About Prudence

When I was growing up in Bexley, Ohio, I always dreamed that I would live in New York City someday and be a working actress. And now here I am in the theatrical mecca of the universe with everything I love at my fingertips. It wasn't easy at first.  I had some weird jobs like driving a taxi, playing Santa Claus in Grand Central Station, even reading minds in the African Room in Times Square. I was fortunate enough to be in the original cast of Godspell which I helped to create, along with my classmates from Carnegie Mellon University. What a wonderful first theatrical experience in New York City it was! I still remember handing out wine to the audience at intermission. They had never seen anything like our show.

My first Broadway show was Happy End with Meryl Streep. She is perhaps the most confident person I have ever met. I went on to do over 100 TV commercials including five for Federal Express. My Right Guard Deodorant commercial won a Clio. One of the highpoints of my career was playing a nun in Sister Act I and II with Whoopi Goldberg. The first day of rehearsals, as a joke, she introduced herself as "Oprah Winfrey." I also enjoyed working with Woody Harrelson in Kingpin. Since he eats only organic food, the meals on the set were indescribably delicious.

I think the thing I am proudest of is writing and performing my one-woman show, Bexley, Oh!, at New York Theatre Workshop. It was challenging, rewarding and I got some very positive reviews. Now I have written it into a book. I have also written a play and a screenplay called Beat Chick with Joanne Joseph. It's based on her experiences as one of the few female members of the Beat Generation in San Francisco in the 1950's. Just recently, I spent two and a half years in the Broadway cast of the Tony Award winning musical, The Light in the Piazza. Performing at the Tonys was a real thrill. I am so incredibly grateful to have lived a life doing what I love that has brought me so much joy.