Christine Pedi

Christine Pedi is an American television and theatre actress, as well as a cabaret performer and radio personality.

Early life

Pedi was born in Yonkers, New York, lived in the Bronx and then moved to Eastchester, New York. She attended a parochial girls high school and did plays. She attended Fordham University, where she discovered radio hosting. After graduation she worked for the March of Dimes, while performing in community theatre.[1]

Career

Theatre

Pedi has appeared in three Broadway productions:

  • Little Me; musical; 1998 revival in several roles, including Maid, Ms. Kepplewhite, and Secretary[2][3]
  • Talk Radio; play; 2007 original cast as "Rachel" and Callers' Voices[2][3]
  • Chicago; musical; beginning April 8, 2013 to June 23, 2013 as Matron "Mama" Morton[3][4]

She appeared in the one-night concert of Funny Girl in September 2002, as a benefit for The Actors' Fund.[5][6]

She appeared Off-Broadway in composer-lyricist Rick Crom's NEWSical the Musical opening on December 13, 2010 at The Kirk at Theatre Row.[7] A new version, NEWSical the Musical: End of the World Edition opened on February 1, 2012 at Theatre Row.[8]

Forbidden Broadway

Pedi appeared Off-Broadway in several Forbidden Broadway productions. She appeared in Forbidden Broadway 1994 opening on November 11, 1993 at Theater East.[9] She performed in Forbidden Broadway Strikes Back which opened on October 17, 1996 at the Triad Theatre[10] She appeared in Forbidden Broadway 2001: A Spoof Odyssey which opened in October 2000 at Ellen's Stardust Diner.[11] She performed two songs on the recording of Forbidden Broadway: Special Victim's Unit which opened at the Douglas Fairbanks Theatre in December 2004.[12][13]

She also appeared in Forbidden Hollywood, which ran the Triad Theatre from March 10, 1996 to September 1, 1996.[14][15] Prior to the New York engagement, Pedi appeared in Forbidden Hollywood at the Coronet Theatre, West Hollywood, California in April through May 28, 1995.[16]

Robin Pogrebin, writing in The New York Times, observed: "Watch her contort her mouth as she morphs into Patti LuPone or widen her eyes as she channels Carol Channing, and it is clear that what Ms. Pedi makes look easy is difficult and rare. Reviewing the latest edition of Forbidden Broadway in The New York Times, Ben Brantley called Ms. Pedi, who has played the most performances of any cast member, 'the sharpest caricaturist of the group'". Pogrebin quotes Gerard Alessandrini: "Ms. Pedi was notable not just for her ability to caricature actresses but also to conjure them. 'She's more than a mimic', he said. 'She's zeroing in on what makes them tick'".[17]

Television

She appeared in two episodes in Season 4 (2002) of the television series The Sopranos as Karen Baccalieri, who died in a car accident. Dana Polan (Professor of Cinema Studies at the Tisch School of the Arts, New York University) wrote that the death of Baccalieri "had narrative convulsions that would play through later seasons."[18] More recently, in 2017, she voiced Holly Blue Agate in the animated series Steven Universe episodes "Gem Heist" and "That Will Be All", and in 2019 she reprised her role as Holly Blue Agate in the Steven Universe Future episode "Rose Buds".

Other work

As a cabaret performer she has traveled with her show Great Dames, reviving the show in 2007 at the Metropolitan Room.[19] She performed the Great Dames cabaret act at the Jermyn Street Theatre, London, in June 2009.[20] She won the 2008 Nightlife Award in Manhattan for Great Dames.[20]

She is also a disc jockey and radio host for The Broadway Breakfast with Christine Pedi and Dueling Divas (with co-host Seth Rudetsky), radio shows on the On Broadway channel on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio.[21]

Theatre awards nominations

She was nominated for a 1996 Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical[3] and an Ovation Award for her work in Forbidden Hollywood.[22]

Notes
  1. Gans, Andrew. "DIVA TALK: Christine Pedi Chats About 'Miss Abigail', 'NEWSical', 'Forbidden Broadway' and More" Playbill, December 23, 2011
  2. "Christine Pedi Listing" Internet Broadway Database, accessed January 21, 2010
  3. "Christine Pedi Broadway" playbillvault.com, accessed August 30, 2015
  4. "Pedi Profile" broadway.com, accessed August 30, 2015
  5. "Funny Girl" Listing Internet Broadway Database, accessed January 21, 2010
  6. Gans, Andrew. "Diva Talk: The Gals of 'Funny Girl' Plus Diva News!" Playbill, September 27, 2002
  7. Gans, Andrew. "'NEWSical the Musical', with Christine Pedi, to Play Off-Broadway's Kirk Theatre" November 10, 2010
  8. Gans, Andrew. "'NEWSical the Musical: End of the World' Edition Opens Off-Broadway Feb. 1" Playbill, February 1, 2012
  9. Forbidden Broadway 1994 Archived 2005-01-19 at the Wayback Machine lortel.org, accessed August 30, 2015
  10. Forbidden Broadway Strikes Back Archived 2005-01-19 at the Wayback Machine lortel.org, accessed August 30, 2015
  11. Lefkowitz, David. "Forbidden Broadway’s Latest Installment to Open Oct. 30" Playbill, October 13, 2000
  12. Gans, Andrew. "'Forbidden Broadway: Special Victims Unit' to Be Recorded By DRG" Playbill, February 7, 2005
  13. Forbidden Broadway: Special Victims Unit Archived 2005-05-02 at the Wayback Machine lortel.org, accessed August 30, 2015
  14. James, Caryn. "Film View; Hollywood Gets Raked Across the Stage", The New York Times, March 17, 1996, September 17, 2014
  15. Forbidden Hollywood Archived 2012-09-30 at the Wayback Machine lortel.org, accessed August 30, 2015
  16. Taylor, Jonathan. "Legit Reviews. Review: ‘Forbidden Hollywood’", Variety, April 18, 1995
  17. Pogrebin, Robin. "A Musical Comedy Star? No, She Just Plays Them; Christine Pedi Keeps Making an Impression With Her Parodies of Broadway's Divas" The New York Times, March 20, 2001
  18. Polan, Dana. "Eight Million Stories in the Naked City, The Sopranos, Duke University Press, 2009, ISBN 0822392410, p. 42
  19. Gans, Andrew. "Christine Pedi Explores Some Great Dames at the Metropolitan Room Nov. 9-30" Playbill, November 9, 2007
  20. Shenton, Mark. "Christine Pedi to Bring Great Dames to London's Jermyn Street Theatre" Playbill, May 5, 2009
  21. "Sirius Radio" christinepedi.com, accessed August 30, 2015
  22. Gans, Andrew (December 9, 2009). "NEWSical the Musical, with Pedi, Opens Off-Broadway Dec. 9" Playbill, accessed January 21, 2010
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