.01
about LEAH
(the short version)
Leah Horowitz was born and raised on Staten Island, home of the Staten Island Ferry, Ralph’s Ices, and the best pizza in New York City. Raised by a speech pathologist mother from West Virginia and a banjo player father from Brooklyn, Leah grew up with no discernable New York accent in a house filled with music and cats. She and her mother were heavily involved in community theater (as actor and costumer, respectively), and spent most of their nights and weekends with show people. When it came time to go to college, Leah thought she’d major in some sort of science – acting seemed too impractical and unstable a profession. An acceptance to NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts changed her mind. Cut to the present, and Leah still sometimes thinks maybe she should’ve been an engineer. Don’t ask her which kind – she just likes the sound of it.
However, seven Broadway shows and many regional credits later, Leah has to admit she has done reasonably well. She last appeared on Broadway in the acclaimed revival of Follies as Young Heidi, and, more recently, has been a principal singer several times for New York City Ballet. She has been seen on TV as a sassy nun in NBC’s The Sound of Music Live, and at Madison Square Garden performing with Phish in their New Years Eve concert (three times!). She has been heard in numerous commercial jingles, including singing “Mm Mm Good!” for Campbell’s Soup. The pandemic prompted her to build a home recording studio, and she has now narrated 40 audiobooks. All in all, not a boring life.
Leah lives in New Jersey with her husband Matty D Stuart, actor and DJ extraordinaire, her daughter, Penelope, and her dog Ruby. In addition to work, she enjoys reading the latest great novels and then making her friends read them, watching too many TV shows, knitting, eating sushi, and visiting HomeGoods regularly.
download Leah's resume.
Photo by dirty sugar photography
.02
Press & MEDIA
reviews
For Something to Dance About (New York City Ballet in Saratoga, '18, The Kennedy Center, ‘19)
"Vocalist Leah Horowitz weaved her gorgeous voice through numbers from Peter Pan, Gypsy, The King and I and more while the dancers strutted their best Broadway moves onstage." -TheWonderfulWorldofDance.com
“Buoyed by impressive vocals from Leah Horowitz and fabulous costumes by Toni-Leslie James, this performance alone would justify an entire night out.” -BroadwayWorld.com
For Guys and Dolls (Great Lakes Theater, '13):
"Sister Sarah is played by Leah Horowitz, a versatile performer who brings operatic precision to the standards "I'll Know" and "If I Were a Bell" and a comedienne's loose-limbed elasticity to her scenes of drunken abandon after she is whisked to Havana by Sky. (In a move worthy of Carol Burnett, Horowitz tries to approximate the moves of a hotsy-totsy Cuban hoofer and winds up upside-down in Sky's arms, her red wool skirt up around her ears, her legs paddling empty space.)"
-The Plain Dealer
"Also excellent is Leah Horowitz as Sarah Brown, turning her character's alcoholic meltdown into a hilarious, limbs akimbo event. Her loopy rendition of "If I Were a Bell" brings out all the fun of Loesser's foray into the subjunctive mood. Even though her Sarah sobers up when back in Manhattan, Horowitz keeps the charm percolating under the surface."
-Clevescene.com
"Beautiful Horowitz, her soprano gorgeous to boot, is perfect as the prim and proper Sarah, who declares she will never fall in love with a gambler but does."
-Cleveland Jewish News
"...the very sheltered mission director Sarah Brown [is] played by the incredible soprano Leah Horowitz. ...her vocals are, in a word, ridiculous. Ridiculously strong that is."
-CBS Radio, Cleveland
For Fiddler on the Roof (Sacramento Music Circus, '12):
"[Leah] Horowitz does a beautiful job with the moving "Far From the Home I Love." - BroadwayWorld.com
For Follies (Ahmanson Theatre, '12):
"Carol Neblett and Leah Horowitz deliver an absolutely ravishing "One More Kiss." - Robert Hofler, Variety
" “One More Kiss” by the aging Heidi was stellar with contralto Carol Neblett and her young counterpart from the past, Leah Horowitz. These ladies did a duet together and I and others were moved to tears. It was a hauntingly chilling and breathtakingly beautiful number."
-Audry Linden, The Examiner
"Still-plangent Carol Neblett and crystalline Leah Horowitz are exquisite as old and young Heidi Schiller in “One More Kiss.”"
