Skip to main content Skip to footer site map
DC - Theatre Life
Click Here for More on DC - Theatre Life

Interview: Theatre Life with Veanne Cox

Jun. 07, 2017  
Veanne Cox

Today's subject Veanne Cox is currently living her theatre life onstage at Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) playing the role of Arsinoé in The School for Lies. The show runs through July 9th at the Lansburgh Theatre.

Originally from Norfolk Virginia, Veanne's work has been seen on stages all across the country as well as on TV and in film.

As an STC affiliated artist Veanne was seen in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Twelfth Night, The Way of the World, and The Beaux' Stratagem, which garnered her a Helen Hayes Award nomination.

Many of us know Veanne as a musical comedy performer and on Broadway she's done a number of musicals and plays. Select credits include An American in Paris, A Free Man of Color, La Cage Aux Folles, Caroline or Change, The Dinner Party, Company (Tony/Drama Desk nominations), and her Broadway debut production, Smile.

Equally at home working on some smaller stages in New York, Veanne's Off-Broadway credits include The Old Friends and The Most Deserving (2014 Special Drama Desk Award for Excellence), Paradise Park and Spain (Obie Award for Sustained Excellence), Last Easter (Drama Desk nomination), Damn Yankees!, Blind, The Altruists, Freedomland, House and Garden, The Waiting Room, The Batting Cage, Labor Day, and the show that introduced me to Veanne's talents, Flora the Red Menace.

She has performed in some of the country's top regional theatres. A sampling includes Murder on the Orient Express at McCarter Theatre Center, Present Laughter at Two River Theater, Private Lives at Guthrie Theater, Betty's Summer Vacationat Bay Street Theater, The Prisoner of Second Avenue at Berkshire Theatre Festival, The Importance of Being Earnest at La Jolla Playhouse, and Steel Magnolias at Paper Mill Playhouse.

You might have seen her in the films Erin Brockovich, You've Got Mail, Marci X, Big Eden or Beethoven's 4th or maybe on TV in episodes of Incorporated, Odd Mom Out, Smash, Pan Am, Louie, Two Broke Girls, Royal Pains, Joan of Arcadia,Law & Order (several times), Seinfeld, and Cinderella with Whitney Houston and Brandy.

I've been following Veanne's career since 1987 so I I've been watching this enormous stage talent for thirty years now. I even had the occasion to work with her once back in 1990 at Paper Mill Playhouse on Steel Magnolias. Veanne is what is known as an all-around performer. She can do all musicals, comedy, serious drama, and more, and do it all brilliantly.

Do yourself a huge favor and get a ticket to The School for Lies at STC and see why Veanne Cox will have you "Sing Happy" as you leave the theatre. She has a wonderful company to work with that includes Tom Story, Michael Glenn, and Dorea Schmidt and is directed by STC's Artistic Director Michael Kahn. Do you really need any other reasons to go?

How did you get interested in theatre and where did you receive your training?

My parents took me to the Fairfax Ballet Co. to see Swan Lake and to the community playhouse, I forget the name, maybe the Arlington County Players, It was run by a man named Roland Gomez, who owned a dress shop where my mother worked. I saw Once Upon a Mattress, I was maybe 8, and I was attacked by and attached to performing ever since. I had strict ballet instruction for many years ending with the Washington Ballet. I started voice training with Richard Hartzell, and acting classes with Joy Zinnoman. I then moved to NYC to 'attend' the 'school of hard knocks.' which was just a difficult and diverse and dedicated path to learning.
What was your first professional performing job?
In DC, I was paid to dance in the corps de ballet a few times and at New Playwrights Theatre in a musical called Out of the Reach of Children.
Veanne Cox in Shakespeare Theatre Company's production of The School for Lies. Photo by Scott Suchman.

Can you please tell us a little something about The School for Lies and the character you play in the show?

The play is an adaptation by David Ives of The Misanthrope by Moliere. It is frothy and skewers society using 1666 and 2017. We never learn! I play Arsinoé, 'a sanctimonious goat.'
This is not your first time performing at STC. What do you enjoy the most about working for them?
The DC audience is smart and game. It's a great theatre community all around. I admire STC for its commitment to classical theatre. And I love Michael Kahn and the artists on stage and off who create the success of the theatre.
Theatre in general attracts an older audience. What do you think is the secret to getting young people involved and engaged in theatre and the arts in general?
We should all be mentors who commit to bringing young people to the theatre. In England (and elsewhere) going to the theatre is a part of life, like going to the movies. It is not 'a special occasion.' I wish theatre tickets could be more in line with that economically. Arts education and access is a bottom line for its future.
Veanne Cox as one of the evil stepsisters in ABC TV's 1997 adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella.

You were part of a television adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella which featured Whitney Houston. Can you please talk a little bit about that experience? What was it like putting it together and how did the pop stars in the cast work with the theatre types?

Cinderella was a wonderful confluence of film and theatre. That's very rare. There was great generosity and care given to the vision of making it happen. Whitney, God rest her soul, produced it as well and was fearless, I think, in making it happen. I am very proud to have been part of it. I think it made a difference to many kids when it came out.
My first introduction to Veanne Cox. Here she is with Peter Frechette in the 1987 Vineyard Theatre production of Flora,The Red Menace. Photo by Carol Rosegg.

