Alice Ripley

Alice Ripley is an American actress, singer, songwriter, and mixed media artist whose Broadway career spans from 1987 to 2016. Born in California, she graduated from West Carrollton High School near Dayton, Ohio, before attending DePauw University, where she studied Vocal Performance. She later transferred to Kent State University, where she earned a BFA in Musical Theatre in 1985 and was a member of the Delta Gamma sorority. Her first paid acting work came at the Red Barn Summer Theatre in Frankfort, Indiana, and she subsequently built experience in community theatre in San Diego. She received her Actor's Equity card at the La Jolla Playhouse through a production of Silent Edward, a musical written and directed by Des McAnuff, who would later direct her Broadway debut.

Ripley made her Broadway debut in 1993 in The Who's Tommy, directed by McAnuff, playing a Local Lass and the Specialist's Assistant in the original cast while also understudying the role of Mrs. Walker. A succession of Broadway roles followed: Betty Schaefer in Sunset Boulevard (1994), Bathsheba in King David (1997), Violet Hilton in Side Show (1997), Fantine in Les Misérables (1998), Molly Ivors in James Joyce's The Dead (2000), Janet Weiss in The Rocky Horror Show (2000), one of The Sweethearts in Dreamgirls, the concert (2001), and Diana Goodman in Next to Normal (2009). With the exception of Les Misérables, she was part of the original cast of each of these productions.

Her portrayal of conjoined twin Violet Hilton in Side Show, opposite Emily Skinner, brought Ripley significant critical recognition. The two performers shared a 1998 Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical, becoming the first co-nominees in that category in a musical. Ripley also received a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Musical for the role.

Ripley's most celebrated Broadway credit is her performance as Diana Goodman in the Pulitzer Prize-winning Next to Normal, which ran at the Booth Theatre from March 27, 2009 to July 18, 2010. The role earned her the 2009 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. She had previously performed the role Off-Broadway at Second Stage Theatre in 2008, where it generated Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations. She later reprised the role on the U.S. national tour, which ran from November 23, 2010 through July 30, 2011, and at Arena Stage, where the production earned her a Helen Hayes Award for Best Actress in a Musical in a non-resident production.

In 2016, Ripley returned to Broadway in American Psycho, playing three roles: the mother of protagonist Patrick Bateman, Mrs. Wolfe, and Svetlana. Her earlier national tour work also included playing Fantine in Les Misérables from 1993 to 1994.

Her Off-Broadway credits include Nelly Bly in Cather County at Playwrights Horizons (1993), Daisy Mae in Li'l Abner at New York City Center (1998), various characters in The Vagina Monologues at the Westside Theatre (2002), Olivia in Five Flights at Rattlestick Theater (2004), Marsha in Wild Animals You Should Know at MCC/Lucille Lortel Theater (2011), Mary Todd Lincoln, Lewis Payne, and additional roles in A Civil War Christmas at NYTW (2012), and Sook Faulk in A Christmas Memory. Regional theatre credits include Clybourne Park at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, as well as productions of Little Shop of Horrors, Company, Show Boat, Sweeney Todd, Carousel, Into the Woods, Carrie, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, The Baker's Wife, Shakespeare in Hollywood, Tell Me On A Sunday, and Sunset Boulevard, in which she played Norma. Several of these regional productions earned her Helen Hayes Award nominations.

As a recording artist, Ripley has released music under the band name RIPLEY, including the single "Beautiful Eyes" in February 2012, as well as the albums Outtasite (2006), a self-titled EP (2003), and Everything's Fine (2001). In February 2011 she released Alice Ripley Daily Practice, Volume 1, a collection of acoustic rock covers, on Sh-K-Boom Records. She has also appeared on original cast recordings including Next to Normal, Side Show, King David, The Rocky Horror Show, Dreamgirls, The Who's Tommy, Little Fish, and Bubble Boy.

Ripley's film work includes The Adulterer (2000), Temptation (2004), Isn't It Delicious (2013), Sing Along (2013), Muckland (2015), The Way I Remember It (2015), Bear With Us (2016), and SUGAR! (2016). Her television appearances include guest roles on Blue Bloods and Royal Pains, a appearance as herself in the series finale of 30 Rock, and a role in the Netflix comedy Girlboss, which premiered in April 2017.