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A native of Rochester, New York, Broadway star and OBIE award winner Donna Lynne Champlin has been performing since the age of four. Her childhood was a
veritable whirlwind of lessons, theatre productions, and national and
international competitions in voice, piano, flute, theatre, writing and dance. Having
had the good fortune in her career to use these varied talents, she has
deservedly earned the reputation for being a proverbial “quadruple threat".
Champlin
graduated with high honors from the prestigious Musical Theatre Program at
Carnegie Mellon University and was awarded the prestigious Princess Grace Foundation Grant for Theatre (www.pgfusa.org). She also received intensive training in Shakespeare
and Chekhov at Oxford University on the Advanced Acting Scholarship and The Vira
I. Heinz Grant to study abroad. While still in college, she joined Actors' Equity (the professional theatrical union) to play “Dorothy” in The Wizard of Oz with the celebrated Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera.
Champlin
made her New York Debut at Carnegie Hall in a concert version of Very Warm
for May in the title role under the
direction of acclaimed conductor John McGlinn, and her Broadway debut followed
in James Joyce’s The Dead, in the role
of “Mary Jane.” In her next Broadway turn, she earned enthusiastic reviews as
the delightfully eccentric “Honoria Glossop” in the Alan Ayckbourn/Andrew Lloyd
Webber musical By Jeeves. Next came the opportunity to work
with Carol Burnett and Hal Prince (respectively as playwright and director) in Hollywood Arms – the dramatization of Carol’s biography - with Champlin starring as the young Burnett. National
reviewers proclaimed Champlin as a "show-stopping star in the making"
and described her performance as "brilliant", "a triumph",
and "a tour de force."
In her
most recent Broadway appearance, Champlin played "Pirelli" (and the accordion, flute and piano) in John Doyle's groundbreaking Broadway revival of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd where critics characterized
her performance both “hilarious” and “superb.”
Champlin just finished her run as "Marcy" in the new Off-Broadway musical Marcy in the Galaxy at the Transport Group, which earned her rave reviews, in particular the NY Post's entitled "Leading Lady in Galaxy has Star Quality". A regular member of the Transport Group Theatre Company, her performance in 2007 as "Cora Flood" in William Inge's The Dark At The Top of the Stairs was hailed by the NY press as “perfection“, “brilliant“ and “a privilege to watch.”
This performance also earned her the prestigious 2007 Best Actress OBIE award. She is currently in rehearsals for Westport Playhouse's Hot N' Cole directed by James Naughton and will then go onto play "Gooch" in Mame at the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera in July.
Previous
Off-Broadway appearances include First Lady Suite, My Life With Albertine,
The Audience, Reunion, and City Center
Encores! Bloomer Girl. Other roles
include what critics called “a high octane performance” as legendary hoofer
“Ruby Keeler” in the national tour of Jolson.
Throughout
her career, Champlin has received numerous awards besides the OBIE, including
the prestigious Princess Grace Award
from The Princess Grace Foundation, the Presidential Scholar in the Arts
Grant from The National Foundation for
Advancement in the Arts and the title of National Tap Dance Champion for four consecutive years from the Dance Educators of
America. In 2006 she was recognized as the ‘Outstanding Actress’ for her work in Flight of the
Lawnchair Man at the New York Music
Theatre Festival.
Her
film credits include My Father's Will, The
Audition, The Dark Half, By Jeeves, and Sweet
Surrender. TV credits include 2000 and 2006 Annual Tony Awards on
CBS, The View (guest star), Law And
Order, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, and Regis and Kelly and
Emily Dickinson of the PBS Voices and
Visions series.
Donna
Lynne is involved in many new works and recently created the roles of
"Irene Kerrigan" in the pre-Broadway workshop of The Molly
Maguires, "Boonah's Mother" in Henry Kreiger and Bill Russell's new musical Up In The Air at The Kennedy Center and "The Mother" in The
Mysteries of Harris Burdick at The
Barrington Stage Company.
She can be heard on the cast
albums of Sweeney Todd, By Jeeves, 3hree,
and Reunion as well as Our
Heart Sings, The Lady and the Slipper and Have
a Heart (as well as many voice-overs).
Champlin
also frequently solos with symphonies in their Broadway Concert Series, performs her critically acclaimed one-woman show Finishing
The Hat in NYC (most recently SRO at both
ARS NOVA and BIRDLAND) and across the country, along with teaching acting
master classes at many prestigious colleges such as Carnegie Mellon University,
Hartt and NYU.
Of particular importance to
Champlin is her regular participation in many benefits for two of her favorite
charitable organizations, BCEFA and The Actors’ Fund.
Offstage,
Champlin’s life is as colorful and as versatile as the characters she brings to
life onstage. In addition to being an accomplished performer, pianist,
composer, musical director and choreographer, she enjoys an eclectic array of
hobbies and special interests including metaphysics, mystic history and
philosophy. She is currently working on a humorous non-fiction book inspired by
her (mis)adventures in the theatre. She lives in New York City with her cat,
“Miss” Kitty.
This BIO can be downloaded on the PR/Press kits page
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