I know your work as a musical comedy performer going back to Flora the Red Menace at the Vineyard Theatre in NYC. You seem to be doing more plays than musicals these days. Is this a conscious decision and if the opportunity arose, would you consider performing in another musical?

I am a lucky one to do both. And will go where I am asked.
The company of Shakespeare Theatre Company's The School for Lies. Photo by Scott Suchman.

What is next for you after The School for Lies concludes its run?

I am unemployed as of now.... then in January I will go back to playing Princess Dragomiroff in Murder on the Orient Express.

Special thanks to Shakespeare Theatre Company's publicist Amy Hughes for her assistance in coordinating this interview.
Theatre Life Logo designed by Kevin Laughon.


Related Stories
Interview: Theatre Life with Justin Huertas Photo
Interview: Theatre Life with Justin Huertas
Today’s subject Justin Huertas is currently living his theatre life as the composer/lyricist of Kennedy Center’s World Premiere Commission Musical The Mortification of Fovea Munson. The show begins performances March fourth and plays through the nineteenth in Kennedy Center’s Family Theater.
Interview: Theatre Life with Dani Stoller Photo
Interview: Theatre Life with Dani Stoller
Today's subject Dani Stoller is currently living her theatre life as the playwright for Girlhood at Round House Theatre. The production is Round House's 21st Annual Sarah Metzger Memorial Play and as always, is performed by Round House's Teen Performance Company. The show performs February 17th through 19th.
Interview: Theatre Life with Jessica Vosk Photo
Interview: Theatre Life with Jessica Vosk
Today's subject is one of those performers that proves you can reinvent yourself to great success. Many of us locally came to know Jessica Vosk when she blew into the Kennedy Center with the national tour of Wicked in the role of Elphaba. After touring with the show she took Broadway by storm in that same role. What is interesting about Jessica's professional performing carer is that it really didn't start until age 30 as she had been working on Wall Street up until then. Lucky for us, she made that career move.
Interview: Theatre Life with Thomas Floyd Photo
Interview: Theatre Life with Thomas Floyd
Today’s subject Thomas Floyd is someone you probably know if you are a regular reader of The Washington Post. Thomas is an arts journalist who contributes features on theater, movies, television, books and comedy for the Weekend and Style sections. He also writes theater, film, and literary criticism. That is more than enough for one person right there, but Thomas has another side to him as a writer and it’s one you might not think of.

From This Author - Elliot Lanes

Elliot Lanes has been working in theatre for over 20 years as a PSM, Sound Designer, Board Op....you get the idea. He has had the pleasure of working with some of DC's finest artists at venues ... (read more about this author)


Interview: Theatre Life with Justin HuertasInterview: Theatre Life with Justin Huertas
March 3, 2023

Today’s subject Justin Huertas is currently living his theatre life as the composer/lyricist of Kennedy Center’s World Premiere Commission Musical The Mortification of Fovea Munson. The show begins performances March fourth and plays through the nineteenth in Kennedy Center’s Family Theater.
Interview: DC Theatre Royalty is Going Back INTO THE WOODS: An Interview with Felicia CurryInterview: DC Theatre Royalty is Going Back INTO THE WOODS: An Interview with Felicia Curry
March 3, 2023

Those of us in the DC area have known about the talents of Dame Felicia Curry for many years. I’m sure you remember her recent star turn in My Lord, What a Night at Ford’s Theatre where she played the famous opera star Marian Anderson or maybe you saw her blow the roof off of Arena Stage in Nina Simone: Four Women or possibly you and your kids enjoyed her as the lead character in Mirandy and Brother Wind at Adventure Theatre. My point here is that there is a good reason why actor and Curry’s unofficial manager Rick Hammerly elevated Felicia Curry to Dame Felicia Curry. She truly is DC Theatre royalty.
Feature: Passion and Drive for Their Craft: An Interview with Studio Theatre's Production ApprenticesFeature: Passion and Drive for Their Craft: An Interview with Studio Theatre's Production Apprentices
February 17, 2023

Something I have said many times is that I wish audience members would fully realize the amount of work and the amount of people it takes to put on a production. The things I have heard in theatre lobbies are both scary and laughable at the same time. Things like 'Oh, I want a chance to crash that chandelier. It's just one button!' or 'Wow, that didn't look hard at all. I could do that easily'. Well folks, working in theatre is not an easy profession. It comes with lots of stress and long days but if you have the drive and passion, it can be very fulfilling.
Review: Jessica Vosk Presented By Washington Performing Arts At Sixth and I Historic SynagogueReview: Jessica Vosk Presented By Washington Performing Arts At Sixth and I Historic Synagogue
February 15, 2023

We all know that Jessica Vosk is best known for her portrayal of Elphaba in Wicked. It’s how many of us first became familiar with her talents. When the tour came here to the Kennedy Center in 2016, Vosk effectively blew a hole in the roof of the Opera House. Her performance was that good. After touring, she was rightfully chosen to perform the show on Broadway for its fifteenth anniversary.
Interview: Theatre Life with Dani StollerInterview: Theatre Life with Dani Stoller
February 10, 2023

Today's subject Dani Stoller is currently living her theatre life as the playwright for Girlhood at Round House Theatre. The production is Round House's 21st Annual Sarah Metzger Memorial Play and as always, is performed by Round House's Teen Performance Company. The show performs February 17th through 19th.
share