Blog Watch UPDATE: Laura Benanti Out of SPRING SPECTACULAR, Plans to Return Saturday

By: Apr. 03, 2015
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Derek Hough shared in his weekly blog on TVGuide.com that his co-star in Radio City's Spring Spectacular, Laura Benanti, is currently out of the show due to the flu, but the good news is that she plans to return on Saturday.

Writes Hough: "Spring Spectacular is going well. I've got a lot of family in town the past week for opening night, so it's been pretty chaotic, but fun. My co-star Laura Benanti is sick, so she's not on right now, but hopefully she's getting better."

UPDATE: Though the multi-talented Tony-winner will be out tonight, Friday, April 3rd, she plans on being back in the show on Saturday!

Through her publicist, Danny Deraney, Benanti said that due to doctor's orders, she has had to miss a few shows in order to rest and recuperate, and as to not infect the rest of the cast.

In typical hilarious Benanti fashion, she took to Twitter to show her displeasure with missing the show:

In his blog, Hough adds, "I haven't caught anything yet (knock on wood) and my voice is holding up so far too. There's a part in the show when I get drenched in 500 gallons of water. It's crazy. The water's recycled and purified and also slightly heated, so hopefully we won't get pneumonia! Thanks to everyone who's come to the show so far!"

Read Hough's blog in full here.

In New York Spring Spectacular, Laura Benanti plays the lead female role of Jenna, a billionaire and CEO of her own company, who just purchased a NYC tour company that she plans to take virtual.

The actress can currently be seen on the ABC musical drama series Nashville. Benanti can also be seen guest-starring on CBS's The Good Wifeand last year received rave reviews for her performance as Baroness Elsa Schrader in NBC's THE SOUND OF MUSIC LIVE! She starred in the NBC series The Playboy Club; Go On opposite Matthew Perry; and in the FX comedy series Starved.

On stage, Benanti received a Tony-Award for her portrayal of Gypsy Rose Lee opposite Patti Lupone in the 2008 Broadway revival of Gypsy directed by Arthur Laurents. She received three additional Tony-Award nominations for her performances in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown,Into the Woods, and Swing.

Benanti completed a week-long engagement at the popular New York cabaret club, 54 Below, for which The New York Timeshailed her as an "supremely confident" performer whose "bright, full soprano, with its semioperatic heft, can go almost anywhere." In September 2013, she released her debut album, "In Constant Search of the Right Kind of Attention: Live at 54 BELOW" on Broadway Records to ecstatic reviews. Laura currently performs her cabaret concerts in venues around the country and even recently performed for the President and First Lady of the United States.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos



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