# Katrina Lenk

Katrina Lenk (born November 26, 1974) is an American actress, singer, dancer, musician, and songwriter. She is best known for originating the role of Dina in the 2017 Broadway musical The Band's Visit, which earned her the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, along with the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album and the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Musical Performance in a Daytime Program.
Lenk also performed the lead role of Bobbie in the 2021 gender-swapped revival of Stephen Sondheim's musical Company. Lenk's additional stage credits include roles in the Broadway productions of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, Once, and Indecent, as well as roles in regional theater productions.

## Early life and education

Lenk was born in Chicago, Illinois to a family of Eastern European descent. Though it has been claimed that she is of a Russian ethnic background, she has preferred to discuss her heritage with ambiguity. She attended Barrington High School in Barrington, Illinois. After enrolling at the School of Music at Northwestern University, she graduated in 1997 while majoring in viola performance and studying voice and musical theatre.

## Career

Lenk appeared as Yitzak in Hedwig and the Angry Inch at the Broadway Theatre, Chicago, in May 2001. She performed as Linda Lovelace in the musical Lovelace: A Rock Musical in 2008 at the Hayworth Theatre, Los Angeles, about which the L. A. Weekly wrote: "As Linda, Katrina Lenk is sensational—she has a dozen nuanced smiles that range from innocent and shattered to grateful, in order to express whatever passes as kindness when, say, a male co-star (Josh Greene) promises to make their scene fun."
She made her Broadway debut in The Miracle Worker in March 2010 as the understudy for the roles of Annie Sullivan and Kate Keller. She joined the cast of the Broadway musical Once in May 2013, in the role of Réza, the violinist.
In 2015 she appeared in the Yale Repertory Theatre world premiere of Indecent by Paula Vogel. She then appeared in the 2016 Off-Broadway production at the Vineyard Theatre, followed by the Broadway production at the Cort Theatre in 2017. In her review for Newsday, Linda Winer noted the "...dancing, singing actors as the earthy, sensual Katrina Lenk." For her performance she received the 2017 Theatre World Award Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence. A performance of the play was filmed for television and broadcast on PBS in November 2017.
Lenk appeared on Broadway as Dina in the 2017 musical The Band's Visit, for which she won the 2018 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. Craig Nakano of the Los Angeles Times wrote: "For Lenk, the role is another turning point. After studying music and theater at Northwestern University, Lenk devoted herself to theater in California.... it’s her poignant, heart-aching turn as Dina that is poised to make her a star."
She is the creator of musical persona and stage act Moxy Phinx.
Lenk starred in the lead role of Bobbie, opposite Patti LuPone as Joanne, in a gender-swapped revival of Stephen Sondheim's Company, which started previews on Broadway at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on March 2 and was scheduled to open on March 22, 2020, until delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The production resumed previews on November 15, 2021, for an opening date of December 9, 2021. Lenk also appeared in the final season of Ozark, playing the role of Clare.

## Theatre

| Year(s) | Production | Role | Location | Category |
| 2000 | Gigi | Gigi | Theatre at the Center, Munster, Indiana | Regional |
| Proposals | Sammii | Theatre at the Center, Munster, Indiana | Regional |
| 2001 | Hedwig and the Angry Inch | Yitzhak | Broadway Theatre, Chicago | Regional |
| 42nd Street | Peggy Sawyer | Theatre at the Center, Munster, Indiana | Regional |
| 2002 | A Christmas Carol | Fiddler/Ensemble | Goodman Theatre, Chicago, Illinois | Regional |
| 2005 | Lost Land | Anna | Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago, Illinois | Regional |
| Cat on a Hot Tin Roof | Maggie/Mae (understudy) | Geffen Playhouse, Los Angeles, California | Regional |
| The Caucasian Chalk Circle | Grusha | South Coast Repertory, Costa Mesa, California | Regional |
| 2006 | Camille | Camille | Bard SummerScape, New York | Regional |
| 2007 | Safety | Tanya | Closet Space Theater, Los Angeles, California | Regional |
| iWitness | Margaret | Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles | Regional |
| Chicago | Velma Kelly | Hudson Backstage Theatre, Hollywood, California | Regional |
| 2008 | Lovelace: A Rock Musical | Linda Lovelace | Hayworth Theatre, Los Angeles, California | Regional |
| 2009 | Creature from the Black Lagoon: The Musical | Kay | Universal Studios Hollywood, Los Angeles, California | Regional |
| 2010 | Lovelace: A Rock Musical | Linda Lovelace | Edinburgh Fringe, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK | International Festival |
| 2010 | Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Would Not Grow Up | Mrs. Darling/Slightly | The Alley Theatre, Houston, Texas | Regional |
| 2010 | The Miracle Worker | Annie Sullivan, Kate Keller (understudy) | Circle in the Square Theatre | Broadway |
| 2011 | Cabaret | Fräulein Kost | Freud Playhouse at UCLA, Los Angeles, California | Regional |
| 2012 | Cloudlands | Caroline | South Coast Repertory Orange County, California | Regional |
| 2012 | Elemeno Pea | Michaela | South Coast Repertory Orange County, California | Regional |
| 2012–2013 | Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark | Arachne (replacement) | Lyric Theatre | Broadway |
| 2013–2015 | Once | Réza (replacement) | Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre | Broadway |
| 2015 | Indecent | Manke | Yale Repertory Theatre, New Haven, Connecticut | Commissioned |
| 2015 | Indecent | Manke | La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego, California | Regional |
| 2016 | Indecent | Manke | Vineyard Theatre | Off-Broadway |
| 2016–2017 | The Band's Visit | Dina | Atlantic Theater Company | Off-Broadway |
| 2017 | Indecent | Manke | James Earl Jones Theatre | Broadway |
| 2017–2019 | The Band's Visit | Dina | Ethel Barrymore Theatre | Broadway |
| 2020 | Company | Bobbie | Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre | Broadway |
| 2021–2022 | Company | Bobbie | Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre | Broadway |

