Bianca Amato

Bianca Amato

Bianca Amato as Amanda in the Huntington Theatre Company production of Private Lives (2012)
Born Cape Town, South Africa
Education University of Cape Town
Occupation Actress
Years active 1998-present

Bianca Amato is a South African actress known for her work in American theatre, as a prolific audiobook performer and for her portrayal of Philippa De Villiers in the original cast of the South African soap opera Isidingo.

Career

Amato was a member of the original cast of the long running South African soap opera Isidingo, portraying Philippa De Villiers from 1998 to 2001. The role, a "feisty young Englishwoman who was romantically involved with a black mine manager", has been called "groundbreaking and big news in post apartheid South African television",[1] and the storyline cited as "the first interracial romance depicted on South African television."[2] Of the experience Amato said, "It was wonderful to be part of the slow but healthy process that shifted people's attitudes."[2] Her performance in Isidingo earned Amato an Avante for Best Actress in a Television Series.[1]

In 2002, Amato was granted a United States Permanent Resident Card as an "Alien of Extraordinary Ability" in the arts and emigrated to the United States.[2] After appearing in a 2002 episode of the HBO series Sex and the City, she played several leading roles with the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota between 2003 and 2005.[1][2] Since 2009 Amato has guest starred in several U.S. TV series.[3][4] Amato portrays Delia Alexander in the PlayStation Network series Powers, which premiered on March 10, 2015.

Amato appeared in the original Broadway production of Tom Stoppard's Tony Award-winning trio of plays The Coast of Utopia (2006-2007),[1][5] as well as the 2013-2014 Broadway revival of Shakespeare's Macbeth.[6][7] She also understudied the roles of Hannah Jarvis and Lady Croom in the 2011 Broadway revival of Stoppard's Arcadia.[8] Off-Broadway, Amato has appeared in Bill Irwin's Mr. Fox: A Rumination (2004),[9][10] and as Emma in Trumpery (2007).[11][12] She later costarred as Calantha in The Broken Heart in 2012,[13][14][15] and played the leading role of Olga Knipper in Neva in 2013.[16][17] Amato also starred as Amanda in a production of Noël Coward's Private Lives directed by Maria Aitken, first presented in 2012 at the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston,[18][19] and again in 2014 at the Shakespeare Theatre Company's Lansburgh Theatre in Washington, D. C.[20][21][22][23] In 2014 she also portrayed Regan in the Theatre for a New Audience production of King Lear in New York.[24][25][26][27][28][29]

Amato has narrated over 40 audiobooks,[3] including Philippa Gregory's entire Cousins' War series of historical novels and Charles Stross' 2008 Hugo Award-nominated science fiction novel Saturn's Children.[13][30] She also voiced the 2006 gothic novel The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield,[31] which had risen to No. 1 on The New York Times Best Seller list in its second week of publication.[2][32][33]

Television

Year Project Role Notes Ref.
1996 The Adventures of Sinbad Casendra Episode: "The Village Vanishes" (Season 1) [3][4]
1997 The Adventures of Sinbad Shirez Episode: "Ali Rashid and the Thieves" (Season 2) [3]
1998-2001 Isidingo Philippa De Villiers Original cast [1][3]
1999 Gegen den Wind Jenny Episode: "Sprung ins Risiko" (Season 4) [3]
2002 Sex and the City Julia Afton Episode: "Critical Condition" (Season 5) [1][3]
2009 The Good Wife Ellen Whitton Episode: "Unprepared" (Season 1) [3][4]
2010 Blue Bloods Cindy Perry Episode: "Re-Do" (Season 1) [3][4]
2013 The Big C Susan Rand (3) Episodes: "You Can't Take It with You", "Quality of Death", "The Finale" (Season 4)
2013 Unforgettable Alison Sonnenland Episode: "Bigtime" (Season 2) [4]
2014 Alpha House Senator Alice Graves (2) Episodes: "The Civility Zone", "Bugged" (Season 2)

