Nancy Opel
BIO
Nancy Opel is a Tony Award nominated actress best known for originating Pennywise in Urinetown: the Musical on Broadway. She most recently appeared as Madame Morrible on Broadway in Wicked.
A Juilliard Graduate, Nancy Opel made her Broadway debut as a “Person of Argentina” in the original 1979 production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Evita, and later in the run was the replacement for the leading role. She also starred on the national tour of the same production as Eva. She then originated the roles of Betty and Frieda in Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George. After appearing as the replacement for Hope Harcourt in the 1987 revival of Cole Porter’s Anything Goes, Opel played Eleanor in Teddy & Alice, a musical that drew upon both the relationship between Teddy Roosevelt and his daughter as well as on the music of John Philip Sousa. She covered the roles of Pamela Prideaux and Dossie Lustig in the Original Broadway Production of Getting Away With Murder, followed by playing Corine in Triumph of Love, an adaptation of the 1732 play by Pierre de Marivaux. She also covered Isabelle’s Mother, Lady India, and Capulat in the Lincoln Center Revival of Ring Round the Moon.
Opel went on to originate the role of Penelope Pennywise in Urinetown by Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis. Her performance earned her a Tony nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. Opel played the Yente in the Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof, in addition to coming into the roles of Madame Morrible in Wicked, Mama in Memphis, and Madame in Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella on Broadway. She has toured nationally with Most recently she was seen in the Original Broadway Cast of Honeymoon in Vegas as Bea Singer, along with the International Touring World Premiere Production of Hal Prince’s Prince of Broadway.
Off-Broadway Credits include Personals as Louise, All in the Timing, Sandy in Don Juan in Chicago, Mere Mortals and Others, Mrs. Hatch in On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, Polish Joke, Miss Cratchitt in Gypsy, Mayor Babs Belgoody in The Toxic Avenger, Do I Hear a Waltz?, Bobby Goldman in Curvy Widow, and Gramma in Hey, Look Me Over!. On the West End Opel was featured in Paradise Found, and regionally in the US as Louise in Holiday Inn at The Muny.
On TV Opel has been featured on shows such as The Big C, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, Law and Order: SVU, Flight of the Conchords, One Life to Live, and All My Children. She also works as a private acting and singing coach in New York City.
