Top 5 Women on Broadway

5. Patti LuPone

Juliard-trained, Patti got her start as a part of John Houseman’s The Acting Company. Her New York theater debut came in the form of The School for Scandal in 1972. She proved that she was a force to be reckoned with in The Beggar’s Opera, Edward II, The Robber Bridegroom, The Baker’s Wife and Working. The role of a lifetime, Eva Peron in Evita came to LuPone in 1979 and earned her both a Tony and a Drama Desk award. She went on to portray roles in The Cradle Will Rock, Les Miserables, Anything Goes, Sunset Boulevard, Master Class, Pal Joey, Annie Get Your Gun, Sweeny Todd, Candide, Passion and most recently Gypsy, which earned her her second Tony. She was also able to cross over into film with 1941, Witness, LBJ: The Early Years, Driving Miss Daisy and Heist as well as landing guest spots on Law and Order, Frasier, Touched by an Angel, Oz, Ugly Betty and 30 Rock.
4. Gwen Verdon


The winner of four Tony Awards, Gwen has long been considered the best dancer on Broadway. Trained in several dance styles her career began a specialty dancer in a few movie musicals and a part of several chorus lines on Broadway. Her big break came when she was cast in Cole Porter’s Can Can. She followed that up with fiery performances in Damn Yankees, New Girl in Town, Redhead, and collaborated with her husband, legendary choreographer Bob Fosse on Sweet Charity and her final show Chicago. She was also a part of the films, The Farmer Takes a Wife, Damn Yankees, Legs, The Cotton Club, Cocoon, Nadine, Cocoon: The Return, Alice, and Marvin’s Room. She also collaborated with and was portrayed in Fosse’s autobiographical film, All That Jazz. Despite a separation from Fosse in 1971 Verdon became a relentless guardian of his legacy after his death in 1987. She died of a heart attack in 2000 and in a tribute, at 8:00 p.m. on the night of her death all the marquee lights on Broadway were dimmed.
3. Mary Martin

Born in 1913, Mary Martin’s versatility led her to become one of the most popular performers on Broadway. She worked as a dance instructor and a nightclub singer where she was discovered by Lawrence Schwab who cast her as Dolly in Leave It to Me. A contract with Paramount Pictures led to her involvement in The Great Victor Herbert, Rhythm on the River, Love Thy Neighbor, Kiss the Boys Goodbye, New York Town, Birth of the Blues, Star Spangled Rhythm, and Happy Go Lucky. But her true love was the stage and she went on to star in One Touch of Venus, Annie Get Your Gun, South Pacific, Peter Pan, The Sound of Music, Jenni, Hello, Dolly! , I Do! I Do! , Together on Broadway: Mary Martin and Ethel Merman, and Legends. She won Tony Awards for the roles of Nellie Forbush in South Pacific, Peter Pan and Maria Von Trapp in The Sound of Music, all roles that she originated. She died of cancer in 1990 at the age of 76.
2. Ethel Merman

Ethel, also known as The Grande Dame of the Broadway Stage, was best known for belting out lyrics with her brassy voice and her dynamic personality. Before her stage debut in Girl Crazy, she was working as a secretary and singing in nightclubs. She instantly rose to super stardom and forged a career of sixteen Broadway shows, including Anything Goes, Annie Get Your Gun, Gypsy and Hello, Dolly! . In the height of musical popularity she had no problem finding work on the silver screen, and lent her talents to such movies as Anything Goes, Alexander’s Ragtime Band, Call Me Madam, There’s No Business Like Show Business, It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, and Airplane.
1. Chita Rivera

Born Delores Conchita Figueroa Del Rivero in 1933, she first took to the stage as a student at the School of American Ballet. She was part of the chorus in Call Me Madam, Guys and Dolls and Can Can before stepping into the spotlight in Shoestring Revue. She followed this up with a career of Broadway hits including Mr. Wonderful, Kiss Me Kate, West Side Story, Bye Bye Birdie, Bajour, Call Me Madam, Threepenny Opera, Sweet Charity, Chicago, Merlin, The Rink, Kiss of the Spider Woman and Nine. In December 2005 she opened Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life, a retrospective revue of her spectacular career. Despite here dedication to the stage she has made a few film appearances in Sweet Charity, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Pippin and Chicago. The most Tony-nominated actress (she however only won two), she was the first Hispanic woman to receive a Kennedy Center Honors award in 2002 as well as being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009.
source