Spencer Kayden

Spencer Kayden
Born 1971 (age 44–45)
Costa Mesa, California, U.S.
Occupation Actress/Writer
Years active 1996–present
Spouse(s) Mark Harelik (2004-present; 1 child)

Spencer Kayden (born 1971) is an American actress and writer. Kayden is most notable for playing Little Sally in the Broadway musical Urinetown and for her membership in the recurring cast of comedians on sketch comedy series MADtv.

Biography

Spencer Kayden was born in 1971 in Costa Mesa, California, the only girl out of three boys, to a father who worked as a pop-up book publisher and a mother who worked as a psychotherapist. Kayden grew up in Orange County, California and went on to study drama at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.[1] She joined the Chicago cast of Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind [2][3] and moved to New York in 1993 to start the New York run of the show.

Kayden received critical acclaim and notice for her performance in the musical Urinetown, where she played Little Sally, the pig-tailed girl who helps explain the plot. She played in the 1999 New York International Fringe Festival production, and then was in the original Off-Broadway and Broadway casts in 2001 and returned in 2003.[4] The CurtainUp reviewer noted in reviewing the Off-Broadway production: "But while Spencer Kayden does everything right in her portrayal of the droll little girl who alternates begging for 'penny for a pee' with Shirley Temple/Charlie McCarthy exchanges with the deceptively kindly neighborhood cop, her Sally is wrong. This 'bad' idea is outrageously good for lots of laughs. The central joke works."[5]

It is from her theater performances that she was discovered by Fox executives and cast as a featured performer on MADtv.

Kayden also played the role of Mrs. Pepper in the popular Nickelodeon kids series Blue's Clues.

Kayden starred in the farce Don't Dress for Dinner at the Royal George Theatre, Chicago, Illinois, from November 2008 to January 2009.[6] She reprised her role as the cook in the Broadway production, which opened in March 2012 at the American Airlines Theatre.[7]

Awards

Kayden received the 2001 Clarence Derwent and Outer Critics Circle Awards and was nominated for the Tony, Lucille Lortel and Drama Desk Awards for her performance as Little Sally in Urinetown.[4] Kayden was also nominated for the 2012 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her turn in Don't Dress for Dinner.[8]

Personal life

Kayden is the sister of film director Michael Almereyda.[1] She has been married to actor Mark Harelik since 2004, and they have one child together. She has listed Irene Dunne, Peter Sellers and Frances McDormand as some her acting idols.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 McKinley, Jesse. "Theater; 'Urinetown' Uptown? Her Moment Has Come" The New York Times, September 2, 2001
  2. ↑ "Ensemble and Alumni" neofuturists.org, accessed April 1, 2012
  3. ↑ Bommer, Lawrence. Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind" chicagoreader.com, August 16, 1990
  4. 1 2 Simonson, Robert and Jones, Kenneth. "Little Sally Comes Home: Spencer Kayden Returns to Urinetown, March 25" playbill.com, March 25, 2003
  5. ↑ Sommer, Elyse. "A CurtainUp Review; 'Urinetown The Musical' " CurtainUp.com, May 4, 2001
  6. ↑ Jones, Kenneth. " 'Don't Dress' Gets Chicago Premiere With Harelik, Kayden and "Burn Notice" Star Donovan" playbill.com, September 18, 2008
  7. ↑ Jones, Kenneth. " 'Don't Dress for Dinner', With Ben Daniels, Jennifer Tilly, Spencer Kayden, Makes Broadway Premiere" playbill.com, March 30, 2012
  8. ↑ http://www.tonyawards.com/en_US/nominees/index.html
  9. ↑ Blank, Matthew (2012-05-22). "PLAYBILL.COM'S CUE & A: Don't Dress for Dinner Tony Nominee Spencer Kayden". playbill.com. Retrieved 2013-11-27.
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