Christine Pedi

Christine Pedi is an American actress, cabaret performer, and radio personality born on October 24, 1961, in Yonkers, New York. She subsequently lived in the Bronx before her family settled in Eastchester, New York. Pedi attended a parochial girls high school, where she participated in theatrical productions, and later enrolled at Fordham University, where she developed an interest in radio hosting. Following graduation, she worked for the March of Dimes while continuing to perform in community theatre.

Pedi's Broadway career spans from 1996 to 2013 and encompasses both musicals and plays. In the 1998 revival of Little Me, she took on multiple roles, among them Maid, Ms. Kepplewhite, and Secretary. She joined the original cast of Talk Radio in 2007, playing Rachel and various Callers' Voices. From April 8 to June 23, 2013, she appeared in Chicago as Matron "Mama" Morton. In September 2002, she participated in a one-night concert staging of Funny Girl, presented as a benefit for The Actors' Fund. Her work in Forbidden Hollywood earned her a 1996 Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical, as well as an Ovation Award nomination.

Off-Broadway, Pedi became closely associated with the Forbidden Broadway franchise, appearing in multiple editions across more than a decade. She was part of Forbidden Broadway 1994, which opened on November 11, 1993, at Theater East, and performed in Forbidden Broadway Strikes Back, which opened on October 17, 1996, at the Triad Theatre. She appeared in Forbidden Broadway 2001: A Spoof Odyssey, which opened in October 2000 at Ellen's Stardust Diner, and contributed two songs to the recording of Forbidden Broadway: Special Victim's Unit, which opened at the Douglas Fairbanks Theatre in December 2004. Pedi also appeared in Forbidden Hollywood at the Triad Theatre from March 10 to September 1, 1996, having previously performed in the same production at the Coronet Theatre in West Hollywood, California, from April through May 28, 1995. She additionally appeared as Bernadette Peters, Barbra Streisand, Carol Channing, Liza Minnelli, and Patti LuPone in Gerard Alessandrini's musical parody Spamilton in its original Off-Broadway production in 2016 and in the Chicago production in 2017. Pedi also appeared Off-Broadway in Rick Crom's NEWSical the Musical, which opened on December 13, 2010, at The Kirk at Theatre Row, and in its follow-up, NEWSical the Musical: End of the World Edition, which opened on February 1, 2012, at Theatre Row.

On television, Pedi appeared in two episodes of Season 4 of The Sopranos in 2002, portraying Karen Baccalieri. In 2017, she voiced Holly Blue Agate in the animated series Steven Universe in the episodes "Gem Heist" and "That Will Be All," and reprised the role in the Steven Universe Future episode "Rose Buds" in 2019. She also provided a voice in the Cyberchase pilot.

As a cabaret performer, Pedi has toured with her show Great Dames, which she revived at the Metropolitan Room in 2007 and performed at the Jermyn Street Theatre in London in June 2009. The show earned her the 2008 Nightlife Award in Manhattan. She also hosts radio programs on the On Broadway channel of Sirius/XM Satellite Radio, including The Broadway Breakfast with Christine Pedi and Dueling Divas, the latter co-hosted with Seth Rudetsky.