-David C Nichols, Backstage
""One More Kiss"... [is] haunting (and spectacularly sung) " -Ragemonthly.com
For Follies (Kennedy Center and Broadway, '11):
"Did I mention much of the cast is mirrored by actors playing their younger selves? This works most beautifully when Rosalind Elias and Leah Horowitz perform the light operetta sort of tune "One More Kiss." The elderly Heidi sings gloriously until the young Heidi appears behind her to belt it out even more beautifully. ...It's truly touching on so many levels."
- Michael Giltz, HuffingtonPost.com
"Biggest surprise is the Franz Lehar/Victor Herbert pastiche "One More Kiss," from opera singer Rosalind Elias and Leah Horowitz as her younger ghost, which unaccountably stops the show." - Steven Suskin, Variety
"The surprise of the night for me was the charm of “One More Kiss,” done in operetta style by Rosalind Elias singing with her younger self, the beautiful Leah Horowitz. The audience went wild..." - Liz Smith, wowowow.com
"The opera singer Rosalind Elias and Leah Horowitz, who plays her younger doppelganger, ...create a moving duet of “One More Kiss”..." - Washington Post
"...the venerable Met mezzo Rosalind Elias in "One More Kiss" [is] exquisitely echoed by Leah Horowitz as her younger self." - Howard Kissel, HuffingtonPost.com
"Rosalind Elias [sings] "One More Kiss" (a duet with the enchantingly-voiced Leah Horowitz as her younger self)..." - BroadwayWorld.com
"...opera star Rosalind Elias and Leah Horowitz gorgeously sing "One More Kiss"..." - Theatermania.com
""One More Kiss" -- its exquisite edge [is] provided by Rosalind Elias as Heidi Schiller and, as younger Heidi, Leah Horowitz. " - David Finkle, HuffingtonPost.com
"Rosalind Elias and Leah Horowitz contribute a haunting "One More Kiss"..." - Backstage
"In the second act of...Follies, legendary opera diva, Rosalind Elias...sings Sondheim's haunting nod to operetta, "One More Kiss." Behind her, we see the ghost of her younger self, played and sung flawlessly by Leah Horowitz, who joins her in song." - Naughty But Nice Rob, HuffingtonPost.com
"A perfectly grand Rosalind Elias and an exquisite Leah Horowitz make the lovely most of their “One More Kiss” aria. " - New Jersey Newsroom
"Kudos also to Rosalind Elias as the opera singer (“One More Kiss,” sung with a glorious Leah Horowitz as her younger self)" - Times Square Chronicles
"And feel the way that theater can get at the ineffable when Rosalind Elias, still blessed with a lovely classical voice after a 50 year career, sings “One More Kiss” while her younger self, Leah Horowitz, effortlessly sales to higher notes at her side. It’s a simple moment, delicately staged, and yet it speaks volumes about the pull of time and the joys of an intelligent, singular musical like Follies." - TheBroadwayBlog.com
For Showboat (The Muny, '10):
"Leah Horowitz makes for a very appealing Magnolia, and displays a powerful voice as well..." - Broadwayworld.com
"Leah Horowitz demonstrates a magnificent voice and appealing demeanor as Magnolia..." - Ladue News
""You Are Love"...arguably the most soaring duet in all musical theater, [is] gorgeously sung by [Danny] Gurwin and [Leah] Horowitz."- Riverfront Times
"As the sweetly virtuous Nola and the gambling man she falls for, Gaylord Ravenal, Leah Horowitz and Danny Gurwin blend their voices beautifully in the romantic duets “Make Believe” and “You Are Love.” - stltoday.com
For Les Miserables:
“The love triangle is especially well-realized in the tender acting and fine singing of Leah Horowitz’s sensitive Cosette, Anderson Davis’ innocent Marius and Sarah Shahinian’s plucky, lovelorn Eponine. Their Heartful of Love trio is a major vocal highlight.” – Houston Chronicle (review of the Theatre Under the Stars production, ’09)
“Leah Horowitz, as Valjean's "adopted" daughter Cosette, bring[s] just the right in-the-dark quality to "In My Life" ” – Chicago Sun-Times (review of the Marriott Lincolnshire production, ’08)
For Emma (NYMF '07):
“Leah Horowitz is a sweet-voiced, lovely, and nicely grounded Emma…” - Backstage
“Young and beautiful Emma (a terrific Leah Horowitz) matchmakes her way into trouble, and learns to grow up as a result of it.” –CurtainUp
“…An exquisite cast—led by the enthralling Leah Horowitz in the title role—…[Joel Adlen] gives Horowitz ample opportunity to show off her floaty, silvery high notes in Emma's many solos.” – Offoffonline.com
“Leah Horowitz is a beautiful Emma, singing with a sweet sympathetic tone and acting the part as well as Gwyneth Paltrow did in the film.” – Broadway Bridge and Tunnel Test
Photo by dirty sugar photography
.03
Narration & Voiceover
Leah has narrated a range of audiobook genres, from Literary Fiction to Inspirational to Historical Romance to Middle Grade to Fantasy to YA. She is the recipient of Audiofile Magazine’s Earphones Award for her work on Just Like That by Gary D Schmidt and for The Morning Star by Karl Ove Knausgaard. Her Audiofile profile is here.
