Christine Pedi, Broadway Performer-Impressionist-Radio Host-Episode #400
My guest today, Christine Pedi is known as the “Lady of 1000 Voices." She discovered her talent for multiple personalities through her long association with the legendary Off-Broadway revue, Forbidden Broadway, performing in companies all over the world, including New York, London, Japan, Singapore, and more. Among the dozens of personalities Christine is known to impersonate are: Liza Minelli, Rosie Perez, Ethel Merman, Angela Lansbury, Bernadette Peters, Julie Andrews, Katherine Hepburn and many, many others. She’s received a Drama Desk nomination, as well as an L.A. Ovation & NAACP Award for her work. On Broadway, Christine debuted in Little Me with Martin Short and Faith Prince, directed by a favorite StoryBeat guest, Rob Marshall. Other Broadway appearances include several peculiar offstage callers in Eric Bogosian’s Talk Radio, starring Liev Schreiber, and a turn as Mama Morton in the long-running hit, Chicago. She brought her collection of divas to Off-Broadway’s Newsical the Musical, and starred in Spamilton: An American Parody, which she also co-produced. And many of you will know Christine from her long-running daily SiriusXM Radio show Broadway Breakfast on the On Broadway channel playing music of the stage & screen and interviewing Show Biz legends Mon-Fri, 9am-3pm. On Saturdays she and Seth Rudetsky co-host Dueling Divas. And fans of Howard Stern can hear her provide the occasional celebrity voice on his SiriusXM morning show. Other Off-Broadway performances include: the title role in Miss Abigail’s Guide to Dating Mating and Marriage, A Broadway Diva Christmas, Jerry’s Girls, and My Favorite Year. Christine’s performed her cabaret show, Great Dames, at many major New York venues, winning both the New York Bistro & Nitelife Awards. Her holiday show, There’s No Bizness Like Snow Bizness, has been an annual New York staple since 2008. She's even performed for President & Mrs. Clinton, playing a singing Hillary! On TV, you may recognize Christine on The Sopranos as Mrs. Bobby Baccala (4 scenes, 5 lines...dead). But she recently escaped the clutches of Dr. Death on NBC. Be sure to check out Christine’s popular, hilarious videos on YouTube, especially her “Shit Liza Says” videos. It’s brilliant, laugh-out-loud stuff. Last but not least, and closest to my heart, Christine can be found singing on the well-regarded 1994 double-CD Complete Work recording of Jekyll & Hyde, the Musical, featuring Anthony Warlow, Linda Eder and Carolee Carmello.