Kendra Kassebaum

Kendra Kassebaum is an American actress and singer born on May 12, 1973, in St. Louis, Missouri. She is the daughter of Susie and Dave Kassebaum and has one brother, Nicholas. Kassebaum attended St. Martin of Tours Catholic Elementary School before enrolling at Notre Dame High School, where she began performing and received a Best Actress award at her 1991 graduation ceremony. She went on to earn a B.F.A. in Performing Arts from Southwest Missouri State University, now known as Missouri State University.

Following her graduation, Kassebaum toured briefly with Grease before relocating to New York City. She received her Equity card during a regional tour of A Chorus Line at the Gateway Playhouse and supplemented her early acting career by working as a nanny. Her Broadway debut came on September 5, 2000, when she joined the cast of Rent, playing Mark's Mom and understudying the role of Maureen Johnson.

Kassebaum originated the role of Glinda in the first national tour of Wicked, a part she would return to multiple times across different productions. Her performance on the tour earned her a Helen Hayes Award nomination for Best Actress in a Regional Performance, though she lost to her then co-star Stephanie J. Block. She departed the tour in September 2006 after a year and a half in the role, with Megan Hilty succeeding her. On January 9, 2007, she joined the Broadway company of Wicked, replacing Kate Reinders and performing alongside Julia Murney, Sebastian Arcelus, David Garrison, and Logan Lipton. Her first Broadway run in the role concluded on October 7, 2007, when she and Murney gave their final performances together, with Annaleigh Ashford taking over. Kassebaum returned to the Broadway production a second time on May 13, 2008, starring alongside Stephanie J. Block and later Kerry Ellis, before ending that run on November 9, 2008, when Alli Mauzey succeeded her. She then brought the role of Glinda to the San Francisco production of Wicked, which began performances on January 27, 2009, and opened officially on February 6, 2009, at the Orpheum Theatre. There she performed opposite Teal Wicks and later Eden Espinosa as Elphaba, remaining with the production until June 26, 2010, when Mauzey once again stepped into the role.

Between her various stints in Wicked, Kassebaum took on a range of other projects. In October and November 2006, she played Amy in a production of Stephen Sondheim's Company at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre, alongside Hugh Panaro. In late 2007, she appeared Off-Broadway as Lorraine in Adam Bock's play The Receptionist at Manhattan Theater Club's Stage 1, sharing the stage with former Wicked co-star Jayne Houdyshell during its run from October 30 to December 30, 2007. She also appeared in the 2004 Broadway revival of Assassins.

Kassebaum played Sam in the musical Leap of Faith opposite Brooke Shields and Raul Esparza, first in an out-of-town tryout at the Ahmanson Theatre running from September 11 through October 24, 2010, before the production transferred to Broadway's St. James Theatre in April 2012. In 2012, she portrayed Diana Goodman in a joint production of Next to Normal presented by the Arizona Theatre Company and San Jose Repertory Theatre, performing in Tucson from September 15 through October 6, in Phoenix from October 11 through October 28, and in San Jose from January 10 through February 3, 2013. Regional work during this period also included the role of the Fairy Godmother in the 5th Avenue Theatre's production of Cinderella, which ran from November 25 through December 31, 2011, and the role of Jovie in that theatre's production of Elf: The Musical the following year. In October 2013, she appeared as Ms. Gardener in Balagan Theatre's production of Carrie: The Musical, staged at the Moore Theatre in Seattle alongside Alice Ripley and Keaton Whittaker.

Kassebaum joined the cast of Come from Away, playing the role of Janice in the new musical's Broadway run at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, which opened in February 2017 following pre-Broadway engagements at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., and the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto. She remained with the Broadway company until August 27, 2017. Subsequent regional credits include the roles of Mother in Ragtime and Donna Sheridan in Mamma Mia!, both at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre.