Actress and singer Jenny LeDoux shares that she loves many different styles of music, including opera and musical theater. She recalls the moment when she first fell in love with musical theater when she saw her cousin perform in a production of “West Side Story” in Duluth.
After that pivotal experience, LeDoux was drawn to the stage herself. In middle school, she joined the choir, and in high school she played in her school musicals as well as in other roles including Jan in “Grease,” Little Sally in “Urinetown,” and Cosette in “Les Misérables.”
She expressed that with each production she was in, “I was so taken by how expressive music could be, and felt like the music I was hearing in these productions really gave a sound to what I was feeling inside.”
After high school, LeDoux went to Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, earning a BA in Music. She then went to grad school at the U of M Twin Cities where she earned her master’s degree in music, with an emphasis on voice.
While in college and grad school, she switched her emphasis to operatic study, and performed roles such as Pamina in “Die Zauberflöte,” Lauretta in “Gianni Schicci,” and Liza Elliot in “Lady In The Dark.”
Becoming Cinderella
Even though her vocal emphasis in college and grad school was in opera, she has not turned her back on musical theater. This current Playhouse season, she played the title role in their production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Cinderella.”
“Getting to play Cinderella with the Duluth Playhouse was such an incredible dream,” she said. “Like many people, I grew up with the classic story and was always so charmed and emboldened by Ella’s zest for life and resiliency.”
She added, “Cinderella is one of the most universally well-known and adapted fairy tales because people can so easily relate to her and want to watch someone who is down on her luck rise to the top and achieve her dreams.”
Jenny’s fairy tale world continues in another phase of her life. She has worked for seven years with Magical Moments Minnesota, where the actors portray different beloved fairytale characters for events large and small, including for birthdays and corporate events.
“A huge part of that job involves a knowledge of how to work with and educate children, and has let me combine traditional acting with the skills needed to engage and interact with young people,” she said.
Musical Potpourri
LeDoux keeps music at the core of her life in a variety of ways. “I like to call myself a ‘vocal chameleon’ and have curated a career for myself of varying musical genres, including pop, rock, and indie folk, and have really enjoyed experimenting with many different styles of music.” In addition, she has a private vocal studio where she works with high school students.
“I have also done two different tours with Duluth’s Lyrics Opera of the
North as part of their ‘Little Loon Tours,’ performing abridged operas written by Opera for the Young, in different elementary school gyms,” she stated.
“Performing in these environments calls on the same educator skill sets of needing to be able to communicate clearly with children and help guide them through the interactive parts of the performance experience,” LeDoux added.
Jenny is excited to be taking the stage with her band Gently, Gently, this spring featuring her brother-in-law Nathan Lee on guitar, a friend, Kevin Milloy, on bass, her husband Kristian Lee on drums, and herself on vocals and keys. “We strive to create original songs that draw from many genres including blues, punk, grunge, and country,” she stated.
The Light in the Piazza
Set against the Tuscan countryside, this romantic, Tony Award-winning musical tells the story of a mother and daughter on a life-changing journey.
Margaret Johnson is traveling through Italy with her daughter, Clara, when a sudden gust of wind carries Clara’s hat into the hands of Fabrizio Naccarelli, a charming young Florentine.
In an instant, a passionate romance ignites between them, seemingly guided by fate. But Margaret, fiercely protective of her daughter, works to keep them apart. As their love deepens, long-held secrets come to light—revealing that Clara is not exactly who she appears to be.
Phillip Fazio’s Last Show for the Playhouse
“The Light in the Piazza” marks Phillip Fazio’s final show as Producing Artistic Director at Duluth Playhouse
He said, “Theatre at its core is about human relationships. From the special bond between a parent and child, or a sparkling new love, or the evolution of a partnership over time. ‘The Light in the Piazza’ is a brilliant examination of a multitude of human relationships. I fell in love with this piece when I saw the Broadway production almost twenty years ago”.
Fazio added, “. . . I’ve dreamed of someday directing this beautiful, emotionally rich musical. I am so thankful to have the opportunity to bring this story to life at Duluth Playhouse with our incredibly talented cast, orchestra, and production team. I have no doubt this show will warm the hearts of Twin Ports audiences as we theatrically transport them to the romantic streets of Florence, Italy.”
Best of luck to Fazio in his future endeavors!
Seeing the Light in Clara
“Clara is the definition of a vibrant, young person full of questions, desires, and needs, and I really believe that traveling to Italy and meeting the people of Florence have awakened many of these things for the first time within her. She feels seen and understood by these people in a way that she never has by her home community of 1950’s Winston-Salem.”
“As she immerses herself in this new world and falls in love with Fabrizio, we begin to see her evolve into a woman who knows her worth and can really claim with confidence those desires and needs that we see her discovering at the beginning of the show,” Ledoux explained.
“I’m lucky to have a deep connection with my own Mother, and so much of what I am bringing to Clara draws on both that depth and the respect I have for our
commitment to loving each other through every stage of our lives,” she added.
Information for “The Light in the Piazza”
Book by Craig Lucas
Music and Lyrics by Adam Guettel
Directed by Phillip Fazio
Duluth Playhouse at the NorShor Theatre
211 E. Superior St., Duluth, MN 55802
Performances:
March 14 – 30, 2025
Thursdays – Saturdays at 7:30pm
Sunday Matinees at 2pm
Audio Description: March 16 at 2pm
ASL Interpretation: March 28 at 7:30 pm
Tickets:
On sale at duluthplayhouse.org
218.733.7555
Box Office Hours
The building is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
On show dates, the Box Office opens at 5:30 p.m. or 12:30 p.m. for matinees.
boxoffice@duluthplayhouse.org
Travel with American tourists Margaret Johnson and her daughter Clara as they take in the wonders of Florence, Italy, in the summer of 1953. When a fateful gust of wind whisks Clara’s hat into the hands of Fabrizio, it’s amore at first sight. Heralded as a work of consummate beauty when it opened on Broadway, The Light in the Piazza won six Tony Awards, including Best Original Score for Adam Guettel (grandson of legendary composer Richard Rodgers). This cherished masterpiece features “the most intensely romantic score of any musical since West Side Story” (New York Times).
