Her death was announced by her husband, veteran Broadway actor Danny Burstein, who said in a statement, “Our family is devastated. I have no words at the moment because I’m numb.” Luker went public in 2020 and said she had been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease, also known as ALS or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Luker was a Tony nominee for best actress in 1995 and played Magnolia in ‘Showboat’, a nominee for best actress in 2000 for playing Marian in ‘The Music Man’ opposite Craig Bierko, and a nominee for best actress in 2007 as Winifred Banks in ‘Mary Poppins’. “
Tributes flooded social media, including from Broadway stars like Laura Benanti, who called Luker ‘humble, loving and kind’ with a ‘golden voice’ that would ‘envelop you in peace’. Seth Rudetsky said it was “a great loss to Broadway and the world.” Kristin Chenoweth tweeted that Luker was “one of the main reasons I wanted to be a soprano” and Bernadette Peters called her “one of the most beautiful voices on Broadway and a lovely person”.
RELATED | Broadway Couple Creates Socially Distant Show Of Christmas Classic ‘A Christmas Carol’
Luker was known for sticking with shows for long periods of time. “Yes, I am the queen of long runs,” she told the Connecticut Post in 2011. “I don’t know if I’m lucky or if it’s a curse. But it’s just how things happened for me and that’s it’s also usually a good thing. “
In 2013 she appeared in an off-Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim’s “Passion.” In addition to many stage credits, Luker appeared on TV in “Boardwalk Empire” and “The Good Wife” and in the 2012 movie “Not Fade Away”. Her other off-Broadway credits include “Death Takes a Holiday”, “Indian Blood “and” The Vagina Monologues. “
Broadway star Stephanie J. Block called Luker an “angel face and angel spirit,” and LaChanze took to Twitter to call Luker’s death “a huge loss to American theater.” Tony winner Michael Cerveris said, “There was no one more humble, unexpectedly funnier, or more glorious when she sang.”
Luker and her husband starred in an episode of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”, in which they played the parents of a transgender youth who died in an accident after being bullied.
Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, Luker received a bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Montevallo, where she later received an honorary degree.
Luker made her Broadway debut in 1988 in “The Phantom of the Opera,” first as an understudy to Sarah Brightman and then as Christine opposite the legendary Michael Crawford. “I’ll never forget it. It was an out-of-body experience. He was so nice though, and I’ll never forget it,” she told Playbill in 2016.
She had Broadway roles in “The Sound of Music” and as the original Lily in “The Secret Garden.” She was a replacement in “Nine” in 2003 opposite Antonio Banderas, “Fun Home” in 2016 and “Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella” in 2013-14.
Her albums include ‘Greenwich Time’, ‘Leaving Home’, ‘Anything Goes: Rebecca Luker Sings Cole Porter’ and ‘I Got Love: Songs of Jerome Kern’, featuring 14 classics ranging from ‘Bill / Can’t Help Loving That Husband “to” my husband’s first wife. She also paid tribute to the legendary Barbara Cook at the 2011 Kennedy Center Honors.
MORE NEWS: Authorities shut down illegal club with 160 people in it
Her last onstage role was playing the narrow-minded wife of a petty pastor in a 2019 Kennedy Center production of “Footloose.” Her last appearance was in June in a Zoom benefit show, “At Home With Rebecca Luker.”
In addition to her husband, Luker is survived by two stepsons, Alex and Zach.
———-
* Get eyewitness news delivered
* More news about New York City
* Send us a news tip
* Download the abc7NY app for important news alerts
* Follow us on YouTube
Submit a news tip
Copyright © 2020 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.