Laura Osnes

Laura Ann Osnes, born November 19, 1985, in Burnsville, Minnesota, is an American actress and singer whose Broadway career spanned from 2007 to 2017. Raised in Eagan, a suburb of Saint Paul, she gave her first acting performance in the second grade, playing a munchkin in a school production of The Wizard of Oz. She attended Eagan High School before enrolling as a Musical Theatre major at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point, which she left after one year to pursue professional work.

Before reaching Broadway, Osnes spent the 2005–2006 season as a performing apprentice at the Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis, appearing in Working, Aladdin Jr., Prom, and Pippi Longstocking. She also took on the lead role of Sandy in Grease at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatres, though that run ended when she was selected to compete on the nationally televised talent competition Grease: You're the One that I Want! Nicknamed "Small Town Sandy" on the program, she never landed in the bottom two during the competition's run and was named the winner on March 25, 2007. Her prize was the role of Sandy opposite Max Crumm, who won the role of Danny, in the Broadway production of Grease. Osnes and Crumm played their final performances on July 20, 2008, succeeded by runners-up Ashley Spencer and Derek Keeling.

Following Grease, Osnes appeared in the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts production Broadway: Three Generations, a three-act evening featuring condensed versions of Girl Crazy, Bye Bye Birdie, and Side Show, presented at the Eisenhower Theater from October 2–5, 2008. She then played Elizabeth Bennet in a concert version of the Broadway-aimed musical Pride & Prejudice at the Eastman Theatre in Rochester, New York, on October 21, 2008.

In March 2009, Osnes joined the Lincoln Center Theater Broadway revival of South Pacific, taking over the role of Ensign Nellie Forbush. She remained with the production through October 4, 2009, when original star Kelli O'Hara returned from maternity leave, then reprised the role beginning January 5, 2010, playing her final performance on August 8, 2010. Between those two stints, she originated the role of Bonnie Parker in the world premiere of Bonnie and Clyde at the La Jolla Playhouse, running November 10 to December 20, 2009, and later reprised it at the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, Florida, in November and December 2010.

Osnes played Hope Harcourt in the Broadway revival of Anything Goes, which began previews on March 10, 2011, and officially opened April 7, 2011, in a production starring Sutton Foster and Joel Grey. For that performance she received nominations from the Outer Critics Circle, the Drama Desk, and the Astaire Award before departing the production on September 11, 2011. She then brought Bonnie Parker to Broadway for the first time, starring in Bonnie and Clyde at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, which opened December 1, 2011, and closed December 30, 2011, after negative reviews and weak ticket sales. Despite the production's short run, Osnes earned her first Tony Award nomination for Best Leading Actress in a Musical. Her co-star was Jeremy Jordan, who had also appeared alongside her at the Asolo Repertory Theatre.

In early 2012, Osnes led the Encores! concert production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Pipe Dream, directed by Marc Bruni, which ran from March 28 to April 1. On April 24, 2012, she headlined a concert performance of The Sound of Music at Carnegie Hall as Maria, joined by Tony Goldwyn as Captain von Trapp, Brooke Shields as Elsa Schraeder, and Patrick Page as Max Detweiler.

Osnes starred in the title role of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella on Broadway, with previews beginning January 25, 2013, and an official opening on March 3, 2013, at the Broadway Theatre. The performance earned her a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical and a second Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. She remained with the production until January 26, 2014, when she was succeeded by Carly Rae Jepsen.

In the spring of 2014, Osnes played Polly Peachum in the Atlantic Theatre Company's Off-Broadway revival of The Threepenny Opera, running from March through May, a role that brought her a second Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical. The following year she starred as Julie Jordan in the Lyric Opera of Chicago's production of Carousel alongside Steven Pasquale, a run that closed May 3, 2015. Also in 2015, Osnes served as a judge and mentor for the Songbook Academy, a summer intensive for high school students operated by the Great American Songbook Foundation and founded by Michael Feinstein.

Her final Broadway credit was Bandstand, a new musical with music by Richard Oberacker and book and lyrics by Robert Taylor and Oberacker, directed and choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler. Osnes originated her role in the world premiere at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey, which ran October 8 through November 8, 2015. The production transferred to the Jacobs Theatre on Broadway, where previews began March 31, 2017, and the show officially opened April 26, 2017. Osnes starred opposite Corey Cott, and the production ran for 24 previews and 166 regular performances before closing September 17, 2017.

After Bandstand closed, Osnes co-developed and hosted the Broadway Princess Party, a recurring live event at Feinstein's/54 Below in which stage actresses perform as Disney Princesses, with Osnes typically appearing as Cinderella. The show also toured with fellow Broadway actresses Susan Egan and Courtney Reed. Osnes left New York and her Broadway career in 2021, relocating to Nashville.