Jennifer Gambatese

Jenn Gambatese
Born
Jennifer Gambatese

September 10, 1975
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Education NYU Tisch School of the Arts
Occupations
  • Actress
  • Dancer
  • Singer
Years active 1998–present
Spouse
​
(m. 2007)​
Children 2

Jenn Gambatese (born September 10, 1975) is an American actress and singer. Gambatese has performed in the musical production of Disney's Tarzan as Jane. Gambatese also played Glinda on the first National Tour of Wicked.

Early life and education

Gambatese was born in Philadelphia, Mississippi, and grew up in Richmond Heights, a suburb of Cleveland. Her passion for acting began during the summer of fourth grade at the Willoughby Fine Arts Center where she attended theater classes. Her first performance was "playing a 'whitewasher'" in the story of Tom Sawyer. She continued taking acting classes, and in her senior year of high school attended Beck Center as well as Cleveland State University. In 1993 she moved to Manhattan, where she enrolled in the drama department at New York University Tisch School of the Arts. She graduated in 1997 with a double major in sociology and drama and received an "Artist & Scholar" award. After graduation her first professional job was performing with Theatre for Young Audiences, a touring children's theater company. She played Serena Katz in the North American Tour of Fame with Gavin Creel as Nick Piazza. She also played the role in a European Tour of the show.

Theatre credits

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
Sunday in the Park with George Dot Student production at NYU
Uncle Vanya Sonya Student production at NYU
1998 Footloose Urleen; Ariel u/s Broadway
1999 Romeo and Juliet the Musical Juliet Regional
2000 Little Women Amy March Workshop
2001 Reefer Madness Mary Lane u/s Off-Broadway
Devil in the Flesh Marthe York Theatre developmental production
2002 Hairspray Penny Pingleton Broadway
2003 A Year with Frog and Toad Bird/Mouse/Squirrel/Mole/Young Frog Broadway
2005 All Shook Up Natalie Haller Broadway
2006 Tarzan Jane Porter Broadway
2007 Is He Dead? Marie Leroux Broadway
2008 Little House on the Prairie Mary Ingalls Regional (Guthrie Theater)
2010 Annie Get Your Gun Annie Oakley Regional (Goodspeed Opera House)
2012 Carousel Carrie Pipperidge Regional (Goodspeed Opera House)
2013 Wicked Glinda First U.S. national tour
2014 The Sound of Music Maria Rainer Regional (Lyric Opera of Chicago)
2016 School of Rock: The Musical Principal Rosalie Mullins Broadway
2019 Mrs. Doubtfire Miranda Hillard Pre-Broadway tryout (5th Avenue Theatre)
2021 Broadway

Broadway performances

Gambatese made her Broadway debut in Footloose in October 1998. She played the role of Urleen and also as an understudy to the female lead actress. "Footloose" was directed by Walter Bobbie and ran on Broadway from October 2, 1998 through July 2, 2000. Gambatese followed "Footloose" with the musical Hairspray, directed by Jack O’Brien that ran on Broadway from August 2002 through January 2009. She played the role of Penny Pingleton. In April 2003, Gambatese appeared in a new Broadway musical, A Year with Frog and Toad, directed by David Petrarca; Gambatese played several roles: Bird, Mouse, Squirrel, and Young Frog. In March 2005, Gambatese played the role of Natalie Haller in the musical All Shook Up, directed by Christopher Ashley. In 2006, Gambetese played "Jane" in Tarzan, which played on Broadway from May 2006 through July 2007 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. Next, Gambatese played Marie Leroux in "Is He Dead," a play by Mark Twain adapted by David Ives and directed by Michael Blakemore, that opened at the Lyceum Theatre in December 2007.

On August 9, 2016, she succeeded Sierra Boggess as Principal Rosalie Mullins in the Broadway production of School of Rock.

Other stage

Gambatese played Annie Oakley in the Goodspeed Musicals, East Haddam, Connecticut, production of Annie Get Your Gun from April 16 to June 27, 2010.

Television and film

  • Played "Woman in Bar" in Robert De Niro's The Good Shepherd, but her part was edited out of the final cut
  • All My Children in 2005 as herself
  • Featured on the cast recordings of Broadway musicals Tarzan and All Shook Up, which are currently on iTunes

Personal life

She married Curtis Cregan, who was a member of a children’s television show Hi-5 and also a Broadway performer. They wed in June 2007. In January 2009, it was announced that she and her husband were expecting their first child together in May 2009. On May 12, 2009, they welcomed a daughter, Josephine. She likes to keep active by practicing yoga and bike riding as well as playing on the field as second base with her Broadway Show League.

When she is not in Manhattan she likes to spend time with her family in their home in the Catskill Mountains.

She is good friends with actress/singer Shoshana Bean.