Rebecca Spencer

Rebecca Spencer, born April 29, 1960, in Bristol, Pennsylvania, is an American singer and actress whose career spans Broadway, opera, national tours, regional theatre, cabaret, and television. The youngest of three children, she grew up in nearby Levittown and earned a Bachelor of Music from Ithaca College in 1982. During her college years she began performing professionally at Theatre By The Sea in Matunuck, Rhode Island, appearing in productions of West Side Story, Brigadoon, and Sweeney Todd.

After graduating, Spencer built an extensive regional résumé. Early credits included Philia in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Johanna in Sweeney Todd at the Candlewood Playhouse in Connecticut, and Anna Held in Tintypes at the Shawnee Playhouse in Pennsylvania. In 1985 she played Belle in A Christmas Carol at the Missouri Repertory Theatre and Johanna in Sweeney Todd at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City. The following year she appeared as the Matinee Cunegonde in Candide at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey, returning in 1987 to take the Matinee title role in Naughty Marietta. Later in the decade she played Marsinah in Kismet at the Equity Library Theatre and Shirley in the Goodspeed Opera's national tour of Lady, Be Good!, and appeared as Magnolia in Show Boat opposite Davis Gaines at both the Minnesota Opera and Opera Omaha.

A pivotal early milestone came in 1990, when Spencer created the role of Lisa Carew in the world premiere of Frank Wildhorn's Jekyll and Hyde at the Alley Theatre in Houston, performing opposite Chuck Wagner and Linda Eder. That same year she played Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz at Theatre Under the Stars in Houston, directed by Philip William McKinley. The early 1990s brought further varied work: she played Marian Paroo in The Music Man at Theatre By The Sea opposite Michael McGrath, spent six months with the Hamburg company of Das Phantom der Oper as Carlotta — Harold Prince's German-language production — and performed Christine in the Yeston Phantom at TriArts in Pine Plains, New York, and again at Theatre By The Sea. Additional credits from that period include Belle in A Christmas Carol at Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, directed by Richard Jenkins, and Rosabella in The Most Happy Fella at the Jupiter Theatre. She also embarked on a national tour as Antonia in Man of La Mancha starring Hal Linden, and later toured the same role nationally with John Cullum. She was additionally a member of the Toronto workshop of Ragtime, directed by Frank Galati.

Spencer's Broadway career spans 1995 to 1997. Her credits include Man of La Mancha and Jekyll and Hyde. She made her Broadway debut in Jekyll and Hyde on April 27, 1997, joining the cast as a female swing. Over the course of the run she performed multiple roles, served as a replacement for Emma Carew, and ultimately assumed the principal role of Lady Beaconsfield.

In 2006, Spencer originated the role of Madame Giry in the $35 million production of Phantom — The Las Vegas Spectacular, directed by Harold Prince. During her time in Las Vegas she participated in benefit concerts including the American premiere of Jerry Springer: The Opera at the MGM Grand and performances of God Lives in Glass by composer Keith Thompson. She also conceived the script for the 2007 Liberace Piano Competitions and co-hosted the international event, and performed regularly in the Las Vegas Composer's Showcase. In 2012 she reprised Madame Giry for the World Tour of Phantom of the Opera, produced by the Asia/Pacific arm of the Really Useful Company, performing in Manila from August through October 2012 before continuing to Seoul, South Korea through early 2013.

After relocating to Seattle in 2010, Spencer appeared as Vicki in The Full Monty at the Village Theatre in Issaquah, directed by Jerry Dixon, as Solange La Fitte in a Showtunes presentation of Follies at the Moore Theatre, and as Dorothy Brock in 42nd Street at the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse in Auburn, New York. Following a move to Los Angeles in 2013, her credits included productions of The Music Man, S'Wonderful, Catch Me If You Can, and Mary Poppins at Musical Theatre West, and The Heir Apparent at International City Theatre in Long Beach. In 2016 she served as standby for Betty Buckley in Grey Gardens at the Ahmanson Theatre, directed by Michael Wilson. In 2019 she co-starred as Jack's Mother in the Hollywood Bowl production of Into the Woods.

Spencer's concert work has been equally extensive. She appeared in five Encores! productions at New York City Center: Call Me Madame in 1995, A Connecticut Yankee in 2001, Carnival in 2002, The New Moon in 2003, and Pardon My English in 2004. She was a guest soloist in The Songs of Jerry Herman at the 92nd Street Y's Lyrics and Lyricists series and performed in the ensemble for the Ira Gershwin Centennial at Carnegie Hall, recorded for PBS. She has appeared at the Mabel Mercer Foundation's NYC Cabaret Conventions in 2004 and 2005, and in the VOX series at New York City Opera in 2002 and 2003. As a guest soloist she has performed with the Syracuse, New Haven, and Detroit Symphonies, the Florida Orchestra, and the Indianapolis and Naples Symphonies conducted by Keith Lockhart of the Boston Pops, as well as in concert with composer Marvin Hamlisch. Solo cabaret performances with her longtime musical director Philip Fortenberry have taken place at venues including Birdland Jazz Club in New York City, Castle on the Hudson in Tarrytown, the Liberace Museum in Las Vegas, and the Blue Heron Arts Center on Vashon Island, Washington. In 2016 she headlined the inaugural season of The Sorting Room concert series at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills.

Spencer's discography includes the solo albums Wide Awake and Dreaming (2004, LML Music), which received the 2004 Back Stage Bistro Award for Outstanding Achievement in a Recording, Fair Warning (2006, LML Music), and Still Still Still (2018, LML Music). She also appears on the Jekyll and Hyde Original Broadway Cast Album on Atlantic Records, Songs from Ragtime the Musical on BMG, the Watch Your Step Off-Broadway cast recording, the Encores! cast recording of The New Moon on Ghostlight Records, and Linda Eder's Christmas Stays the Same on Atlantic, among other recordings. Her television credits include Third Watch and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.