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2003 | The Acedia Thing | Poet | |
| 2004 | Liar! | Moira | Short film |
| Volare | Candy patron No. 1 | Short film |
| 2005 | Space Daze | Elania Hoffman | Video |
| 2006 | Kiss Me in the Dark | Woman | Short film |
| 2007 | Crime Fiction | Lauren | Short film |
| The Grand Inquisitor | Auditioning Jesus | |
| 2009 | White Widow | — | Short film |
| Preservation | Viola/Vera | Short film |
| Love on the Tundra | Alexia | Short film |
| 2010 | Chateau Belvedere | Genevieve Masolowski | Short film |
| Happy. Thank You. More. Please. | — | Music credit only: "Phosphorescent Green" |
| 2012 | Arthur and the Bunnies | Sara | Short film |
| 2013 | One for My Baby | Actress | Short film |
| 2014 | The Vigilante | Agent Stansfield | Short film |
| 2015 | FracKtured | Del | Short film |
| 2016 | Élan Vital | Christine | |
| Evol: The Theory of Love | Yolanda | |
| 2019 | Love Is Blind | Dr. Shine | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2003 | Will & Grace | Marta the Maid | Episode: "Fagmalion Part 4: The Guy Who Loved Me" |
| 2005 | Studio House | Starlet | TV movie |
| 2006 | According to Jim | Nurse | Episode: "Belaboring the Point" |
| 2009 | Ruby & the Rockits | Lady No. 2 | Episode: "Hot for Spanish Teacher" |
| 2014 | The Blacklist | Carrie Anne Beck | Episode: "The Front (No. 74)" |
| 2015 | Elementary | Sonia | Episode: "The Illustrious Client" |
| 2016 | Miss Teri | Meta | Episode: "Pilot" (Web series, co-creator, writer) |
| 2017 | The Get Down | Ruby Con | Episode: "Gamble Everything" |
| Indecent | Manke | TV production of stage play |
| 2017–2018 | The Good Fight | Naftali Amato | Recurring role; 3 episodes |
| The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel | Cosma | Episodes: "Put That on Your Plate!", "All Alone" |
| 2019 | The Village | Claire Danville | Recurring role; 4 episodes |
| 2020 | Tommy | Kiley Mills | Recurring role; 5 episodes |
| Little Voice | Mary King | Episodes: "Sea Change", "Sing What I Can't Say" |
| 2022 | Ozark | Clare Shaw | 10 episodes |
| 2024 | Apples Never Fall | Lucia Fortino | Miniseries; 4 episodes |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
| 2017 | Theatre World Award | Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence in the Theatre | — | Honoree |
| 2017 | Outer Critics Circle Award | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play | Indecent | Nominated |
| 2017 | Outer Critics Circle Award | Outstanding Actress in a Musical | The Band's Visit | Nominated |
| 2017 | Lucille Lortel Award | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical | The Band's Visit | Won |
| 2018 | Tony Award | Best Actress in a Musical | The Band's Visit | Won |
| 2018 | Drama League Award | Distinguished Performance | The Band's Visit | Nominated |
| 2018 | Chita Rivera Award for Dance and Choreography | Outstanding Female Dancer in a Broadway Show | The Band's Visit | Nominated |
| 2019 | Grammy Award | Best Musical Theater Album | The Band's Visit | Won |
| 2019 | Daytime Emmy Award | Outstanding Musical Performance in a Daytime Program (with the cast of The Band's Visit) | The Band's Visit | Won |