lea delaria

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The USA’s first openly gay stand-up comedian, Lea DeLaria came out on national television in front of millions of viewers on The Arsenio Hall Show in 1993. Lea catapulted to a new kind of fame on Broadway in 1997 with The Public Theater\'s revival of On The Town. Directed by two-time Tony Award winner George C. Wolfe in the role of \"Hildy,\" Lea received Obie, Drama Desk, Theater World and Fanny awards. She became a Drama League Honoree and the recipient of the most notorious snub in recent Tony history. Lea also became one of the few openly gay actors in the world to cross boundaries playing straight on- and off-Broadway (\"Hildy\" in On the Town; \"Cinder\" in Little Fish; \"Winnie\" in Happy Days; \"Joy\" in Cinderella, NYC Opera), playing gay (\"Mama Morton\" in Chicago, National Tour; \"Jane\" in The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, a role written for her by Paul Rudnik), and even portraying men! (\"Eddie\" and \"Dr. Scott\" in The Rocky Horror Show, Broadway; \"Marryin\' Sam\" in Lil\' Abner, Encore Series) As a concert headliner, Lea has starred in: JUDY GARLAND TRIBUTE, MY FAVORITE BROADWAY-THE LEADING LADIES, BILLIE HOLIDAY TRIBUTE, JAZZ SALUTE TO SONDHEIM, HAROLD ARLEN 100th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION, all at Carnegie Hall; and END OF THE MILLENNIUM CONCERT, BILLIE HOLIDAY TRIBUTE at the Hollywood Bowl. Lea\'s first record on the Warner Jazz label, PLAY IT COOL, was named Album of the Year by the London Times, with the single THE BALLAD OF SWEENEY TODD remaining at number one on jazz radio in the US for two months. Her second album, DOUBLE STANDARDS, leapt onto the Billboard Jazz Chart at number six. Lea has toured most of the large jazz festivals including LONDON, NEW YORK CITY, JVC and MONTREUX, culminating in her appearance as the featured vocalist of THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE NEWPORT JAZZ FESTIVAL TOUR.