Find all of Leah’s books on Audible.
Review of Just Like That from Audiofile Magazine:
“Narrator Leah Horowitz allows listeners to bask in the rhythms of Schmidt's writing and be moved by the story of two vulnerable teens. Meryl Lee is grieving the death of her best friend after his sudden accident. Horowitz embodies the lonely-lost feelings Meryl Lee labels "The Blank" so clearly that listeners feel her deeper hurt when her parents send her away to a school where the girls around her seem pretentious. Horowitz describes a different view of this feeling in Meryl Lee's friend Matt, who is fleeing a violent past. The uniting figure in this story is Dr. MacKnockater, a teacher at Meryl Lee's school who takes in Matt. Horowitz gets her Scottish accent, wisdom, strength, and kindness just right.”
Review of The Morning Star from Audiofile Magazine:
“The many viewpoints of this large novel are well served by the large group of narrators, all of whom embody their characters admirably. … Each character's tale is gripping as written and performed. It's hard to imagine any of them being better cast. Each viewpoint has a clear, and clearly imagined, personality.”
For more audiobook samples, please click HERE.
Listen to Leah’s Voiceover reel:
.04
news & Gallery
6.23.24 - Leah played Mrs Nordstrom in a new concert version of A Little Night Music at Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center for four performances, June 27th-29th. The concert was the world premiere of Jonathan Tunick’s new orchestrations for large ensembles, and featured the 53-piece Orchestra of St Luke’s, conducted by Tunick himself. Scroll down to the Gallery, below, for photos!
5.14.24 - Next month, Leah will be appearing in her 9th production with NY City Center Encores! - Titanic, winner of the 1997 Tony Award for Best Musical. The show has a beautiful score, and will be performed with a full orchestra and a cast of 32. It runs Tuesdays-Sundays, June 11th through the 23rd. Tickets here!
1.1.24 - Last night, Leah had the honor of working with Phish on their legendary New Years Eve show at Madison Square Garden for the 3rd time! She was part of a small group of backup singers for the first full staging of lead singer Trey Anastasio’s rock musical, Gamehendge - now up on YouTube in its entirety! The fans were overjoyed and it was truly a night to remember.
4.22.23 - After singing on Schmigadoon Season 1 (on the title song, “Corn Puddin’”, and “Tribulation”), Leah was delighted to rejoin the Schmigadoon vocal ensemble for Season 2 (“Schmicago”, “Do We Shock You?”, “Talk to Daddy”, “There’s Always A Twist”, and others). She can also be heard on Episode 4 of this season of The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, singing in the opening song of the episode (listen here), and in the Private Waste Management industrial.
9.5.22 - A kind review from Audiofile of Leah’s narration of the middle grade novel Aviva vs. the Dybbuk, by Mari Lowe, can be found here.
5.9.22 - After another busy year of narrating audiobooks, including The Morning Star by Karl Ove Knausgaard, which received an Earphones Award from Audiofile Magazine, Leah made a return to the stage on April 29th in Symphony Space’s Gala concert, in which she sang the role of Mrs Nordstrom in songs from A Little Night Music. It was a thrilling evening.
5.6.21 - Starting tonight, Leah can be seen as Alice in a special livestream of The Secret Garden, a 2018 Broadway workshop of the beloved musical, with all proceeds going to The Actors Fund and the Dramatists Guild Foundation. Buy tickets here! The stream only runs through Sunday, May 9th.
4.18.21 - Leah received an Earphones Award and a lovely review from Audiofile Magazine for her narration of Just Like That, a beautiful middle grade novel by Gary D. Schmidt. Leah has been very busy recording audiobooks - find all of them here on Audible. A favorite is Amy Lynn Green’s funny and touching Things We Didn’t Say.
9.10.20 - Out on October 6th is Leah’s first YA audiobook title, The Code for Love and Heartbreak, by Jillian Cantor, a “contemporary romcom retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma”.
