MEET THE CAST

JENN GAMBATESE

JENN GAMBATESE most recently originated the role of "Miranda Hillard" in Mrs. Doubtfire on Broadway.  Her other starring roles on The Great Bright Way include "Principal Rosalie Mullins" in School of Rock, "Jane" in Tarzan, and "Natalie" in All Shook Up. Other Broadway credits: Hairspray, Is He Dead?, A Year with Frog and Toad, and Footloose.   Favorite Touring, Regional and Off-Broadway credits include traveling the country by bubble as "Glinda" in Wicked, playing "Maria" in The Sound of Musicand "Carrie Pipperidge" in Carousel at Lyric Opera of Chicago, "Annie Oakley" in Annie Get Your Gun at Goodspeed Musicals and "Eliante" in The School for Lies at Classic Stage Company.  In addition to her stage work, Jenn enjoys guest starring on TV (including The Good Wife, Law & Order SVU, and Blue Bloods), singing with symphonies (including the Grand Teton Music Festival, Atlanta Symphony and Long Island Philharmonic), writing cabarets and essays, and teaching globally.  Some life stats: Cleveland native, NYU grad, and raising two terrific daughters with one wonderful husband! For more details check out her website jenngambatese.com or follow her adventures and musings on social media (@jenngambatese). 

TARI KELLY

TARI KELLY has proudly been in 7 Broadway shows which include: Mr. Saturday Night (OBC - Principal Standby/ Dance Captain), Groundhog Day (OBC - Mrs. Cleveland, Naturopath, Piano Teacher), Something Rotten! (Bea u.s./performed, Miranda/Ensemble), Anything Goes (OBC Roundabout Revival - Reno Sweeney u.s./performed, Ensemble), The Boy from Oz (OBC - Liza Minnelli u.s./performed, Trio/Ensemble), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Mama Who), Show Boat (OBC Revival - Ellie and Kim u.s./performed, Ensemble). She has been seen on the National Tours of Anastasia (Countess Lily), Little Shop of Horrors (Audrey) opposite Anthony Rapp as Seymour, Show Boat (Ellie) with Cloris Leachman and Dean Jones, and Beauty and the Beast (Babette u.s./performed, Silly Girl/Ensemble). In addition to her Broadway and Tour credits, she has starred in over 50 shows regionally throughout her career. Some of her favorites include: Anything Goes at the Maltz Jupiter (Reno Sweeney - Carbonell Award for Best Actress ); End of the Rainbow at the Arvada Center (Judy Garland - Henry Award for Best Actress); Thoroughly Modern Millie at the Marriott Lincolnshire (Millie - Jeff Nomination for Best Actress) as well as at the Fulton, and The MUNY; Cabaret at the Pittsburgh Public Theatre, AMTSJ, 5th Avenue, and the Ordway (Sally Bowles); Once Upon a Mattress at the Fireside (Winnifred); Damn Yankees at the Ordway (Lola); The Drowsy Chaperone at Stages St. Louis and the Marriott Lincolnshire (Janet); and White Christmas (Judy Haynes) at the 5th Avenue and TUTS. She can be heard on the Original Broadway Cast recordings of Groundhog Day, Anything Goes, The Boy from Oz, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas, as well as numerous volumes of Carols for a Cure. Additionally she has performed on the Tony awards, Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Jimmy Fallon, The View, and The Late Show with David Letterman. Visit www.TariKelly.com

AVERY RAUSCH

AVERY RAUSCH is a NYC-based theatre artist with NF2. Previous performance credits include productions with Detroit Opera, RWS Entertainment Group, and TheaterWorksUSA. He is also a yoga instructor who loves exploring the ways in which yoga can benefit artists. He holds a BFA from Point Park University and is currently pursuing graduate studies in applied theatre at CUNY SPS.

JONATHAN RAYSON

JONATHAN RAYSON has appeared on Broadway, off-Broadway and regional stages nationwide. Credits include Broadway: Little Shop of Horrors (Seymour); A Year with Frog and Toad. National Tour: Little Shop of Horrors (Seymour); Legally Blonde (Aaron, Emmet u/s). Off-Broadway: I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change!; Adrift in Macao. That Time of the Year. New York Area: MITF's Love, Incorporated (Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical); Prospect Theater Company's The Flood; NYMF 2006's The Children. Regional: Next to Normal (Dan) at Pioneer Theatre, Arkansas Repertory Theatre and Kauffman Center; Because of Winn Dixie (Preacher) at Arkansas Repertory Theatre; Goodspeed's Carousel (Mr. Bascombe); Paper Mill's Hello, Dolly! (Cornelius); Closer Than Ever at Mason Street Warehouse; A Christmas Memory at Alabama Shakespeare Festival; Tomorrow Morning at Victory Gardens' Greenhouse; The Wizard of Oz (Scarecrow) at Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis; She Loves Me (Georg); Falsettos (Whizzer); My Fair Lady (Freddy). Jonathan's solo CD, Shiny and New, featuring pop songs from the 70s, is available on iTunes. www.jonathanrayson.com

NASIA THOMAS

NASIA THOMAS was most recently seen Radio One in the Broadway Revival of Caroline or Change. She was also recently seen as Cathy in Out of The Box Theatrics streamed version of The Last Five Years. Broadway: Ain't Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations, and Little Eva in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. National Tour: Beautiful. Regional: Ain't Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations (Berkeley Rep, Kennedy Center, Center Theatre Group, Mirvish- Toronto), Beauty and the Beast (TUTS),Smokey Joes Cafe, (MUNY) The Color Purple, (MUNY) Hairspray, (MUNY). TV: The 4400 (Kenya), That Damn Michael Che, BFA MT Elon '15, The Governors School for the Arts '11. Thankful to her family, friends, teachers, mentors, and wonderful agents at DGRW for the endless sacrifices, support, and love. IG: @nasiathomas.

JEFF LEIBOW

JEFF LEIBOW has performed professionally for more than 25 years. His film credits include Sebastian Lelio's GLORIA BELL and THE OTHER GUYS. His numerous stage credits include the Tony Award-winning musical, JERSEY BOYS, THE LAST 5 YEARS (Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle nomination), MISS SAIGON, AIDA, SMOKEY JOE'S CAFÉ, the world premieres of the Tony Award-winning MEMPHIS and Tony Award-nominated BANDSTAND and more. In 2008, his daughter, Emma, became his top priority as did raising awareness for Neurofibromatosis (NF), the disorder she was born with. Soon after Emma diagnosis, he and his wife, Melody, founded the NF Hope Concerts to raise funds and awareness for the cause. In 2014, after more than 7 years and 2,700 performances in JERSEY BOYS, he stepped down to dedicate more of his time to the cause that means so much to him and his family. He has now produced 18 concerts in New York City, Chicago and Las Vegas working with celebrities like Gillian Anderson, Lea Salonga, All-4-One, Debbie Gibson, Betty Buckley, Erich Bergen, Jessy Schram and more all while raising nearly $1.3 million for NF research and advocacy.