 2008 and the first part of 2009.
Currently, I study voice here in Los Angeles with Calvin Remsberg and have also studied acting with the great Gordon Hunt. My current project is RACHEL CALOF, a one woman play with original music based on the poignant and entertaining memoirs of a Jewish pioneer bride in North Dakota in the 1890’s. I plan to produce and tour it in 2010.
I have two children, Jack and Ben, and have been happily married to Ken LaZebnik, a screenwriter, playwright and television writer and producer, for 22 years.
I was born in Omaha Nebraska, the youngest of six children. My drama instructor in high school was, unbelievably, a relative of Henrik Ibsen’s. Dwayne Ibsen was a brilliant and inspired person who encouraged his students to research and create their own plays as well as read and perform, of course, everything ever written by his great great uncle. As a sophomore at Coe College, I went on New York term. The very first night in New York, I took the subway all by myself to the Performing Garage to see The Marilyn Project. The next night, I saw STREAMERS by David Rabe and the following evening a double bill of Meredith Monk and Merce Cunningham. The fourth night, I sat onstage for EQUUS with Richard Burton. I was forever changed. For the better. Six months in New York at that time cemented my love of alternative ways of expressing oneself, whether it was the mad humanity of Richard Foreman or the meditative formalism of Laura Dean. I moved to Minneapolis where I became involved with several theater companies dedicated to creating new work for the stage, including Illusion Theater and the Playwright’s Center. I got my professional start at the Guthrie Theater during the dual artistic leadership of Liviu Ciulei, the brilliant Romanian wonder, and Garland Wright, the Texas born director whose humor and visually stunning productions made a huge impression on me. I met my future husband Ken LaZebnik at the Guthrie. I also met a group of people at the Guthrie, many of whom were graduates of NYU, Juilliard and Yale. They had formed a theater company in New York City and I joined it when I moved there in 1984. The company was called DearKnows and its artistic heads were the deeply intelligent and inventive Chris Markle and the inimitable Paul Walker. Together we created theater pieces based on works such as Joyce’s DUBLINERS and Victorian children’s literature. I continued to work in regional theater on the east coast and memorable projects include CRIME AND PUNISHMENT at Arena Stage directed by the famed Russian Yuri Lyubimov, and MAN IST MAN at Portland Stage directed by Liz Diamond, a colleague and friend with whom I worked often and gladly. While working on a new musical, GALILEO, directed by Jack Hofsiss, choreographed by Robert LaFoss with music by Jeanine Tesori and Alexa Junge, I discovered I was pregnant with my first son, Jack.
My husband Ken and I moved to Los Angeles in 1991 and my transition into working in television and film came a year later when I was cast in a guest role on JACK’S PLACE, a show for which Ken was writing. I also did guest stars on TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL, another show for which Ken wrote, as well as many co-star spots on network television. I have continued to work in the theater, doing a season at the Utah Shakseparean Festival as Blanche in STREETCAR and Raymonde in A FLEA IN HER EAR. One of my most treasured experiences was doing OUR TOWN at the LaJolla Playhouse with Michael Greif directing. More recently, I worked on an adaptation of MY ANTONIA at the Rubicon Theater in Ventura directed by Scott Schwartz with music by Stephen Schwartz. A colleague from New York theater days, Michael Mayer, cast me in the national tour of SPRING AWAKENING as the female understudy and I worked on that tour during 2008 and the first part of 2009.
Currently, I study voice here in Los Angeles with Calvin Remsberg and have also studied acting with the great Gordon Hunt. My current project is RACHEL CALOF, a one woman play with original music based on the poignant and entertaining memoirs of a Jewish pioneer bride in North Dakota in the 1890’s. I plan to produce and tour it in 2010.I have two children, Jack and Ben, and have been happily married to Ken LaZebnik, a screenwriter, playwright and television writer and producer, for 22 years.
