DONNA LYNNE CHAMPLIN
A native of Rochester, New York, OBIE award winner Donna Lynne Champlin has been performing since her very first tap solo in a local variety show at the age of four. Her childhood was a veritable whirlwind of lessons, community theatre productions, and national and international competitions in voice, piano, flute, theatre 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. 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 received her Equity card playing “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 in Hollywood Arms – the dramatization of Carol’s autobiography. National reviewers proclaimed Champlin a "show-stopping star in the making" and described her performance as "brilliant", "a triumph", and "a tour de force."
In 2006 Champlin played "Pirelli" (and the accordion, flute and piano) in the groundbreaking Broadway revival of Sweeney Todd where critics characterized her performance as both “hilarious” and “superb. And in May of 2009, she will join the cast of the critically acclaimed Billy Elliot, just in time for Tony season.
Her Off-Broadway performance in 2006 as "Cora Flood" in the production of The Dark At The Top of the Stairs was hailed by the NY press as “perfection“, “brilliant“ and “a privilege to watch.” and also earned her the prestigious 2007 OBIE award.
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.
Since winning the OBIE, DL has gone on to win other acting accolades for her Off Broadway work such as the NYMF Award for “Outstanding Performance” in not one but two productions namely as “Gracie” in Flight of the Lawnchair Man in 2006 and as “Kate” in the daring and brave new musical about child abuse, Love Jerry in 2008.
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.
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 and "The Mother" in The Mysteries of Harris Burdick at The Barrington Stage Company. She is also planning on joining the respective Broadway companies of the new (and improved) musicals Working and Pride and Prejudice when they come into the Great White Way in the 2010 season.
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 continues to perform 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. For more information please go to www.donnalynnechamplin.com.
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, writer, stand-up comedienne, 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, and a new musical with her dear friend Marc Kessler (the creator of Altar Boyz) . DLC lives in New York City and is currently “Lesley” in the Broadway company of BILLY ELLIOT.
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