Bio: Born in Barataria Trinidad Heather Headley began competing in the performing arts at an early age. At the age of four she started piano lessons and began playing concert piano.
At the age of 15, Heather and her family moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana. After three years of being the featured soloist of her schools show choir, and the lead in two of the schools musicals (Man of La Mancha and Funny Girl), she graduated from Northrop High School and went on to study Communications and Musical theater at Northwestern University. While there, she performed in the universitys main stage productions and as the lead in Dream Girls and The World Goes 'Round at one of Chicagos foremost regional theaters, the Marriott Lincolnshire Theater.
In 1996 towards the end of her third year at Northwestern she joined the cast in the pre-Broadway cast of Ragtime. In 1997, six months after she left school to pursue her dream, Disney offered her an opportunity to play the role of Nala, the feisty lioness, in what would become one of the greatest successes of Broadway History The Lion King.
Disney approached Heather and asked her to audition for their new musical Elaborate Lives: The Legend of Aïda, The score was written by the multi-award winning team of Sirs Elton John and Tim Rice and in she landed the title role in February of 1998. The story of Aïda tells of a Nubian princess stolen from her country, enslaved by Radames (played by Adam Pascal) and offered as a gift to the Pharaoh's daughter Amneris (Sherie René Scott). The two princesses become friends and Radames falls in love with Aida despite his betrothal to Amneris.
In May 1999, while starring in the Encores! Production of Do Re Mi Heather received a Tony award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical among several other accolades for her performance as Aïda. Her debut album with RCA Records is scheduled to be released in the fall of 2001.
Afiwi.com's complete profile on Heather Headley
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