Celia Keenan-Bolger Biography

Celia Keenan-Bolger (born January 26, 1978) is an American actress and singer.

Early life and family

Keenan-Bolger is an alumnus of the Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit and a graduate of the University of Michigan's musical theatre performance program. She is one of three children, all of whom are involved in the performing arts. Her brother, Andrew Keenan-Bolger, also graduated from the University of Michigan with a BFA in musical theatre in 2007. Already a Broadway veteran, Andrew joined the national touring company of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee in the fall of 2007. Her sister, Maggie Keenan-Bolger, who wrote the noted play From the Inside, Out, studied theatre and gender and women's studies at Oberlin College and graduated in 2006.

Career

Keenan-Bolger's regional credits include Johanna in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at the Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration in 2002, along with productions at the Goodman Theatre, TheatreWorks and Sundance Theatre Program. In 2003, she originated the role of Clara Johnson in the pre-Broadway world premiere of the Craig Lucas/Adam Guettel musical The Light in the Piazza at Seattle's Intiman Theatre and Chicago's Goodman Theatre. She has performed Off-Broadway in Kindertransport, Little Fish and Summer of '42.

In 2005, Keenan-Bolger made her Broadway debut starring in William Finn's musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, where she originated the role of Olive Ostrovsky. For this performance, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She had appeared in the musical from its beginning at the Barrington Stage Company (Sheffield, Massachusetts) in July 2004, to the Off-Broadway production at the Second Stage Theatre in January through March 2005. With the original Broadway cast, she returned to The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee for a four-week limited engagement run at the Wadsworth Theatre in Los Angeles from May through June 2007.

She has also appeared on Broadway in the revival of Les Misérables as street waif "?ponine from October 2006 to April 2007, for which she received a Drama Desk Award nomination.

Keenan-Bolger appeared in the Playwrights Horizons production of the new musical Saved with music and lyrics by Michael Friedman and a book by John Dempsey and Rinne Groff in 2008. She appeared in Bachelorette at the Second Stage Theatre and in Adam Bock's A Small Fire, opposite Michele Pawk and Reed Birney.

Keenan-Bolger starred as Mary Flynn in the Encores! production of Merrily We Roll Along, which played at the New York City Center from February 8 through 19, 2012.

In 2011, she starred in the New York Theatre Workshop production of Peter and the Starcatcher, a stage adaptation of the 2004 best-selling children's novel of a similar name. She reprised the role of Molly in the Broadway transfer production of Peter and the Starcatcher, which played at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre from March 28, 2012 through January 20, 2013. Keenan-Bolger received Drama Desk Award and Tony Award nominations for her performance.

Keenan-Bolger played Laura Wingfield in the American Repertory Theater production of The Glass Menagerie alongside Cherry Jones and Zachary Quinto, from February 2, 2013 through March 17, 2013. Keenan-Bolger will reprise this role for the production's Broadway transfer, which will begin performances at the Booth Theatre on September 5, 2013.

She has sung in concert at the Lincoln Center American Songbook Series and at the Michigan Theatre with Audra McDonald. Keenan-Bolger performed as Martha in the 2005 The Secret Garden World AIDS Day benefit concert in 2005. She appeared on the concept cast album of Bright Lights, Big City. She also participated in a reading of Shrek the Musical as Princess Fiona in 2007.

Credits

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
2012	Mariachi Gringo	Tammy
Television
2002	The Education of Max Bickford	Unknown	Episode: "Murder of the First"
2007	Law & Order	Elaine Fowler	Episode: "Murder Book"
	Heartland	Alice	Episode: "Smile"
2008	The Battery's Down	Voter Registration Girl	Episode: "The Bronx is Up"
2012	Submissions Only	Michelle Loudon	Episode: "Another Interruption"

Theatre

Year	Show	Role	Notes
2005	The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee	Olive Ostrovsky	Second Stage Theatre January 11 " March 20, 2005
2005	The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee	Olive Ostrovsky	Circle in the Square Theatre April 15, 2005 " September 17, 2006
2006	Les Misérables	"?ponine	Broadhurst Theatre October 24, 2006 " April 22, 2007
2011	Peter and the Starcatcher	Molly	New York Theatre Workshop February 18 " April 24, 2011
2012	Peter and the Starcatcher	Molly	Brooks Atkinson Theatre March 28 " December 30, 2012
2013	The Glass Menagerie	Laura Wingfield	American Repertory Theater February 2 " March 17, 2013
2013	The Glass Menagerie	Laura Wingfield	Booth Theatre September 26, 2013 " January 5, 2014

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated Work	Result
2005	Tony Award	Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical	The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Ensemble Performance
	Theatre World Award
2007	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical	Les Misérables
2011/12	Tony Award	Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play	Peter and the Starcatcher
	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play
	Drama League Award	Distinguished Performance
2013	Elliot Norton Award	Outstanding Ensemble	The Glass Menagerie