Laura Osnes

In March 2009, Osnes took over the role of Ensign Nellie Forbush in the Lincoln Center Theater Broadway revival of South Pacific. She stayed with the show through October 4, 2009, when the production's original star, Kelli O'Hara, returned from maternity leave. She then starred as Bonnie Parker in the world premiere of Bonnie & Clyde at the La Jolla Playhouse from November 10 to December 20, 2009. Osnes returned to the role of Nellie in South Pacific on Broadway on January 5, 2010. She played her final performance on August 8, 2010. She reprised the role of Bonnie in Bonnie & Clyde at the Asolo Repertory Theatre, Sarasota, Florida in November and December 2010.

Osnes then played Hope Harcourt in the Broadway revival of Anything Goes, which began previews on March 10, 2011, and officially opened on April 7, 2011, starring Sutton Foster and Joel Grey. For this role Osnes received nominations for the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical as well as the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical. She was also nominated for an Astaire Award for excellence in dance. Osnes departed the production on September 11, 2011.

Beginning previews on November 4, 2011 with a December 1 opening night, Osnes once again played Bonnie, this time in the Broadway debut of Bonnie and Clyde at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. She was joined by her Asolo Rep castmate Jeremy Jordan as Clyde. The show received negative reviews, had lackluster ticket sales and closed on December 30, 2011. However, despite the critics' distaste for the production, Osnes received rave reviews for her performance as well as her first Tony Award nomination for Best Leading Actress in a Musical.

Osnes next performed at the 2011 Kennedy Center Honors in a tribute to Barbara Cook alongside Sutton Foster, Rebecca Luker, Kelli O'Hara, Patti LuPone, Glenn Close and Audra McDonald.

In January 2012, she played the title character in a reading of a reworked adaptation of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, Cinderella. She then led the Encores! stage concert production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Pipe Dream, based on John Steinbeck's novel Sweet Thursday. Under the direction of Marc Bruni, the production ran from March 28 to April 1, 2012. On April 24, 2012, Osnes headlined a concert performance of The Sound of Music at Carnegie Hall (New York City) as Maria. Also featured were Tony Goldwyn as Captain von Trapp, Brooke Shields as Elsa Schraeder and Patrick Page as Max Detweiler.

Osnes starred in the title role of Cinderella on Broadway, which began previews at the Broadway Theatre on January 25 and opened on March 3, 2013. Osnes received positive reviews, won a 2013 Drama Desk award and was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance. She left the production on January 26, 2014, and was replaced by Carly Rae Jepsen.

Osnes starred as Polly Peachum in the Atlantic Theatre Company's Off-Broadway revival of The Threepenny Opera from March to May 2014. For this role, Osnes received her second nomination for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical. Osnes starred as Julie Jordan in the Lyric Opera of Chicago's production of Carousel, alongside Steven Pasquale, in spring 2015. The production closed on May 3, 2015. The production received positive reviews.

She took part in the world premiere of the new original musical, Bandstand, directed and choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler, which premiered at the Paper Mill Playhouse, New Jersey from October 8 through November 8, 2015. The musical has music by Richard Oberacker and book and lyrics by Robert Taylor and Oberacker. Osnes most recently starred in the musical on Broadway at the Jacobs Theatre, with her co-star Corey Cott. It opened on April 26, 2017, with previews beginning March 31. The production closed on Broadway on September 17, 2017, after 24 previews and 166 regular performances.

Following the closing of Bandstand, Osnes has performed frequently in the Broadway Princess Party show that premiered at Feinstein's/54 Below, which she also hosts and co-developed with music director Benjamin Rauhala. The Princess Party has become a recurring live event at that venue that gathers both popular and up-and-coming stage actresses; at these performances, each actress assumes the identity of a Disney Princess and performs a song from stage or screen in character as that princess, with Osnes typically emceeing and performing as Cinderella. She also performs in this show on the road consistently with fellow Broadway actresses Susan Egan (Beauty and the Beast, Hercules) and Courtney Reed (Aladdin).