7.10.20 - During this long, strange period of time, Leah has plunged further into the world of audiobooks. After building a home studio, she has recorded four titles: A Gilded Lady, by Elizabeth Camden, and A Reckless Love, by Beth White, both out now, and The Haunting At Bonaventure Circus, by Jaime Jo Wright, and The Edge of Belonging, by Amanda Cox, both out in September.
2.5.20 - Rehearsals begin tomorrow for Leah’s 8th show with City Center Encores! - Mack and Mabel. Tickets and info here.
2.5.20 - In September, Leah entered the world of audiobook narration. Her first two books, When Silence Sings by Sarah Loudin Thomas, and Veiled in Smoke by Jocelyn Green, are available on Audible, Amazon and other platforms. Her third, Star of Persia: Esther’s Story by Jill Eileen Smith, will be out soon! All were published by Recorded Books.
5.12.19 - Leah just completed a run of High Button Shoes, the third show of City Center Encores! 75th anniversary season. She was thrilled to take part in the recreation of Jerome Robbins’ famous “Bathing Beauty Ballet”. Click here for highlights.
4.4.19 - Beginning tonight, Leah sings four performances of Warren Carlyle’s Jerome Robbins tribute Something to Dance About with the New York City Ballet at the Kennedy Center’s Opera House. The ballet is in an evening of four short pieces, preceded by Justin Peck’s Easy, Robbins’ In The Night, and Kyle Abraham’s The Runaway. The program repeats on April 5th at 7:30pm and April 6th at 1:30pm and 7:30pm - tickets are still available here.
2.10.19 - Leah appeared in the first show of the Encores! season at City Center: Call Me Madam. Highlights here.
7.21.18 - On July 21st, Leah debuted as the singer in Warren Carlyle's new ballet for New York City Ballet, Something to Dance About, at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC). The ballet, a tribute to Jerome Robbins, features songs and dances from classic musicals like On The Town, The King and I, Fiddler on the Roof, West Side Story, and more. Leah will get three more performances in this role, this time in NYC at Lincoln Center, this October: on the 11th, 12th, and 13th (click each date for tickets and info). In addition, Leah will be singing "Somewhere" again in the West Side Story Suite twice in October, on the 10th and 13th (click each date for tickets and info).
6.7.18 - Leah was part of a wonderful lab presentation of Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon's The Secret Garden in NYC in June. The fresh and moving take on the beloved musical was directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle, and is aiming for Broadway in the near future.
4.17.18 - May will be a busy month! First up is another New York City Ballet engagement - Leah will once again be the "Somewhere" soloist in the West Side Story Suite. Dates and times: May 4th at 8pm; May 5th at 2pm; May 8th at 7:30pm; May 20th at 3pm. Click here for tickets and info. Stay tuned for more May news!
7.27.17 - Next month, Leah travels out west to sing with the San Diego Symphony, joining Danny Burstein and Susan Egan in To Life! Celebrating Bock and Harnick on Broadway on August 18th and 19th. Conducted by Rob Fisher, the concert will feature songs from Fiddler on the Roof, She Loves Me, Fiorello, and The Apple Tree. Tickets and info here!
7.12.17 - Last weekend Leah joined NYC Ballet at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center for a gala performance of Thou Swell. It was a beautiful night! Leah returns on July 15th for a 2pm performance. Tickets are still available - click here!
2.10.17 - This past fall, Leah was the female singer in New York City Ballet's Thou Swell, a ballet of Richard Rodgers songs choreographed by Peter Martins and set in a glamorous art deco nightclub. She returns to Lincoln Center at the end of this month for three more performances; the ballet is part of an evening of three short ballets set to Rodgers music. Not to be missed! Tickets and info here.
7.11.16 - Leah just returned from Paris, where she spent a week with New York City Ballet during their three week residency at Théâtre Du Châtelet, singing "Somewhere" in their famous West Side Story Suite.
10.27.15 - Leah is appearing in the NY City Center Gala performances of Annie Get Your Gun, starring Megan Hilty, on October 27th and 28th.
6.2.15 - Leah just spent a week singing wonderful songs cut from Fiddler on the Roof in 92nd St Y's latest Lyrics and Lyricists concert, To Life! Celebrating 50 Years of Fiddler on the Roof with Sheldon Harnick. The concert was narrated by Harnick, directed by Gary Griffin, and conducted by Rob Fisher.
