Stephanie J. Block

Stephanie J. Block is an American actress and singer born on September 19, 1972, in Brea, California. She is the daughter of Rosemarie Block, who worked for the local school district, and Steven Block, a welfare fraud investigator, and has one sister, Renée. Of German and Italian descent, Block was raised Catholic and attended St. Angela Merici Parish School before continuing her secondary education at Rosary High School, an all-girls Catholic private school in Fullerton, California, and later at the Orange County High School of the Arts.

Block began her professional career in regional theater, appearing in productions including Funny Girl, Crazy for You, Oliver!, James Joyce's The Dead, and Bells Are Ringing. She also originated the role of Belle in the Disneyland production of Beauty and the Beast and provided the singing voice of Barbie in commercial work. Her connection to Wicked began as early as 2000, when she participated in early readings of the musical as Elphaba; she was subsequently replaced by Idina Menzel and later served as Menzel's understudy during the San Francisco tryout in 2003. Block departed that production when she was offered a lead role on Broadway.

Her Broadway debut came in 2003 with The Boy from Oz, in which she originated the role of Liza Minnelli opposite Hugh Jackman's Peter Allen. The production ran for close to a year and received several Tony Award nominations, including one for Best Musical. In spring 2005, Block returned to Wicked by originating the role of Elphaba in the show's first U.S. national tour, earning the 2006 Helen Hayes Award and the 2007 Carbonell Award for Best Actress in a Non-Resident Production. She remained with the tour until March 2006, when she was succeeded by Julia Murney.

In 2007, Block starred in the title role of The Pirate Queen, a new Broadway musical with music by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil. The production opened in April at the Hilton Theatre and closed in June of the same year. Later in 2007, she returned to Wicked on Broadway, replacing Julia Murney as Elphaba beginning October 9. She held the role for eight months, departing on June 15, 2008, and was succeeded by Kerry Ellis.

Block starred as Judy Bernly in the 2009 Broadway musical adaptation of 9 to 5, directed by Joe Mantello with music by Dolly Parton, alongside Allison Janney, Megan Hilty, and Marc Kudisch. The production ran at the Marquis Theatre from April through September 2009. That same year she released her debut solo album, This Place I Know, through PS Classics. Her performance in 9 to 5 earned her a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Musical.

In 2011, Block made her Off-Broadway debut in By the Way, Meet Vera Stark, a play by Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage, at Second Stage Theatre, receiving a Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play. She also stepped into the role of Reno Sweeney in the Broadway revival of Anything Goes, first covering for Sutton Foster for three weeks in November 2011 and then returning to the production on March 15, 2012, remaining until the show's closure on July 8, 2012.

Block led the Roundabout Theatre Company's Broadway production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, which ran from November 2012 through March 2013, earning nominations for both the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical. In late 2013, she appeared Off-Broadway in Little Miss Sunshine at Second Stage Theatre as Sheryl Hoover, receiving a Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical.

The 2016 Broadway revival of Falsettos, directed by James Lapine, featured Block as Trina alongside Christian Borle as Marvin and Andrew Rannells as Whizzer. The limited run opened officially on October 27, 2016, and closed on January 8, 2017. Her performance brought nominations for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical, and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical.

Block's most decorated Broadway role came with The Cher Show, the biomusical in which she played Cher. Her performance earned her the 2019 Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical and the 2019 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical, making her a three-time Tony nominee and six-time Drama Desk nominee overall. She also starred as The Baker's Wife in a Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods, later reprising the role on the U.S. national tour.

Beyond the stage, Block held a recurring role as Patricia in the NBC series Rise in 2018 and appeared in a recurring capacity on the CBS drama Madam Secretary in 2017. She has performed concert work in London's West End, including a live appearance at the New Players Theatre in February 2010, and made her London theatre debut in a revival of Kiss Me, Kate in 2024.