As part of a Q&A series with our faculty, the USC School of Dramatic Arts asked Professor Jenni Barber about her favorite experiences on Broadway, working in various mediums, and what excites her about the upcoming production of She Loves Me at the Bing Theatre.

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Tell us a little about your professional career.

Jenni Barber: In 2005, I graduated from the University of Michigan with a BFA in Musical Theatre and after gaining representation from our class industry showcase in New York City, I began auditioning professionally. One of my first auditions in New York City was for a workshop of a new musical, written and directed by James Lapine. I didn’t book that job, but Lapine saw something in me and the next year I made my Broadway debut in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, playing the role of Olive Ostrovsky.

I was in New York for almost two decades performing plays off-Broadway and regionally, working in television, film and voice-overs, as well as appearing in seven Broadway shows, including playing Glinda (#11!) in Wicked. My last show in New York, before moving to Los Angeles in 2021, was the Roundabout revival of All My Sons, written by Arthur Miller and directed by Jack O’Brien, who are both alumni of my alma mater. Jack has had such a huge impact on me as a director and teacher, having worked in both plays and musicals, and I began to understand, during All My Sons, the importance of passing along “the knowledge” to the next generation. I’m so grateful to be able to share what I have learned from my theatre career with the students here at SDA. Directing The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee last Fall for the 2025 Musical Theatre cohort couldn’t have been a more perfect expression of an opportunity to pass along “the knowledge.”

What is the most rewarding part of teaching?

As a teacher, every day I have the opportunity to witness students grow as conscious creatives and as advocates for themselves and each other. You need barrels of courage to be an artist. We walk around with our hearts on our sleeves, with translucent skin and a childlike desire to connect with aspects of the universe that have an unknown rubric. You need a community to help you with that kind of undertaking; to hold the shared space that allows one to adventure into unexplored realms. I love being in a community with these students. I treasure their translucency, and I deeply value their faith in our abiding process. My father was a teacher and an artist. He had such respect for the process and the bravery it requires. He’s no longer with us, but I think of him every time I’m in a classroom and I’m so grateful for that legacy.

What is your favorite advice to give to students?

Don’t underestimate the gifts of curiosity and play. Follow those first impulses and see where they lead you. Curiosity and play are how we first discovered the world; how we “learned to learn.” Value those qualities as essential and sacred. They will never fail you in your career or in your personal life.

Tell us about your most memorable experience working on Broadway.

I’ve had a lot of really fun and varied experiences on Broadway! One of my favorites was working on a new play by Douglas Carter Beane called The Nance, directed by Jack O’Brien (my directing North Star), starring Nathan Lane (my acting hero). I learned so much from Nathan about what it means to truly inhabit a performance. I have never met anyone who works harder than him. He comes into rehearsal, on day one, with his lines fully memorized and the play completely researched. He takes the responsibility of his role very seriously, and yet, he is open, curious, truthful, playful and wonderfully generous. His timing is impeccable and he would always give me the best advice on how to unlock a scene or how to deliver a funny line without overburdening it. When I played Glinda, I often asked myself: “How would Nathan play this?” I loved being in that Broadway sandbox!

What is it about live musical theatre that makes it such a vital art form today?

The Musical, along with Jazz, is a quintessentially American art form. You can track the history of American culture through the evolution of musical theatre. That alone, I believe, makes it an enormously vital heritage to study and preserve. The visceral response, however, that it evokes in an audience may even be more important.

In musical theatre, the music contains the emotion and the words contain the information. Whether the lyrics are set with the music in harmony or juxtaposed in dissonance, we learn enormous amounts about characters, themes, and concepts in as few as two to four measures. That kind of integration, when done by the best craftspeople in the field, has an effect that is… magical.

The great Donna McKechnie once said, “Musical Theatre is Advanced Theatre.” It must be rooted in truth, authenticity, and history, but the production of it simply requires more. More elements, more organization, more technique, more integration, more collaboration. This is why I think it makes perfect sense to have comprehensive BFA Musical Theatre programs within major academic institutions. The opportunity to collaborate with composers, choreographers, playwrights and designers in the various disciplines, at a professional level, is so wonderfully available and, honestly, crucial to the survival of this American art form.

You’ve performed in theatre, in television/film, and you also record audiobooks. Is it important for today’s artists to work in multiple mediums?

There’s no way to not acknowledge that craft and technique are essential elements of being hirable. You can’t pay the rent if you don’t book the job. I believe, however, that creativity cannot be contained. It is fully transferable if you are curious about every modality of artistry and actively seek out new mediums of expression that challenge the established forms. The transferability of creativity, in my opinion, is the key to artistic growth. Also… it’s just more fun.

Fun is important! Just ask my six-year-old!

You’re directing She Loves Me which performs September 26-29 in the Bing Theatre. What’s special about this production?

She Loves Me is known as a “jewel box of a musical” and I can’t think of a more apt description. This romantic musical is multifaceted, precisely constructed and rare. The integration of Joe Masteroff’s book with Sheldon Harnick’s lyrics and Jerry Bock’s music is a perfect example of the masterful unity created out of true artistic collaboration (one of the heralding qualities of Musical Theatre!). She Loves Me moves like a play that is drenched in music, beckoning the audience to open their hearts to a lovable community of characters and to follow them through the highs (and lows) of the many splendid (and not-so-splendid) aspects of love.

As part of the sensational set design, created by SDA Theatrical Design Student Kiera Reinhard, we will have the orchestra onstage with the cast. Our music director, the wonderful Professor Anthony Lucca, will be conducting from the onstage podium. Including the dynamic choreography by Professor Yuka Takara, I can’t wait to hear (and see!) the magic that will transpire when all of the elements (lights, costumes and sound design too!) weave together in performance. It is going to be a magical experience for the audience and the company!

Any fun facts we should know about Jenni Barber?

I am blessed to be the mother to a pretty great kid, Arden. My husband and I named her after an impactful production of As You Like It, in which I performed in repertory with The Tempest, directed by Sam Mendes. That production was foundational for me as a young actor who was mostly doing musicals and had never dreamed of performing Shakespeare in London (and all over the world) with a company of some of the greatest actors of the last five decades. After that experience, I knew that my path was to be an artistic one, that my skills were not limited to one medium and that I had found my community. It was one of the most profound experiences of my life.

Then I had a baby and the world got even bigger.

Parenthood has taught me the importance of art as a spiritual practice and an essential tool for guiding the next generation. Once Arden was born, I knew I had to name her after Shakespeare’s wild, wise and transformational forest.

I am so looking forward to bringing my daughter to Professor Anita Dashiell-Sparks’ production of As You Like It this Fall and for her to be introduced to her first Forest of Arden!