Theatre

Year Production Role Notes Ref.
2003 Top Girls Marlene Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis, MN [1][2][3]
2003 Pride and Prejudice Elizabeth Bennet Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis, MN [1][2][3]
2004 Pygmalion Eliza Doolittle Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis, MN [1][2][3]
2004 Mr. Fox: A Rumination Columbine/Mattie/Young Woman/Maffitt Signature Theatre Company (Peter Norton Space, Off-Broadway) [3][9][10]
2005 As You Like It Rosalind Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis, MN [1][2][3]
2006 The Importance of Being Earnest Gwendolen Fairfax Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM Harvey Theater, Brooklyn, NY) [22][34][35][36]
2006-2007 The Coast of Utopia (Part 1: Voyage) Miss Chamberlain Vivian Beaumont Theater (Broadway) [1][2][5]
2006-2007 The Coast of Utopia (Part 2: Shipwreck) Emma Herwegh Vivian Beaumont Theater (Broadway) [1][2][5]
2007 The Coast of Utopia (Part 3: Salvage) Joanna Kinkel Vivian Beaumont Theater (Broadway) [1][2][5]
2007 Trumpery Emma Atlantic Theater Company (Linda Gross Theater, Off-Broadway) [3][11][12]
2010 A Midsummer Night's Dream Titania/Hippolyta Pittsburgh Public Theater (O'Reilly Theater, Pittsburgh, PA) [37]
2010 The Taming of the Shrew Katharina Chicago Shakespeare Theater (Courtyard Theater, Chicago, IL) [38]
2012 The Broken Heart Calantha Theatre for a New Audience (The Duke on 42nd Street, Off-Broadway) [3][13][14][15]
2012 Private Lives Amanda Huntington Theatre Company (Boston, MA); Elliot Norton Award; IRNE Award nomination [18][19][39][40][41]
2013 Neva Olga Knipper Joseph Papp Public Theater (Anspacher Theater, Off-Broadway) [16][17]
2013-2014 Macbeth Lady Macduff Vivian Beaumont Theater (Broadway) [6][7]
2014 King Lear Regan Theatre for a New Audience (Polonsky Shakespeare Center, Brooklyn, NY) [24][25][26][27][28][29]
2014 Private Lives Amanda Shakespeare Theatre Company (Lansburgh Theatre, Washington, D. C.); Emery Battis Award [20][21][22][23][42]
2014 Shakespeare at Fenway Beatrice/Much Ado About Nothing Commonwealth Shakespeare Company (Fenway Park, Boston, MA) [43]

Selected audiobooks

Year Title Author Notes Ref.
2004 The Queen's Fool Philippa Gregory Novel originally printed in 2003 [44]
2006 Listening for Lions Gloria Whelan AudioFile Earphones Award, Audie Award; Novel originally printed in 2005 [13][45]
2006 The Boleyn Inheritance Philippa Gregory Abridged (2006) and unabridged (2011) versions [2][46][47]
2007 The Thirteenth Tale Diane Setterfield Novel originally printed in 2006 [2][31]
2008 The Other Queen Philippa Gregory Abridged version [48]
2009 Saturn's Children Charles Stross Novel originally printed in 2008 [30]
2009 The White Queen Philippa Gregory Abridged version[49] [50]
2009 Her Fearful Symmetry Audrey Niffenegger [51]
2009 The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Brontë Syrie James AudioFile Earphones Award, Audie Award [13][52]
2010 The Red Queen Philippa Gregory AudioFile Earphones Award [53]
2010 Dracula in Love Karen Essex AudioFile Earphones Award [13][54]
2011 The Lady of the Rivers Philippa Gregory AudioFile Earphones Award [55]
2011 The Women of the Cousins' War Philippa Gregory
David Baldwin
Michael Jones		 Non-fiction [56]
2011 Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness Alexandra Fuller [13][57]
2012 The Kingmaker's Daughter Philippa Gregory AudioFile Earphones Award [58]
2013 The White Princess Philippa Gregory AudioFile Earphones Award [59]
2014 The King's Curse Philippa Gregory AudioFile Earphones Award [60]

Acclaim

Charles Isherwood of The New York Times wrote in his review of 2012's The Broken Heart that "Amato exudes imperial grandeur as Calantha",[14] and Andy Propst of TheaterMania noted that "audiences will also find themselves intrigued by Amato's warmly imperious turn as the Spartan princess."[15] In 2013 Isherwood called the cast of Neva "terrifically good", noting Amato to be "captivating from the opening moments" and writing that she "manages to make Olga’s self-dramatizing histrionics absurdly funny, but also tinged with real pathos."[16] In 2012 The Boston Globe called Amato and her costar James Waterston "just about perfect" in their roles as Amanda and Elyot in Private Lives, praising their "style, dexterity, subtlety, and sizzling chemistry."[18] The review went on to say that "Amato cuts a regal, soignée figure — she can wring a laugh out of a single word, like 'inveterate' — but she is also skilled at physical comedy."[18] BroadwayWorld.com called Amato and Waterston "an unparalleled pair" in 2014, adding that "Amato is both grit and glamour, portraying a character that is brusque for her time, but immense fun to watch."[23] Ben Brantley of The New York Times called Amato's 2014 performance in King Lear "superb",[25] and the Brooklyn Daily Eagle called her Regan "icily alluring".[26] Joe Dziemianowicz of the New York Daily News wrote of the performance that "as second-born Regan, Bianca Amato’s clipped and exasperated speech and body language suggest a woman who’s up to her eyeballs in middle-child neglect. She’s Jan Brady in period clothes."[27]

