Kate Morgan Chadwick

Kate Morgan Chadwick is an American actress, singer, writer, and film producer whose stage and screen work spans Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional theater, film, and television.

Chadwick was born and raised in La Mesa, California, the younger of two children of Michele West Chadwick and the late Dr. David Chadwick, with an older brother named Teddy. She is the granddaughter of Margaret Lee Chadwick and Commander Joseph Chadwick, who founded Chadwick School on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Los Angeles County. Her earliest performance experience came through San Diego Junior Theatre, where she later won the 2002 National Youth Arts Award for her portrayal of Miss Adelaide in a production of Guys and Dolls. She graduated from the private Francis Parker School in San Diego in 2001 and subsequently earned a bachelor of arts degree in theater performance from Fordham College at Lincoln Center. She also trained at Upright Citizens Brigade, an improvisational and sketch comedy organization.

Chadwick's Broadway credit is Grease, in which she appeared in 2008. She returned to the production in 2009 as part of its national tour, co-starring as Frenchy alongside Taylor Hicks in a production presented by Paul Nicholas and David Ian. The following year, she performed in the a cappella musical comedy Perfect Harmony at Off-Broadway's Acorn Theater at Theater Row in New York City.

In 2012, Chadwick took on the role of Samantha, a lovelorn schoolteacher, in Nobody Loves You at the Old Globe Theater in San Diego. That same year, she originated the role of Private Lindsay Skinner in Bad Apples, a rock musical about Abu Ghraib, at Circle X Theatre Company in Los Angeles. She reprised the role in 2016 at ACT Theatre in Seattle. Her work in Bad Apples earned her a 2013 nomination for the L.A. Weekly Theater Award for Female Musical Performance, a 2013 Ovation Award nomination for Lead Actress in a Musical, a 2016 Gypsy Rose Lee Award nomination for Excellence in Performance in a Musical as a Lead Actor (Female), and a 2017 Gregory Award nomination.

In 2013, Chadwick performed the song "Surrender," accompanied by composer-lyricists Beth Thornley and Rob Cairns, at the 44th Annual Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards. The following year, she co-wrote and produced the short film Dryve.

In 2016, Chadwick co-starred in the Echo Theater Company's world premiere of Sheila Callaghan's play Bed, directed by Jennifer Chambers, at the Atwater Village Theatre in Los Angeles. Her performance as Holly earned her the Stage Raw award for Leading Female Performance, presented on May 15, 2017, at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. She was also nominated for the 2016 Ovation Award for Lead Actress in a Play and for Best Lead Performance from the 2016 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle. That same year, she appeared in the Coen Brothers' comedy film Hail, Caesar!, which featured Josh Brolin and was selected by the National Board of Review as one of the top ten films of 2016.

In 2017, Chadwick starred in an immersive theater production of Amos: A Play With Music, a work by Eva Anderson and Michael Cassady set within Ukraine's EDM scene, at the Bootleg Theatre in Los Angeles. Also that year, she was cast in the lead role of Rebecca in the world premiere of Part of the Plan, a musical written by Kate Atkinson and Karen Harris and built around the songbook of Dan Fogelberg, at the James K. Polk Theatre in Nashville, Tennessee. She and co-star Harley Jay previewed the production on WTVF's Talk of the Town. Her performance earned her second place at the 2017 Broadway World Nashville Regional Awards for Best Actress in a Musical, while the production itself placed first for Best New Work. She was also named among First Night's Top Ten Outstanding Actresses in a Musical for 2018 for the same role.

Chadwick served as executive producer, co-writer, and star of the short film Oh, Baby!, produced with support from Seed&Spark. The film co-stars T.J. Linnard and was directed and co-written by Brooke Trantor, with Danielle Argyros as producer and assistant director, Arden Grier as executive producer, Kara Johnson as director of photography, and Courtney Stewart as unit production manager. Oh, Baby! screened at the San Diego International Film Festival in October 2021, won the Best in Block audience award at the Blackbird Film Festival, and won the audience award for Best Short Film at the Dances With Films festival. It was also nominated for Best Narrative Short at the 2020 Florida Film Festival.

Her television work includes a lead role in Lifetime's My Crazy Ex and guest appearances on the Showtime series Shameless and TNT's Major Crimes.

In 2013, Chadwick married Clayton Apgar, an actor who subsequently moved into career recruitment. The couple relocated from Los Angeles to La Mesa in 2021 with their son Cal.