Carolee Carmello is an American actress and singer, best known for her performances in Broadway musicals and for playing the role of Maple LaMarsh on the television series Remember WENN (1996–1998). She is a three-time Tony Award nominee and a five-time Drama Desk nominee, winning the 1999 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical for her role in Parade.
Career
Carmello graduated from the University at Albany with a degree in business administration.
Carmello made her Broadway debut in a small role in City of Angels and returned to close the show in the role of "Oolie/Donna". She left City of Angels to take the role of Florence in the tour of Chess, from January 1990 to May 1990. She played "Cordelia, the kosher caterer" in the original Broadway company of Falsettos and also played Abigail Adams in the revival of 1776. In the Broadway company of The Scarlet Pimpernel, Carmello was a replacement in the role of "Marguerite St. Just". She originated the role of Lucille Frank in Parade at Lincoln Center, for which she won the 1999 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical (in a tie with Bernadette Peters) and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. Next Carmello played "Kate" in the Broadway revival of Kiss Me, Kate and "Ms. Pennywise" in Urinetown. She starred as "Gabrielle" in Lestat, for which she received nominations for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical and the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.
She appeared as Donna Sheridan in the long-running hit musical Mamma Mia! several times, joining the show initially in October 2004. She again joined the cast as Donna in September 2006, taking a leave from March 14, 2007, to May 13, 2007, to appear in an early version of Saving Aimee.
Carmello originated the role of Alice Beineke in the musical version of The Addams Family. For this role she was nominated for the Drama Desk Award and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical.
She took over the role of the Mother Superior from Victoria Clark in the Broadway production of Sister Act on November 19, 2011. In 2012, she played Aimee Semple McPherson on Broadway in the musical Scandalous, for which she received a Drama Desk nomination and a Tony Award nomination for Best Lead Actress in a Musical. She performed the role of Mrs. du Maurier in the Broadway musical Finding Neverland from March 2015 through February 2016 and was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.
Carmello appeared in the role of Mae Tuck in the Broadway musical adaptation of Tuck Everlasting at the Broadhurst Theatre, beginning in April 2016. Following Tuck Everlasting'''s closing in May, she returned to Finding Neverland on July 5, 2016, for the show's last six weeks.
Carmello joined the US national tour of Hello, Dolly, playing Dolly Levi, from September 2019 to its closing in March 2020. In 2023, Carmello played the role of the Stepmother in the Broadway musical Bad Cinderella.
Theatre credits
Broadway and West End Source: Playbill
Year(s)ProductionRoleLocation 1989 City of Angels Ensemble/Oolie/Donna Virginia Theatre 1992–93 Falsettos Cordelia John Golden Theatre 1997–98 1776 Abigail Adams Gershwin Theatre 1998–99 Parade Lucille Frank Vivian Beaumont Theatre 1999–2000 The Scarlet Pimpernel Marguerite St. Just Neil Simon Theatre 2001Kiss Me, KateLilli Vanessi/Katharine Martin Beck Theatre 2002 Victoria Palace Theatre 2003–04 Urinetown Penelope Pennywise Henry Miller's Theatre 2004 Mamma Mia! Donna Sheridan Winter Garden Theatre 2006 Lestat Gabrielle Palace Theatre 2006–07 Mamma Mia! Donna Sheridan Winter Garden Theatre 2010–11 The Addams Family Alice Beineke Lunt-Fontanne Theatre 2011–12 Sister Act Mother Superior Broadway Theatre 2012 Scandalous Aimee Semple McPherson Neil Simon Theatre 2015–16 Finding Neverland Madame du Maurier Lunt-Fontanne Theatre2016 Tuck Everlasting Mae Tuck Broadhurst Theatre Finding Neverland Madame du Maurier Lunt-Fontanne Theatre 2022–23 1776 John Dickinson American Airlines Theatre 2023 Bad Cinderella The Stepmother Imperial Theatre
National tours Big River as Mary Jane Wilkes (1987) Les Misérables as Ensemble, u/s Cosette & u/s Fantine (1987) Falsettos as Trina (1992-93) and Cordelia (1994) Chess as Florence (January 1990-May 1990)Hello, Dolly! as Dolly Gallagher Levi (September 2019-March 2020)Kimberly Akimbo as Kimberly Levaco (2024-25)
Regional Evita as Eva Perón at An Evening Dinner Theatre, 1985 Grease as Sandy at Pittsburgh C.L.O., 1989 Company as Marta at Birmingham Theatre, 1989 Bells are Ringing Reprise! as Ella at Freud Playhouse (Los Angeles), 1999 The King and I as Anna at Paper Mill Playhouse (Millburn, New Jersey), 2002 On The Twentieth Century Reprise! as Lily Garland at Freud Playhouse (Los Angeles), 2003 Baby as Arlene at Paper Mill Playhouse (Millburn, New Jersey) 2004 Saving Aimee at Signature Theatre (Arlington, Virginia), 2007 Little Shop of Horrors at Charles Playhouse (Boston) Scandalous at Pavilion Theatre (Glasgow) The Music Man at Schenectady Light Opera (Schenectady, New York) Tuck Everlasting as Mae Tuck at Alliance Theatre (Atlanta, Georgia), 2015 Gypsy as Rose at Broadway Sacramento, 2018Sweeney Todd as Mrs. Lovett at Opera Saratoga (Saratoga Springs, New York), 2022 Into the Woods as The Witch at Pittsburgh C.L.O., 2023 Nine as Liliane LaFleur at Kennedy Center, 2024
Off-Broadway Source: Internet Off-Broadway Database
I Can Get It for You Wholesale (1991) Hello Again (1993) Das Barbecu (1994) John & Jen (1995) A Class Act (2000) The Vagina Monologues (2000) Elegies (2003) Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2017) as Mrs. Nellie Lovett
ConcertsFunny Girl as Fanny (Actors Fund Benefit Concert), 2002 God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater as Sylvia Rosewater (Cooper Union), 2003 Showboat as Julie (Carnegie Hall), 2008 1776 as John Adams (54 Below), 2017Follies as Sally Durant Plummer (Carnegie Hall), 2024
Accolades Source: Playbill
She won $14,000 on an appearance on the Scrabble'' game show in 1989.
Awards and nominations Year Association Category Nominated work Result1996Screen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy SeriesRemember WENN 1999 Tony Awards Best Actress in a MusicalParade Drama Desk Awards Outstanding Actress in a Musical 2006 Tony Awards Best Featured Actress in a Musical Lestat Drama Desk Awards Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical Drama League Awards Distinguished Performance 2010 Drama Desk Awards Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical The Addams Family Outer Critics Circle Awards Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical 2013 Tony Awards Best Actress in a MusicalScandalous: The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple McPherson Drama Desk Awards Outstanding Actress in a Musical 2015 Drama Desk Awards Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical Finding Neverland
Personal life She is divorced from fellow actor Gregg Edelman."Marilyn Maye And Gregg Edelman" digitalpub.chron.com, The Grand — Volume 2, 2011-2012 Season, accessed September 18, 2015 They have two children. She resides in Leonia, New Jersey.Spelling, Ian. "Splendid on the Screen and Stage: Actress Carolee Carmello" (201) magazine, April 4, 2017. Accessed June 26, 2017. "Carmello returns home to Leonia after each evening performance of Sweeney Todd. A divorced mother of two, a son and daughter, she's lived there for 14 years, after spending seven years in Teaneck."
References
External links
Carolee Carmello interview, American Theatre Wing website (via soundcloud.com)