Janine LaManna

Janine LaManna is an American actress and singer born on June 14, 1966, in Rochester, New York. A veteran of Broadway musicals spanning more than a decade, she is also recognized as the first actress to portray the live-action character of Carmen Sandiego on the PBS series Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego? LaManna attended Wagner College, from which she later received the Wagner College Fellows Award in recognition of her professional achievements.

LaManna's Broadway career ran from the mid-1990s through the mid-2000s and encompassed a wide range of productions. Her earliest credited Broadway work includes Kiss of the Spider Woman, where she performed from 1994 to 1996. She subsequently appeared in Chicago from 1997 to 2000, and overlapping with that run, took on a role in Ragtime from 1998 to 2000. Her credits continued with Kiss Me, Kate from 1999 to 2001, followed by Seussical from 2000 to 2001, in which she played Gertrude McFuzz. That performance earned her a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical in 2001. She returned to Broadway with Sweet Charity in 2005 and appeared in The Drowsy Chaperone in 2007. Beyond Broadway, LaManna has performed in numerous regional and Off-Broadway productions, including Evita, Aida, Noises Off, and The Prom.

In 1996, LaManna originated the live-action role of Carmen Sandiego in the first season of Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego? on PBS. Her screen work extends to film and television as well, including an appearance in the film Two Weeks Notice, a role as Paquette in Great Performances, and a part in the television series Devious Maids. She also provided the voice of The Sirens for the animated series Samurai Jack.

As a concert performer, LaManna has appeared in solo engagements and as a guest artist internationally. In 2007, she sang at the White House for the National Military Spouse Appreciation Day event. She debuted her solo concert program Black & Gold in New York in 2023. In addition to performing, LaManna works as a vocal coach.

LaManna is married to retired U.S. Army Major Mike McDermott, and the couple has two children, a daughter named Mia McDermott and a son named Liam McDermott. As a military spouse, she has discussed the experience of balancing her performing career with military family life, and the family has relocated to North Carolina near Fort Liberty, formerly known as Fort Bragg.