Alice Ripley
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Biography
California-born, Ohio-raised Alice Ripley knew from a young age that she wanted to be on stage. The attractive blonde singer-actress began working in community theater as a teenager and made her first appearance in 1976 as a monkey in a production of "The Wizard of Oz." Six years later, while still in college, Ripley made her professional debut at the Red Barn Theater in Frankfort, Indiana. After completing college at Kent State University, she relocated to Southern California and earned her Equity card working at the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego in 1988. Four years of eking out a living on the road and in regional theater passed before Ripley landed the role that would bring her to Manhattan.
In 1992, Ripley was cast in the La Jolla Production of "The Who's Tommy" and she traveled with the show to NYC and Broadway. Shortly thereafter, she moved over to "Les Miserables" playing Fantine and delivering the showstopping "I Dreamed a Dream." Ironically, that role eventually brought her back to California when she joined the show's national tour. While in Los Angeles, Ripley was cast as Betty Schaefer in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical "Sunset Boulevard" which she reprised when the production transferred to Broadway in 1994. She remained with the show through its various leading ladies (Glenn Close, Betty Buckley, Elaine Paige) but also branched out by appearing in a 1996 workshop of "Side Show," playing half of the conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton.
After inaugurating the restored New Amsterdam Theater as Bathsheba in the concert staging of the Alan Menken-Tim Rice oratorio "King David" in the spring of 1997, Ripley joined Emily Skinner to star in "Side Show" on Broadway. Although highly fictionalized and speculative, the musical earned mostly favorable notices and a small but devout audience. Ripley and Skinner, who when made up looked remarkably alike, made a perfect duo and their stellar work netted them a rare joint Tony Award nomination for Leading Actress in a Musical (although they lost to Natasha Richardson). Still, the pair enjoyed working together and went on to record two albums together, "Duets" (1998) and "Unsuspecting Hearts" (1999). They even shared a dressing room again when they both were cast in the ensemble of the musical "James Joyce's The Dead" (1999-2000). Following that show's untimely closing, each went off to other projects, with Ripley landing the coveted role of Janet in the much anticipated revival of "The Rocky Horror Show." In addition to her stage work, Ripley and her musician husband Shannon Ford collaborated in a rock band called Uncle Daddy (formerly lame). Ripley and the group recorded an album which was released in 2001.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Music (Special)
Life Events
1976
Made stage debut as a monkey in "The Wizard of Oz" at the Lakewood Little Theatre
1982
Made professional stage debut at the Red Barn Theater in Indiana
1988
Earned Equity card in production at La Jolla Playhouse
1992
Moved to New York City
1992
Cast in the stage musical "The Who's Tommy"; made Broadway debut in 1993
1993
Undertook role of Fantine in touring company of "Les Miserables"
1994
Played Betty Shaefer in the stage musical "Sunset Boulevard" on Broadway
1996
First played role of Violet Hilton in the workshop of the musical "Side Show"
1997
Cast as Bathsheba in the limited engagement staging of "King David"
1997
Co-starred with Emily Skinner as conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton in the musical "Side Show"; earned joint Tony nominations for Best Actress in a Musical
1998
Appeared in the workshop production of "Bright Lights, Big City"
1998
Recorded the album Duets with "Side Show" co-star Emily Skinner
1998
Joined the Broadway cast of "Les Miserables" as Fantine
1999
Released second album with Skinner, Unsuspecting Hearts
1999
Re-teamed on stage with Emily Skinner for "James Joyce's The Dead"
2000
Played Janet in the Broadway production of "The Rocky Horror Show"
2001
Featured in the film, "The Adulterer"
2002
Played Lorelei Lee in the Reprise! staging of "Gentleman Prefer Blondes"
2002
Appeared as Amy in the Kennedy Center production of "Company"; again re-teamed with Emily Skinner
2004
Cast in the film "Temptation"
2007
Starred in Michael John LaChiusa's "Little Fish" with the Blank Theatre Company in Los Angeles
2008
Starred as Diana Goodman in the Off-Broadway staging of "Next to Normal"; moved to Broadway in 2009
Family
Companions
