PERSONAL BIO
Kelsey Venter is an award-winning singer and actor, currently on tour with DEAR EVAN HANSEN as the Heidi Hansen/Cynthia Murphy understudy and dance captain. She has spent much of her career performing in New York, San Francisco, and her hometown, San Diego. She earned her Master of Fine Arts at the American Conservatory Theater and is one of twenty actors who currently hold the Guinness World Record for Longest Marathon Theater Performance with Lamb's Players Theater. Kelsey is a cancer survivor and donates a great deal of time to counseling young women who are battling the disease or remitted.
SELECTED CREDITS
|
DEAR EVAN HANSEN
THE LAST FIVE YEARS MONSTRESS MR. BURNS 'TIS PITY SHE'S A WHORE HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS |
Heidi Hansen/Cynthia Murphy u/s; Dance Captain
Cathy u/s (performed) Althea Maria / Itchy the mouse Philotis Mama Who, etc. |
First National Tour dir Michael Greif
A.C.T. dir Michael Berresse A.C.T. dir Carey Perloff The Guthrie dir Mark Rucker A.C.T. dir Carey Perloff The Old Globe dir James Vasquez |
SELECTED REVIEWS
For NEXT TO NORMAL at Tantrum Theater: "Diana Goodman is one of the finest tragic heroes of the modern stage. Venter’s Diana is heartbreaking and singular and surprising and visceral; she breathes through the rich material." - Columbus Underground
For THE MIRACLE WORKER at Lambs Players Theater: "...What comes powerfully to the fore is a pair of startling performances by Lucia Vecchio as Helen and Kelsey Venter as Annie....The accomplished and versatile Venter is instantly appealing as the passionate, often steely Annie."
- UT San Diego
For MR. BURNS at the American Conservatory Theater: "Kelsey Venter is heartbreaking as Maria, a good-hearted survivor fighting for the nobility of art."
- San Jose Mercury News
For LES MISERABLES at Lambs Players Theater: "... Kelsey Venter (Fantine), who’s such an arresting presence on “I Dreamed a Dream” and other numbers that you wish she could dream up a way to stick around longer."
- UT San Diego
For THE THREEPENNY OPERA at Shotgun Players: "...The real discovery here is Venter, who unveils new levels of sweetness ("Polly's Song"), depths of toughness and reservoirs of vocal dexterity with each song. Her "Pirate Jenny" is remarkable, her cat-fight duet ... is awesome and her "Barbara Song" - like much of this "Threepenny" - is not to be missed."
- San Francisco Chronicle
For TRYING at Lambs Players Theatre: "Venter shows a beautiful range of expression in portraying the headstrong Sarah, who had a bruising childhood in Saskatchewan and is enduring a rocky marriage."
- UT San Diego
For SEAGULL IN THE HAMPTONS at Shotgun Players: "Venter [gives] a radiant performance. She nails Nina's journey from bright-eyed to bitter without forcing either state. Her abject despair grounds the last act...."
- San Jose Mercury News
For RESPECT: A MUSICAL JOURNEY OF WOMEN: "... The show’s high point – singer Kelsey Venter in a prolonged, agonized duet with a telephone to the 1970 Vikki Carr hit “It Must Be Him.”
- UT San Diego
For THE MIRACLE WORKER at Lambs Players Theater: "...What comes powerfully to the fore is a pair of startling performances by Lucia Vecchio as Helen and Kelsey Venter as Annie....The accomplished and versatile Venter is instantly appealing as the passionate, often steely Annie."
- UT San Diego
For MR. BURNS at the American Conservatory Theater: "Kelsey Venter is heartbreaking as Maria, a good-hearted survivor fighting for the nobility of art."
- San Jose Mercury News
For LES MISERABLES at Lambs Players Theater: "... Kelsey Venter (Fantine), who’s such an arresting presence on “I Dreamed a Dream” and other numbers that you wish she could dream up a way to stick around longer."
- UT San Diego
For THE THREEPENNY OPERA at Shotgun Players: "...The real discovery here is Venter, who unveils new levels of sweetness ("Polly's Song"), depths of toughness and reservoirs of vocal dexterity with each song. Her "Pirate Jenny" is remarkable, her cat-fight duet ... is awesome and her "Barbara Song" - like much of this "Threepenny" - is not to be missed."
- San Francisco Chronicle
For TRYING at Lambs Players Theatre: "Venter shows a beautiful range of expression in portraying the headstrong Sarah, who had a bruising childhood in Saskatchewan and is enduring a rocky marriage."
- UT San Diego
For SEAGULL IN THE HAMPTONS at Shotgun Players: "Venter [gives] a radiant performance. She nails Nina's journey from bright-eyed to bitter without forcing either state. Her abject despair grounds the last act...."
- San Jose Mercury News
For RESPECT: A MUSICAL JOURNEY OF WOMEN: "... The show’s high point – singer Kelsey Venter in a prolonged, agonized duet with a telephone to the 1970 Vikki Carr hit “It Must Be Him.”
- UT San Diego