Michelle Nicastro

Michelle Nicastro (March 31, 1960 – November 4, 2010) was an American actress and singer born in Washington, D.C. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Northwestern University in 1982, and the following year relocated to Los Angeles with her then-boyfriend and future husband, Steve Stark. During that period she worked at the retail clothing store Ann Taylor before securing her first Broadway role.

Nicastro's Broadway career spanned 1983 to 1988. Her first credit was the role of Ariadne in the Broadway musical Merlin, which she was cast in shortly after arriving in Los Angeles. Her second Broadway credit came in 1988, when she originated the role of Éponine during the second U.S. national tour of Les Misérables, which opened at the Shubert Theatre in Los Angeles. That performance earned her both the Drama-Logue Award and the Robby Award. During the run of Les Misérables at the Los Angeles Music Center, she also auditioned for the animated film The Swan Princess, ultimately winning the speaking role of adult Princess Odette.

In addition to her Broadway work, Nicastro appeared in regional theater productions at the Doolittle Theatre in Los Angeles, including Leave It to Jane, in which she played the title role, and The Boys From Syracuse. A 1987 Los Angeles Times review by Dan Sullivan noted that she brought "a lovely, vulnerable quality" to The Boys From Syracuse. That same year she filmed a week's worth of material for Days of Our Lives.

Nicastro's television work began in 1984 with a guest appearance on Airwolf. She subsequently appeared in episodes of Cover Up, Charles in Charge, Who's the Boss?, Knight Rider, Murder She Wrote, and Full House. In 1989, she guest-starred on the Showtime series It's Garry Shandling's Show in the episode "Mr. Spark," for which she co-wrote and performed the original song "He's Garry, The Boy Next Door." That contribution made her co-recipient of the CableACE Award for Best Original Song. Her film work includes the role of Amanda in When Harry Met Sally... (1989), playing the college sweetheart of Billy Crystal's character who introduces him to Meg Ryan's Sally.

Director Richard Rich cast Nicastro as the speaking voice of Princess Odette in the animated feature The Swan Princess (1994) after Broadway casting directors assisted in an extensive audition process. Fellow Broadway actress Liz Callaway provided the character's singing voice in that film. Nicastro reprised the speaking role of Odette in The Swan Princess: Escape from Castle Mountain (1997) and The Swan Princess III: The Mystery of the Enchanted Treasure (1998), providing both the speaking and singing voice in the two sequels. While recording for the first Swan Princess film, record producer Bruce Kimmel approached Nicastro about recording a soundtrack album. She selected songs from Disney animated films for the project, describing the material as having a pop-Broadway quality that suited her voice. The resulting album, Toonful, led to a recording contract with Varèse Sarabande. She followed it with Toonful, Too; Reel Imagination, featuring songs from family musical films; and On My Own, featuring songs from contemporary Broadway musicals.

Nicastro was diagnosed with breast cancer on her 40th birthday. She and three friends subsequently founded Truly Mom, a custom stationery company, which was named "Women Entrepreneurs of the Year" by Country Living in 2009. She died on November 4, 2010, at her home in Toluca Lake at the age of 50. Two television series executive produced by her husband Steve Stark carried dedications to her memory: the episode "For the Good of Our Country" of The Event, which aired November 15, 2010, and the pilot episode of Fairly Legal, which aired January 20, 2011. A character in Fairly Legal, Judge David Nicastro, played by Gerald McRaney, was named in her honor.