Awards

Amato won the Vita Award for Best Newcomer for Under Milkwood and the Fleur du Cap Theatre Award for Best Supporting Actress for Greek, both performed at the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town, South Africa. Her portrayal of Philippa De Villiers on Isidingo earned her an Avante for Best Actress in a Television Series and a Duku Duku Award for South Africa’s Most Popular Actress.[1] She later won the Star Tribune Award for best performance of 2004 for playing Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota.[1] Her performance in Private Lives earned her an Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Actress in 2013,[39] and the Shakespeare Theatre Company's Emery Battis Award in 2014.[42] Amato was also nominated for a 2013 Best Actress IRNE Award for Private Lives.[40][41]

Amato has received eight AudioFile Earphones Awards and two Audie Awards for her audiobook performances.[33][45][52]

Personal life

Amato was born in Cape Town, South Africa.[2] The daughter of "politically active parents", she "grew up keenly aware of the 'deep, deep troubles' of apartheid", and as a teen was a member of a left-wing organization called Pupils Awareness and Action Group.[2] Amato graduated from the University of Cape Town.[1][3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 "Bianca Amato is an alien of extraordinary ability". Channel24.co.za. 24 March 2009. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Henderson, Kathy (4 January 2007). "Interview with Bianca Amato". Broadway.com. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 "Profile: Bianca Amato". Huntington Theatre Company. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Credits: Bianca Amato". TV Guide. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "The Coast of Utopia (2006)". Playbill. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  6. 1 2 "Macbeth (2013)". Playbill. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  7. 1 2 "From Romeo and Juliet to Of Mice and Men, A Look at the 2013-14 Season: The Play Revivals (Macbeth)". Playbill. 18 April 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  8. ↑ "Arcadia (2011)". Playbill. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  9. 1 2 Jones, Kenneth (13 April 2004). "Be a Clown: Bill Irwin's Mr. Fox: A Rumination Conjures Forgotten American Actor". Playbill. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  10. 1 2 Finkle, David (14 April 2004). "Reviews: Mr. Fox: A Rumination". TheaterMania.com. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  11. 1 2 Isherwood, Charles (6 December 2007). "Don’t Dillydally, Darwin, It’s Survival of the Quickest". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  12. 1 2 "Parnell's Trumpery World Premiere Tonight at Atlantic". BroadwayWorld.com. 14 November 2007. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Henschel, S. J. "Narrator Profile: Bianca Amato". AudioFile. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  14. 1 2 3 Isherwood, Charles (14 February 2012). "All Is Not Well in Gloomy Sparta, and You Can Bet It Won’t End Well". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  15. 1 2 3 Propst, Andy (15 February 2012). "Reviews: The Broken Heart". TheaterMania.com. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  16. 1 2 3 Isherwood, Charles (11 March 2013). "Self-Absorbed, With Chekhov as a Backdrop". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  17. 1 2 Gans, Andrew (1 March 2013). "Bianca Amato, Quincy Tyler Bernstine and Luke Robertson Star in Public's Neva, About Widow of Chekhov, Beginning March 1". Playbill. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  18. 1 2 3 4 Aucoin, Don (1 June 2012). "In Noel Coward’s Private Lives, a diamond-sharp production". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  19. 1 2 Seligson, Susan (30 May 2012). "Huntington’s 30th Season Closes with Private Lives". BU Today. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  20. 1 2 Purcell, Carey (7 May 2014). "Bianca Amato and James Waterston Will Star in Noël Coward's Private Lives at Shakespeare Theatre Company". Playbill. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  21. 1 2 Purcell, Carey (29 May 2014). "Bianca Amato and James Waterston Star in Noël Coward's Private Lives, Beginning May 29". Playbill. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  22. 1 2 3 "Bianca Amato and James Waterston Will Lead Shakespeare Theatre's Private Lives, 5/29-7/13". BroadwayWorld.com. 7 May 2014. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  23. 1 2 3 Nadolny, Heather (15 June 2014). "BWW Reviews: Shakespeare Theatre Company's Private Lives Offers Delicious Wit and Whimsy". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  24. 1 2 Purcell, Carey (10 February 2014). "Theatre for a New Audience Will Present King Lear, Starring Michael Pennington, at Polonsky Shakespeare Center". Playbill. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  25. 1 2 3 Brantley, Ben (27 March 2014). "Shakespeare Reimagined, Once Quietly, and Once Very Loud". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  26. 1 2 3 Croghan, Lore. "Heartbreak House: Theatre for a New Audience stages a harrowing King Lear". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  27. 1 2 3 Dziemianowicz, Joe (27 March 2014). "King Lear: Theater review". New York Daily News. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  28. 1 2 Finkle, David (27 March 2014). "First Nighter: Arin Arbus's King Lear, David Herskovitz's Uriel Acosta". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  29. 1 2 Stewart, Zachary (27 March 2014). "Theatre for a New Audience offers a solid entry in 2014's battle of the Lears". TheaterMania.com. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  30. 1 2 Willis, Jesse (26 April 2010). "Review of Saturn’s Children by Charles Stross". SFFaudio.com. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  31. 1 2 "Audiobook Review: The Thirteenth Tale (2007)". AudioFile. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  32. ↑ "BEST SELLERS: October 8, 2006". The New York Times. 8 October 2006. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  33. 1 2 "Bianca Amato: Complete Audiography". AudioFile. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  34. ↑ Isherwood, Charles (21 April 2006). "Importance of Being Earnest: Cucumber Sandwiches and Polite Society on a Skewer". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  35. ↑ Filipski, Kevin (15 April 2006). "Serious Comedy: Hall and Redgrave Channel Oscar Wilde With New Earnest SERIOUS COMEDY". The Brooklyn Paper. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  36. ↑ Simonson, Robert (17 March 2006). "Cast Set for Peter Hall Importance of Being Earnest at BAM". Playbill. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  37. ↑ Hoover, Bob (21 January 2010). "Public Theater takes the production up a notch for A Midsummer Night's Dream". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  38. ↑ Jones, Kenneth (11 March 2010). "LaBute Pens New Prologue for Chicago Taming of the Shrew". Playbill. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  39. 1 2 Hetrick, Adam (13 May 2013). "Pippin, Glass Menagerie, Andrea Martin, John Tiffany and Will Lyman Are Elliot Norton Award Winners". Playbill. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  40. 1 2 "2013 Independent Reviewers of New England Award Nominees Announced!". BroadwayWorld.com. 18 February 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  41. 1 2 "2013 IRNE Award Nominations". Huntington Theatre Company. 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  42. 1 2 "Bianca Amato & Matthew Amendt Receive Shakespeare Theatre Company's Emery Battis Award". BroadwayWorld.com. 4 November 2014. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  43. ↑ Grossman, Nancy (20 September 2014). "BWW Reviews: All-Star Roster Brings the Bard to Fenway Park". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  44. ↑ "Audiobook Review: The Queen's Fool (2004)". AudioFile. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  45. 1 2 "Audiobook Review: Listening for Lions (2006)". AudioFile. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  46. ↑ "Audiobook Review: The Boleyn Inheritance (Abridged/2006)". AudioFile. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  47. ↑ "Audiobook Review: The Boleyn Inheritance (Unabridged/2011)". AudioFile. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  48. ↑ "Audiobook Review: The Other Queen (2008)". AudioFile. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  49. ↑ The unabridged version of The White Queen is narrated by Susan Lyons.
  50. ↑ "Audiobook Review: The White Queen (Abridged/2009)". AudioFile. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  51. ↑ "Audiobook Review: Her Fearful Symmetry (2009)". AudioFile. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  52. 1 2 "Audiobook Review: The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Brontë (2009)". AudioFile. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  53. ↑ "Audiobook Review: The Red Queen (2010)". AudioFile. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  54. ↑ "Audiobook Review: Dracula in Love (2010)". AudioFile. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  55. ↑ "Audiobook Review: The Lady of the Rivers (2011)". AudioFile. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  56. ↑ "Audiobook Review: The Women of the Cousins' War (2011)". AudioFile. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  57. ↑ "Audiobook Review: Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness (2011)". AudioFile. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  58. ↑ "Audiobook Review: The Kingmaker's Daughter (2012)". AudioFile. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  59. ↑ "Audiobook Review: The White Princess (2013)". AudioFile. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  60. ↑ "Audiobook Review: The King's Curse (2014)". AudioFile. Retrieved 8 December 2014.

External links

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