NOBODY CARES?
WE BEG TO DIFFER!

Laura Benanti turns the indignities of aging,
motherhood, and people-pleasing into an outrageously
funny evening of songs and self-revelation

From the time she was a young girl, Laura Benanti knew her destiny would lead her to starring in Broadway musicals. And at age 18, she stepped into the cast of The Sound of Music on the Great White Way, initially understudying the role of Maria before taking it over full-time. All that despite having to play opposite a 65-year-old man (Richard Chamberlin) with whom she had to realistically fall madly in love. But the role was easy for the eager-to-please young actress, raised to never question a man on his abilities, talent, or opinions by allowing him to take the lead.

Such is the topic of her newest solo show, Laura Benanti: Nobody Cares, in which the musical theater legend proves she can also do self-effacing satire and social commentary, infusing her very personal life stories with a marvelous voice guaranteed to sell each of the original songs co-written with her music director, Todd Almond. Directed by Annie Tippe, their musical and vocal interactions throughout the performance generate laughs galore as Benanti delivers a no-holds-barred evening of stories and original songs taking aim at motherhood, people-pleasing, ambition, and the absurdities of getting older—ultimately offering a love letter to anyone who’s ever tried to have it all and now refuses to be invisible when it comes to their own dreams.

But always being cast in ingénue roles becomes more challenging as time passes, even for Benanti, who won the prestigious Tony award in 2008 for playing Louise opposite Patti LuPone in Gypsy. She also starred as Eliza in My Fair Lady, Amalia in She Loves Me, and Cinderella in Into the Woods.

To prove how she has broken that mold, Benanti includes several hilarious personal stories from her life as a pathological people-pleaser, often sleeping with someone so as not to hurt their feelings while dating boy-men who seemed to go on to greatness after sharing her bed, to her three husbands, two divorces, many struggles with childbirth, child-rearing, obstetric challenges, and perimenopause, to shooting a nude scene with an actor twenty years her junior in a recent prestigious TV series just to prove she could … which unfortunately was cut before it aired.

Each story and song she shares, many with graphic descriptions about certain body parts and functions that should have made us feel uncomfortable, winds up being hysterically funny, often accompanied by her sexy, swinging, gravity-defying Elvis-like hip movements.

“But nobody cares about what you’ve done, Mom,” according to her young daughter, as quoted by Benanti during the show in a hilarious segment about princess toothbrushes. To which she shared, “True. I’ve done 38 television shows and films no one cares about.” But I beg to differ, as the universal themes, along with her personal revelations, now have me caring about Benanti’s evolving career more than ever (it was her iconic impression of Melania Trump on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that first caught my attention). While the tour continues, Benanti can currently be seen as a series regular in the role of Cindy on Mayor of Kingstown.

photos by Avery Brunkus

Laura Benanti: Nobody Cares
Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
Bram Goldsmith Theater, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd. in Beverly Hills
65 minutes, no intermission
played October 1–4, 2026

Additional tour engagements:
South Coast Repertory, Costa Mesa: October 8–11, 2026
The Huntington, Boston: October 22–25, 2026
Signature Theatre, Arlington, VA: April 27–May 2, 2027
for tickets and additional dates, visit Nobody Cares

for more shows, visit Theatre in LA

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