Biography
Laurie Beechman, recognized as a Broadway performer and recording artist, spent her early years outside Philadelphia. Her father ran a restaurant and sang there, while her mother took part in community theater. She enrolled in drama courses at New York University, left after two years, and remained in the city to sing with a rock group.
Her Broadway entrance came in 1977 via Annie, which also marked her first appearance on a cast album; that same year she supplied a voice for the children’s television film The Fourth King. She joined the movie adaptation of Hair in 1979 and sang on its soundtrack album. In 1980 the ensemble Laurie & the Sighs issued its self-titled record on Atlantic Records and toured extensively.
Beechman stepped back onto a Broadway stage in 1981 with Pirates of Penzance. The following year she received her first significant part, playing the Narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and earned a Tony Award nomination. In 1983 she was chosen to portray Grizabella for the national tour of Cats and later joined the Broadway company, remaining with the production more than five years.
An ovarian cancer diagnosis reached her in 1989, yet she kept working through intervals of remission. In 1990 she stepped into the role of Fantine in the Broadway production of Les Miserables and held it for six months. That November her debut solo album, Listen to My Heart, appeared on DRG Records.
October 1992 brought her marriage to theatrical set builder Neil Mazzella. She continued to appear in cabaret, in concert, and from time to time on Broadway or in regional theater. Her second album, Time Between the Time, arrived in 1993; the third, The Andrew Lloyd Webber Album, followed on Varèse Sarabande in 1995. The final release, No One Is Alone, gathered inspirational Broadway numbers and came out in 1996. She died from complications of ovarian cancer in 1998.
Her Broadway entrance came in 1977 via Annie, which also marked her first appearance on a cast album; that same year she supplied a voice for the children’s television film The Fourth King. She joined the movie adaptation of Hair in 1979 and sang on its soundtrack album. In 1980 the ensemble Laurie & the Sighs issued its self-titled record on Atlantic Records and toured extensively.
Beechman stepped back onto a Broadway stage in 1981 with Pirates of Penzance. The following year she received her first significant part, playing the Narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and earned a Tony Award nomination. In 1983 she was chosen to portray Grizabella for the national tour of Cats and later joined the Broadway company, remaining with the production more than five years.
An ovarian cancer diagnosis reached her in 1989, yet she kept working through intervals of remission. In 1990 she stepped into the role of Fantine in the Broadway production of Les Miserables and held it for six months. That November her debut solo album, Listen to My Heart, appeared on DRG Records.
October 1992 brought her marriage to theatrical set builder Neil Mazzella. She continued to appear in cabaret, in concert, and from time to time on Broadway or in regional theater. Her second album, Time Between the Time, arrived in 1993; the third, The Andrew Lloyd Webber Album, followed on Varèse Sarabande in 1995. The final release, No One Is Alone, gathered inspirational Broadway numbers and came out in 1996. She died from complications of ovarian cancer in 1998.
Albums
