Lena Hall (born January 30, 1980) is an American actress and singer. She is known for being the lead singer of the band The Deafening and for her work on Broadway, including originating the role of Nicola in Kinky Boots and her Tony Award-winning performance as Yitzhak in the 2014 revival of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Her band The Deafening released an album with original songs in 2012 titled Central Booking.

Personal life

Hall was born Celina Consuela Gabriella Carvajal in San Francisco, California on January 30, 1980 to Carlos and Carolyn (née Houser) Carvajal.

She is a graduate of Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts, where she first studied dance. She is an alumnus of the Young People's Teen Musical Theatre Company in San Francisco. She has Filipino, Spanish, and Swedish ancestry through her father. Hall changed her professional name to Lena Hall in 2013, saying she had created it for her music persona and now wanted to use it for her acting career as well. Her sister is stylist Calliope "Calli" Carvajal.

Career

Hall made her Broadway debut in 2000 in Cats, taking over the role of Demeter after first performing in the national tour. She next took over the role of Ann "Anytime Annie" Reilly in 42nd Street.

In 2003, Hall appeared in Radiant Baby, a musical about artist Keith Haring, in various roles. In 2009, she was the understudy for Leslie Kritzer in the musical Rooms: A Rock Romance. Also in 2009 she took over the lead role of Sarah in the musical The Toxic Avenger. She also performed in a national tour of Annie Get Your Gun, understudying the lead role. In 2008 she competed in the reality show Legally Blonde – The Musical: The Search for Elle Woods, in which she was the 3rd contestant eliminated. In 2011, she performed in the musical Prometheus Bound at the American Repertory Theater. She also appeared as Blaze in the musical Chix6

In 2004 she was in the original ensemble of Dracula, the Musical and was the understudy for Kelli O'Hara as Lucy Westenra. In 2006 she was in the original ensemble of the musical Tarzan, and was also the understudy for Jennifer Gambatese as Jane Porter.

In 2013, Hall originated the role of Nicola (played on film by Jemima Rooper) in the musical Kinky Boots, which won the Tony Award for Best Musical. In 2014, Hall was cast as Yitzhak in the Broadway production Hedwig and the Angry Inch (a role previously played off-Broadway by Miriam Shor) opposite Neil Patrick Harris, for which she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She left the role on April 4, 2015, and was replaced by Rebecca Naomi Jones. She has recently been cast in the national tour of Hedwig, opening in October 2016, reprising her role as Yitzhak, and once a week, playing the title role of Hedwig, the first person to play both roles in the production. She will play the roles in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Hall has appeared in Sex and the City and All My Children as Treena and Juicy Lucy in Good Girls Revolt. She has appeared in three movies: The Graduates, The Big Gay Musical, and Born from the Foot. She also performed as the voice of Countess Coloratura/Rara in the 115th episode of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, titled "The Mane Attraction". In 2016, Hall played a seductive yoga instructor in an episode of the HBO series Girls. She also performs the songs along with Tony Vincent for the fictional band "Dog Gone" in the 2015 PBS series Nature Cat.

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Nominated work Result

2014 Tony Award Best Featured Actress in a Musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch Won
Drama League Award Distinguished Performance Nominated
2015 Grammy Award Best Musical Theater Album Nominated