Stephanie D'Abruzzo
| Stephanie D'Abruzzo | |
|---|---|
| Born |
December 7, 1971 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress, singer, puppeteer |
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Spouse(s) | Craig Shemin |
Stephanie D'Abruzzo (born 7 December 1971) is an American actress, singer, and puppeteer.
D'Abruzzo grew up in McMurray, Pennsylvania, a Pittsburgh suburb she has described as a "plastic bubble kind of town." She graduated from Peters Township High School, where she was active in the theater program, and attended the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Arts, a summer program for gifted high school students.
D'Abruzzo is a 1993 graduate of the Radio/Television/Film program at Northwestern University. A resident of the university's Communications Residential College (CRC), D'Abruzzo could often be caught watching (and, as it turns out, studying) Sesame Street. She also had a large collection of Muppet recordings, which she compiled into a mixtape that she auctioned off for dorm fundraisers.
Eventually, D'Abruzzo began to consider puppetry as a career, in part as a solution to finding acting roles after she "gained more than the Freshman 15 and [got] a bad perm." D'Abruzzo's production of a puppet television show called Freeform (directed by Elizabeth Kirkscey) won the National College Emmy award for comedy.
D'Abruzzo's other standout roles at Northwestern included Mildred in the short film The Ballad of Hank and Mildred and as herself in The Glance. While in college, she also performed with a campus improvisational comedy troupe.
Though D'Abruzzo has spent most of her career performing as a puppeteer in children's television, she is best known for originating the roles of single schoolteacher Kate Monster and sultry chanteuse Lucy the Slut in the Broadway musical Avenue Q. D'Abruzzo earned widespread acclaim for her performance of the dual role, including a nomination for the 2004 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, a Drama Desk nomination, the Theatre World Award, and the Outer Critics Circle Special Ensemble Award.
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