Lauren Molina

Lauren Molina, born April 15, 1981, is an American actress, singer, songwriter, and musician. A native of Detroit, she earned her BFA in musical theatre from the University of Michigan before establishing herself as a performer in New York City, where she resides.

Molina's Broadway career spans 2005 to 2009 and includes two productions: Sweeney Todd and Rock of Ages. In the actor-musician revival of Sweeney Todd, she played the role of Johanna. During the first national tour of the same production, she received the Independent Reviewers of New England Award for Best Supporting Actress. With former Rock of Ages castmates Mitchell Jarvis and Wesley Taylor, she co-created a 17-episode absurdist backstage mocumentary webseries called Rock of Ages Productions, available on YouTube.

Her stage work beyond Broadway includes a Helen Hayes Award-winning portrayal of Cunegunde in Candide, directed by Mary Zimmerman at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C., during the 2010–2011 season. She received an IRNE nomination for the same role at the Huntington Theatre. In 2013, she and Skivvies bandmate Nick Cearley played Brad and Janet in The Rocky Horror Show at the Bucks County Playhouse, directed by Hunter Foster. Molina originated the role of Bella Rose in the Off-Broadway production of Desperate Measures from 2017 to 2018, earning a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Musical and an Outer Critics Circle nomination for Best Supporting Actress. In 2019, she and Cearley co-conceived an actor-musician revival of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, with Molina playing both Lucy and Linus.

Molina is a co-creator and performer with The Skivvies, a comedy-pop duo she formed with Nick Cearley. Her vocal range extends from pop belting to coloratura soprano. In 2007, she released her debut EP, Doo-Be-Doo, a collection of original folk and pop songs featuring instrumentation including ukulele, cello, guitar, piano, and accordion. Her first full-length album, Sea For Two, followed in 2010 through the independent label Mother West. She has also collaborated with singer-songwriter Jason Reischel, playing cello on the track Pieces Fall in Place for his 2007 solo album Irony-Free Parlor Music, and contributing cello and vocals to songs on the 2011 My Cousin, The Emperor EP The Subway Eps, Vol. I: Prospect Park West.