Theatre & dance / Film & TV
Celia Keenan-Bolger
born 1978 · stage actress, singer
Detroit-born Broadway actress, trained at Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit, who won a Tony as Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird (2018).
- Born
Detroit, Michigan
age 48- Detroit years
- 1978–1990s
- Field
- Theatre & dance, Film & TV
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Keenan-Bolger was born in Detroit, the eldest of three siblings who all went into the theater. She trained as a teenager with Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit, the city's acclaimed youth company, and at the Detroit School of Arts, then earned a musical theatre degree at the University of Michigan. She made her Broadway debut in 2005 as Olive Ostrovsky in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, which brought her first Tony nomination, and went on to Éponine in Les Misérables, Molly in Peter and the Starcatcher and Laura in The Glass Menagerie. Playing Scout Finch opposite Jeff Daniels in Aaron Sorkin's To Kill a Mockingbird won her the 2019 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. She has returned to Michigan to sing in concert at Ann Arbor's Michigan Theater with Audra McDonald, and Mosaic lists her among its best-known alumni.
Highlights
- Trained at Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit and the Detroit School of Arts
- Broadway debut in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (2005)
- Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play as Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird
- Five Tony nominations, including The Glass Menagerie (2014) and Mother Play (2024)
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · 1990s
Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit
Detroit's professional-level youth theater company, where she trained as a teenager.
Studied here · 1990s
Detroit School of Arts
The Detroit public arts high school she attended.