Photo Credit: Tisa Della-Volpe
Upcoming:
Photo credit: Joe Grasso
Mackenzie is a self-proclaimed "actress, singer, tapper and face kicker." She grew up in a small town "where nothin's over three stories high" (to quote her ultimate dream role). The oldest of four girls, her love of musical theatre came from dance classes at the local community center, singing in church choir, and watching the old MGM musicals with her mother and grandmother.
She went on to study at the Catholic University of America, earning a Bachelor of Music in Musical Theatre. She studied classical and contemporary musical theatre voice with Doug Bowles, acting with Jay D. Brock and Melissa Flaim and dance with Pauline Grossman, before becoming first in the program to graduate early.
Mackenzie has lived and worked extensively in the DC, NYC, and Philadelphia regions. Until its recent closure, she taught tap at University of the Arts. She is an award-winning dance competition choreographer in the Musical Theater category and assistant choreographed a production of Silence: the Musical which won the Washington, DC regional theatre award for Best Choreography. She is a recent transplant to New Jersey and loves spendng her (rare) time off at home with her incredibly supportive, non-theatrical boyfriend and her two cats.
Photo credit: Nicole Dube/SheSoPhoto
M E D I A
Reels:
cabaret:
Photo Credit: Tisa Della-Volpe
The producers:
Photo Credit: Lisa Schaffer Photography
Legally Blonde:
Kiss Me Kate:
Photo Credit: Tony Scardapane
Evita:
Shrek:
CatcH ME IF YOU CAN:
Photo Credit: Traci J. Brooks Studios
city of angels:
Photo Credit: Traci J. Brooks Studios
assassins:
Photo Credit: Lock & Company
reviews:
L
Legally Blonde - Elle Woods
"If you’ve seen the movie and are a fan of Reese Witherspoon’s performance as Elle, then you’ll adore Mackenzie Newbury in the lead. She possesses charm and poise throughout her numbers, with a voice that carried throughout the small theatre up to the balcony."
"The young actress playing Elle Woods in this local production has that same magnetism, that same 'certain something [as Laura Bell Bundy].' Making her debut at the Cumberland Theatre with a lead role, Mackenzie Newbury is downright effervescent and charming. With a Disney princess giggle in her inflection and a beauty queen in her stance, Newbury carries her character with charm and perk through a jilted engagement to a 'stalker-ish' plot to win back her beloved by attending the same law school as him (Harvard, no less) to ultimately realizing she is no 'dumb blonde' but 'Legally Blonde' and coming into her own power and her own discovery."
- Cumberland Times-News
Assassins - The proprietor
"Mackenzie Newbury as the sinister carnival Proprietor (a role traditionally played by a man) [...] brings sizzle and an undercurrent of sex and temptation to the role."
-DCist
shrek - princess fiona
"Princess Fiona is played by Mackenzie Newbury with an edge of true frustration that's lovely to see. Fiona is often played as if the romance of the rescue overrides all of her exhaustion from years of its not happening; Newbury's Fiona [...] still remembers all the niceties that are supposed to occur according to legend, but is just as happy, really, to get them out of the way.
Her duet with Shrek, "I Think I Got You Beat," is not only the surefire audience pleaser it always is, but carries some actual weariness on both sides, a tribute to the sheer dysfunction in both of their lives. Similarly, her first act introduction, "I Know It's Today," is as frustrated as it is comic, and you can feel Fiona being ready to throw fairy tale advice for captive princesses out the window of her very high tower."
-Broadway World
catch me if you can - brenda
"What’s a classic game of cat-and-mouse without a cheesy distraction for the mouse? For Frank Jr., the mouse’s name is Brenda (Mackenzie Newbury) and although far less cheesy and much more there stereotypical gooey-eyed ingénue in love, Newbury takes to the character with ease. Bright of voice and of sentimental mentality, the duet shared with Frank Jr., 'Seven Wonders' has a syrupy sweet sound and even fluffier feel to it.
There is a rather striking difference between this number and her only featured solo, 'Fly, Fly Away' wherein
Newbury showcases her vocal abilities and finds her emotional footholds in the lyrics of the song."
-TheatreBloom
"Providing Frank Jr. with a proper girl-next-door love interest is the excellent Mackenzie Newbury as Brenda, a real nurse to Frank's fake doctor who fall for each other. In spite of his impersonating a real physician, Brenda loves Frank for who he really is, even as his life of crime catches up to him. Newbury's voice aches with beauty as she urges her man to 'Fly, Fly Away.'"
-BroadwayWorld
"Highlights include... 'Seven Wonders,' a sweet love duet for Frank Jr. and Brenda; and 'Fly, Fly Away,' a powerful anthem for Brenda. Newbury belts out that last one with a passion and appeal that bring tears to the eyes."
-DC Metro Theatre Arts
"The dramatic narrative comes with Abagnale’s father, Frank Sr. (Doug S. Sanford), and mother, Paula (Carolyn Burke) and his eventual love, Brenda (Mackenzie Newbury)...Newbury easily has the best voice in the cast, and it’s on full display in 'Fly, Fly Away,' which stands out in a show whose music flows from one song to the next with nary a break."
-DC Theatre Scene
city of angels - mallory/avril
"The gorgeous Mackenzie Newbury as the 'Lost and Found' Mallory oozes sexuality and the recent CUA grad is just getting her feet wet in the professional theatre scene so I expect big things from her in the future."
-Broadway World DC
"Mackenzie Newbury as Mallory and Avril is the perfect 40s sex kitten with legs (and splits!) for days and a brassy, bright belt to match."
-DC Metro Theatre Arts
“As the long lost step-daughter, Mallory, Mackenzie Newbury steams it up as a sexy femme fatale"
-MD Theatre Guide
Voted DC Metro Theatre Arts "Scene Stealer" & "Best [Performances] of 2015"
The most happy fella - cleo
"Most of the less operatic comic numbers, which are priceless, go to Cleo (Mackenzie Newbury). Newbury is great in 'Ooh, my Feet' and 'I Don’t Like This Dame.' [. . .] 'The Big D' is a show-stopping number and Newbury and Smith both bring compelling acting to their songs."
- DC Metro Theatre Arts
Photo credit: Nicole Dube/SheSoPhoto
Photo credit: Marika Countouris Photography