LAURA AND LINDA BENANTI: MOTHERS KNOW BEST Announced At Westport Country Playhouse

In celebration of Mother's Day weekend, Westport Country Playhouse will present “Mothers Know Best,” a concert in song and stories about mother-daughter relationships, starring Tony Award-winning actress and singer Laura Benanti and her real-life mother, acclaimed voice teacher and singer Linda Benanti, on Saturday, May 9, at 4 p.m. “Laura and Linda Benanti: Mothers Know Best” won a 2025 BroadwayWorld Cabaret Award for Best Duo Cabaret Show.

Each a mother of two girls, Laura and Linda Benanti take the audience on a touchingly humorous and insightful journey on the challenges of motherhood through songs and recollections of their parenting styles, careers, and childhoods, including how mom Linda was Laura's voice teacher growing up.

Tony Award-winner and five-time Tony Award nominee Laura Benanti is a highly celebrated stage and screen actress. In the theater, Benanti took Broadway by storm at the age of 18 as Maria in ”The Sound of Music” and has subsequently starred in 10 more Broadway shows, including ”Into the Woods,” “Nine,” “Gypsy,” for which she won a Tony Award, “She Loves Me,” “My Fair Lady,” and Steve Martin's ”Meteor Shower.” She can currently be seen as a series regular in the role of ‘Cindy' on the acclaimed Paramount+ series ”Mayor of Kingstown.” Benanti co-starred in the film ”No Hard Feelings,” and had recurring roles in “Gilded Age,” “Life & Beth,” “Younger,” and “Elsbeth.” She earned rave reviews for her portrayal of a grieving widow in ”Worth,” starring opposite Michael Keaton, and reunited with Keaton in the film ”Goodrich.” Benanti's iconic impression of Melania Trump on ”The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” is widely praised. Benanti debuted her highly celebrated solo comedy show ”Laura Benanti: Nobody Cares” at the Minetta Lane Theater. She created, wrote (songs co-written with Todd Almond), and starred in the show, which was recorded by Audible and is currently streaming on the platform. She has since brought The New York Times Critics' Pick to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where it played to sold-out audiences and rave reviews with encore performances at Underbelly Boulevard in London and the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. She will embark on a tour this summer culminating in a video capture.

Linda Benanti performed on Broadway in “Brigadoon,” the national tour of “The Odyssey” with Yul Brynner, off-Broadway as The Girl in “The Fantasticks,” and regionally as Guinevere in “Camelot,” Marian in “The Music Man,” Anne in “A Little Night Music,” Nanette in “No, No, Nanette,” Sarah in “Guys and Dolls,” and many others. After retiring from performing, she opened a vocal studio in Kinnelon, New Jersey. From this studio, she teaches everyone from local students to Broadway stars. She is thrilled to be out of retirement and performing across the country with her daughter!

Music direction is by Michael Rafter.

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