Laura Benanti

About the Artists

Laura Benanti, a Tony Award® winner and five-time Tony Award® nominee, is a highly celebrated stage and screen actress. Benanti co-starred in the hit film No Hard Feelings with Jennifer Lawrence and Matthew Broderick and guest stars in Max’s Gilded Age, Hulu’s Life & Beth (created by and starring Amy Schumer), and Elsbeth on CBS. Benanti earned rave reviews for her portrayal of a grieving widow in Netflix’s film Worth, starring Michael Keaton, Stanley Tucci, and Amy Ryan. She will be seen later this year in the film Goodrich opposite Michael Keaton and Everything’s Going to Be Great with Bryan Cranston and Allison Janney. Benanti’s iconic impression of Melania Trump on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is widely praised. Other TV work includes Younger, Ziwe, Gossip Girl, Supergirl, Nashville, and Inside Amy Schumer (among many others). In the theater, Benanti took Broadway by storm at the age of 18 as Maria in The Sound of Music and has subsequently starred in ten more Broadway shows (musicals, straight plays, comedies, and dramas) including Into the Woods, Nine (opposite Antonio Banderas), Gypsy (for which she won a Tony Award), She Loves Me, My Fair Lady, and Steve Martin’s Meteor Shower opposite Amy Schumer and Keegan-Michael Key. This year, Benanti debuted her highly celebrated solo comedy show Laura Benanti: Nobody Cares, which she created, wrote, and starred in. This New York Times critic pick is available for streaming on Audible.

Todd Almond (accompanist) is a performer, songwriter, and playwright whose work spans both stage and screen. His latest musical, I’m Almost There, directed by Tony Award® winner David Cromer, made its world premiere at the 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, produced by Audible Theater and Francesca Moody Productions. Almond was recently seen on Broadway in the acclaimed Girl from the North Country, the Conor McPherson/Bob Dylan musical that debuted at the Public Theater before transferring to the Belasco Theatre. His forthcoming memoir, Slow Train Coming—which chronicles the journey of Girl from the North Country and his personal reflections—will be published by Bloomsbury/Methuen in January 2025. Almond also co-wrote songs and was music director for Laura Benanti’s one-woman show Nobody Cares. He is the co-founder with Lear deBessonet of Public Works at the Public Theater, where he composed, co-wrote, and co-starred in musical adaptations of The Tempest, The Odyssey, and The Winter’s Tale, all staged at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. Additionally, his musical Kansas City Choir Boy, in which he co-starred with Courtney Love, played in New York and toured the US; and his musical Girlfriend (based on Matthew Sweet’s album) has enjoyed productions across the US and Japan. A frequent collaborator with luminaries such as Sarah Ruhl, Suzan-Lori Parks, Jenny Schwartz, and Sherie Rene Scott, Almond has also performed alongside Kelli O’Hara and Andrew Rannells. On screen, he has appeared in Law & Order: SVU and the HBO Max reboot of Gossip Girl. Almond is a graduate of CCM. http://www.toddalmond.com/.