User:Womanship/sandbox



= Claire Manship = Claire Manship (born June 5, 1991) is a TikTok creator, actor, and singer, living in New York City. She has been featured in the New York Times, as a contributor to the podcast, Modern Love , and in Daily Mail. Best known for the videos of her singing to her Harlem neighbors during the COVID-19 crisis shutdown, Claire has garnered hundreds of millions of views across social media and news. She has also hosted, edited, and produced podcast, as well as short and long-form video.

Manship was in Bliss The Musical at The 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle, Washington, a reading of Bliss at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, New York, starred as Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray at Music Theatre Wichita in Wichita, Kansas, starred as Jenny Steinberg in It Shoulda Been You at STAGES St. Louis in Kirkwood, Missouri, and was in Miss Saigon at Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia.

Manship has produced and performed in cabarets and benefit concerts for It Gets Better Project and Planned Parenthood of New York City. She is a public activist for Black Lives Matter and related causes.

Early Life
Manship was raised in a United States Air Force family, and pursued ballet from the age of 7. She took private voice lessons from the age of 14, and sang in a number of selective choirs. Manship made her stage debut in a middle school production of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. She appeared in a number of middle and high school productions, and subsequently attended the Virginia Governor's School for the Performing Arts summer intensive. Manship graduated Westfield High School, in Chantilly, Virginia in 2009. Manship moved to New York City in 2011, first living in the home of acclaimed television and film actor Rip Torn.

Education
Manship attended East Carolina University, pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre. She then transferred to Elon University, where she completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting in 2013. Manship attended the Stella Adler Studio of Acting Summer Conservatory in 2011. Manship has also pursued continuing education in Psychology from Yale University.

Internet Content
Manship rose to internet fame on TikTok, with her first viral video premiering on the platform on February 23, 2019, featuring her dancing in public. The public dancing series was Manship's most popular until the COVID-19 pandemic, when she began her window singing series. Manship's first viral window singing video debuted on April 20, 2020, with her rendition of the United States National Anthem. Her most popular videos include her singing Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody", "Let It Go" from Frozen, Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'", and "The Circle of Life" from The Lion King. Manship continues to create daily content on TikTok, as well as on her Youtube channel. Manship has also written a personal essay for Medium.

Press and Critical Acclaim
Manship has been featured in Playbill, BroadwayWorld , The New York Times , Daily Mail , St. Louis Post-Dispatch , and others. Manship's most critically acclaimed performance was as Jenny Steinberg in It Shoulda Been You.

Judith Newmark, of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reviewed Manship's performance, "Directed and choreographed by Stephen Bourneuf, the Stages production has a nice surprise, too: Claire Manship's performance as the bride's older sister, Jenny. New to Stages, Manship is a charmer as a loving, capable young woman without whose care the elaborate wedding could never have come together. But people — including her mother — tend to take Jenny for granted, mainly because she's overweight. Her beautifully modulated performance could suit a much more serious play — until she lets go in the sensational 'Jenny's Blues.' At that point, you understand why Manship belongs in musical theater."

Manship also received praise from Matt Riedl of The Wichita Eagle, saying "The production is led by Claire Manship, whose spunk and smile as Tracy Turnblad is infectious. Manship’s impressive dance moves easily compare to those of the plastic 'Nicest Kids in Town' on the Corny Collins Show. It’s a delight to watch Tracy’s transformation from chubby outsider to teen trendsetter almost overnight."