8.4.14 - Leah is heading to The Old Globe in San Diego, CA, to be a part of the first full production of Steve Martin and Edie Brickell's new musical, Bright Star! Leah was part of the NYC workshop this past winter (see below). Directed by Walter Bobbie, the show starts previews September 13th and runs through November 2nd
4.1.14 - Find Leah this week in City Center Encores! staging of The Most Happy Fella, opening Wednesday, April 2nd and playing through the 6th. The show is features a cast of 38 and a 38-piece orchestra, and is truly not to be missed!
3.7.14 - Leah was lucky enough to be a part of the Old Globe's NYC Workshop of Bright Star, a new musical by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell. Featuring music from their album "Love Has Come For You", the show has a gorgeous bluegrass score and an original story based on true events.
11.1.13 - Rehearsals are in full swing for The Sound of Music, starring Carrie Underwood, which will air live on NBC on December 5th, featuring Leah as a nun and a guest at the Von Trapp party.
6.7.13 - Leah is in the midst of playing Sarah Brown in a hit production of Guys and Dolls at the Hanna Theatre in Cleveland, OH. Directed by Tony-nominated choreographer and director Dan Knechtges, the show is a co-production between Great Lakes Theater and Playhouse Square, and runs through June 30th. Head over to Press & Media to read Leah's great notices!
2.11.13 - After a busy fall spent planning a wedding and getting married (!!), Leah is looking forward to her next project - performing in the NY Philharmonic's concert staging of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel! The concert will have 5 performances, February 27th through March 2nd, at Avery Fisher Hall. The concert will also be filmed and, as of now, is scheduled to be shown on PBS on April 26th at 9pm EST.
8.2.12 - And, it's back to CA again! This time, to Sacramento, where Leah will be playing Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof at California Musical Theatre's Music Circus from August 14th through the 19th.
7.23.12 - After a month back in NYC, Leah jetted back to California to spend a wonderful 2 weeks with the Transcendence Theatre Company. She was privileged to be part of the first concert of their inaugural season, Dream the Impossible Dream, in Jack London State Park in Sonoma.
6.10.12 - Leah just returned to New York after another successful run of Follies, this time in Los Angeles at the Ahmanson Theatre. Check out Press & Media for more great mentions for Leah from West Coast critics.
4.10.12 - In February, Leah played Evelyn in the New York City Center Encores! production of Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along. In April, Leah rejoined the cast to record an album, now available on Itunes and PS Classics, among other places. Buy it; it's great!
12.2.11 - Follies is a Broadway hit! Check out Press & Media for all the great mentions of Leah's performance. Also, Leah can be heard on the new Follies cast recording, released on 11/29. Check it out (and buy it!) on Itunes, or order the 2-CD set (complete with 52-page full-color booklet). Leah's song, "One More Kiss", is track 6 on Disc 2, and Leah can also be heard on "Beautiful Girls", "Who's That Woman", "Loveland", and "Live, Laugh, Love".
7.7.11 - The Kennedy Center's production of Stephen Sondheim's Follies is coming to the Marriott Marquis Theatre on Broadway, and Leah is thrilled to be reprising her performance as Young Heidi. This will be Leah's fifth show at the Marquis! Previews start August 7th, and the show will have its official opening on September 12th.
3.22.11 - Leah's next appearance will be as Young Heidi in the highly anticipated revival of Stephen Sondheim's Follies, at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
3.21.11 - Leah just finished her first production with City Center Encores!, Where's Charley? The show received rave reviews!
1.23.11 - Exciting news! Leah has been nominated for a Kevin Kline Award for her portrayal of Magnolia Hawks in the St Louis Muny's 2010 production of Showboat!
11.2.10 - Leah is now appearing in Wallenberg, a new musical, at the White Plains Performing Arts Center. Wallenberg runs until 11/21.
9.19.10 - Leah will be appearing in 8Minute Musicals, part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival, on October 4th and 5th.
7.24.10 - Leah will be playing Magnolia in the St Louis Muny's production of Showboat from August 9th through the 15th.
1.5.10 - Leah appeared as Tessie and understudied the leading role of Betty in White Christmas on Broadway at the Marquis Theatre this past holiday season. It was Leah's fourth time performing at the Marquis!
7.30.09 - Leah was a Street Singer in Leonard Bernstein's MASS with the Baltimore Symphony last year, and the recording is now available on I-tunes, Barnes&Noble.com, and Amazon.com. Listen for Leah as the first female solo on track 19!
7.23.09 - Leah is in rehearsal for Sondheim's Marry Me a Little, running August 13th-29th at the Dorset Theatre Festival in VT.
6.1.09 - Leah recently performed the role of Cosette (for the fourth time!) in Theatre Under the Stars’ production of Les Miserables in Houston, TX.
