1. Rebecca Luker was an American actress, singer, and recording artist, noted for her "crystal clear operatic soprano" and for maintaining long runs in Broadway musicals over the course of her three-decade-long career.
24 Facts About Rebecca Luker
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Rebecca Luker was nominated for three Tony Awards, for her performances as Magnolia in Show Boat, Marian in The Music Man and Winifred in Mary Poppins, another role that she created.
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Rebecca Luker performed widely in theatre throughout her career and gave concert and cabaret performances.
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Rebecca Luker began acting in television in 2000 and made several films.
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Rebecca Luker continued to act until the year of her death, at the age of 59, from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
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Rebecca Luker can be heard on more than 20 cast albums and various other recordings.
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Rebecca Luker attended the University of Montevallo, earning a BA in music, taking a year off in 1984 to perform in Sweeney Todd as Johanna Barker at the Michigan Opera Theatre.
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Rebecca Luker was originally an understudy for principal actress Sarah Brightman and her alternate Patti Cohenour.
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Rebecca Luker later took over the role after Brightman and Cohenour left the show.
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Rebecca Luker performed opposite Cris Groenendaal and Steve Barton as the Phantom.
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Rebecca Luker played the role of Mrs Banks in Mary Poppins from 2006 to 2010.
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Rebecca Luker joined the cast of Fun Home at the Circle in the Square Theatre on Broadway, temporarily assuming the role of Helen Bechdel from April 5,2016 to May 22,2016.
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Rebecca Luker appeared Off-Broadway in The Vagina Monologues, Indian Summer, X, Brigadoon, Death Takes a Holiday, and Can't Let Go.
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Rebecca Luker appeared in the 2012 film Not Fade Away.
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On January 11,2016, Rebecca Luker reprised the role of Lily in The Secret Garden at a benefit performance at the Lucille Lortel Theatre.
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Rebecca Luker performed as a concert soloist with symphony orchestras around the world and in intimate solo settings.
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Rebecca Luker performed a solo concert as part of the American Songbook Series at Lincoln Center in 2005, featuring 20 songs composed by a group of younger songwriters including Paul Loesel, Scott Burkell, Jeff Blumenkranz, Barry Kleinbort, and Joseph Thalken.
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Rebecca Luker performed in 2008 solo concert at Kennedy Center's Terrace Theatre, a 2011 concert featuring the music of Rodgers and Hammerstein, and in 2012, the "Bridge to Broadway" as part of the NYC River to River Festival and "NEW VOICES at NYU: A Celebration of Songs by NYU Musical Theatre Writers Past and Present".
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Rebecca Luker received a doctorate of fine arts, honoris causa, on May 5,2010 from her alma mater, the University of Montevallo.
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Rebecca Luker married Danny Burstein in June 2000, becoming stepmother to his sons Zachary and Alexander.
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On February 9,2020, Rebecca Luker announced that she was suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, having been diagnosed in late 2019.
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Rebecca Luker had been in a wheelchair for seven months at the time.
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Rebecca Luker was hospitalized at St Luke's in Manhattan and recovered.
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Rebecca Luker died of ALS at a hospital in Manhattan on December 23,2020, at age 59.