Jenn Gambatese

Jennifer "Gamby" Gambatese (born September 10, 1975) is an American actress and singer. Gambatese has performed in the musical production of Disney's Tarzan as Jane. Gambatese also played Glinda on the first National Tour of Wicked.

Gambatese grew up in Richmond Heights, a suburb of Cleveland. Her passion for acting began during the summer of fourth grade at the Willoughby Fine Arts Center where she attended theater classes. Her first performance was “playing a ‘whitewasher’” in the story of Tom Sawyer. She continued taking acting classes, and in her senior year of high school attended Beck Center as well as Cleveland State University. In 1993 she moved to Manhattan, where she enrolled in NYU's Tisch School of the Arts drama department. She graduated in 1997 with a double major in sociology and drama and received an "Artist & Scholar" award. After graduation her first professional job was performing with Theatre for Young Audiences, a touring children's theater company. She played Serena Katz in the North American Tour of Fame-The Musical with Gavin Creel as Nick Piazza. She also played the role in a European Tour of the show.

Gambatese made her Broadway debut in Footloose in October 1998. She played the role of Urleen and also as an understudy to the female lead actress. “Footloose” was directed by Walter Bobbie and ran on Broadway from October 2, 1998 through July 2, 2000. Gambatese followed “Footloose” with the musical Hairspray, directed by Jack O’Brien that ran on Broadway from August 2002 through January 2009. She played the role of Penny Pingleton. In April 2003, Gambatese appeared in a new Broadway musical, A Year with Frog and Toad, directed by David Petrarca; Gambatese played a few roles: Bird, Mouse, Squirrel, and a young Frog. In March 2005, Gambatese played the role of Natalie Haller in the musical All Shook Up, directed by Christopher Ashley. In 2006, Gambetese played "Jane" in Tarzan, which played on Broadway from May 2006 through July 2007 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. Next, Gambatese played Marie Leroux in "Is He Dead," a play by Mark Twain adapted by David Ives and directed by Michael Blakemore, that opened at the Lyceum Theatre in December 2007.

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