page_title: Laura Benanti
hierarchical_section_title: Laura Benanti
caption_attribution_description: Boyd Gaines, Laura Benanti. photo by Rob Rich © 2011 robwayne1@aol.com 516-676-3939
context_page_description: Laura Ilene Benanti is an American actress and singer. She has received five Tony Award nominations.
  She played Louise in the 2008 Broadway revival of Gypsy, winning the 2008 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. Benanti then appeared in the stage musical Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown in 2010, winning the Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.
  She played Baroness Elsa Schräder in the 2013 NBC television production of The Sound of Music Live! and in 2015 began playing twin sisters Alura and Astra in the TV series Supergirl.
  Since 2016, she has been playing First Lady Melania Trump on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
context_section_description: Laura Ilene Benanti (born Laura Ilene Vidnovic; July 15, 1979) is an American actress and singer. She has received five Tony Award nominations. 
  She played Louise in the 2008 Broadway revival of Gypsy, winning the 2008 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. Benanti then appeared in the stage musical Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown in 2010, winning the Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. 
  She played Baroness Elsa Schräder in the 2013 NBC television production of The Sound of Music Live! and in 2015 began playing twin sisters Alura and Astra in the TV series Supergirl. 
  Since 2016, she has been playing First Lady Melania Trump on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
caption: Benanti performing in 2011
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