Beth Leavel (born November 1, 1955) is an American stage and screen actress and singer.

Biography

Leavel was born in Raleigh, North Carolina. She attended Meredith College, earning a degree in social work. She completed a graduate theatre degree at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1980. She acted during college, appearing in productions such as Cabaret and Hello, Dolly!. Her Broadway debut was in the 1985 production of 42nd Street as a replacement for Annie. Twelve years later Leavel made her original cast debut in Crazy for You as Tess and an understudy for Polly Baker. In 1999, she played Mabel and Mrs. Bixby in The Civil War. Leavel returned to the revival of 42nd Street in 2001 as a standby for Maggie Jones and Dorothy Brock, eventually playing the latter. She has also been on Nickelodeon.

Leavel played the starring role of Beatrice Stockwell in The Drowsy Chaperone, for which she helped to create the character's backstory, she referred to as "a compilation of a lot of different women in theatre." For her work she received a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.

Leavel replaced Andrea Martin as Frau Blucher in the Broadway production of Young Frankenstein on July 15, 2008 and remained with the show until it closed on January 4, 2009.

Leavel starred in the world premiere of the burlesque-rich musical Minsky's, in Los Angeles which ran at the Center Theatre in the Ahmanson Theatre from January 21 - March 1, 2009; the musical also starred her former Young Frankenstein co-stars Christopher Fitzgerald and Sarrah Strimel.

She also starred in the staged reading of Vincent Crapelli's Otherwise, with Karen Ziemba and Laura Bonarrigo-Koffman.

She starred as Donna Sheridan in the Broadway production of Mamma Mia!. She succeeded Carolee Carmello in the role on September 22, 2009 and left the show on October 10, 2010 after one year with the production. She was replaced by Lisa Brescia.

Leavel starred as Emily Hobbs in Elf the Musical on Broadway. The production opened November 14, 2010 at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre and ran through January 2, 2011. Following Elf, she appeared in the Broadway production of Baby It's You!, which began previews on March 26, 2011, and closed on September 4, 2011. Leavel earned a Tony Award Nomination for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her performance of Florence Greenberg in Baby It's You. In November 2013, she appeared off-Broadway at the Minetta Lane Theatre in Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays. In January and February 2012, she starred in a limited run of Boeing-Boeing at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ.

In 2014, Leavel starred in the world premiere of the musical Dog and Pony at the Old Globe Theatre, San Diego.