This Award-Winning Actress is Touch & Talented
By Carolyn Forche'
Being Single Magazine - Aug./Sept. 2004


Tonya Pinkins is currently on Broadway as the star of the critically acclaimed musical, Caroline, or Change, and she also plays "Livia Frye" on the popular ABC daytime drama, "All My Children." Tonya, who received a Tony Award for her role as "Sweet Anita" in Jelly's Last Jam, has been nominated for the Tony Award this year in the Best Actress category. However, beneath the glitter and glam of her current success lies an incredible story of pain, loss, survival and success.

Every night is ladies' night on Broadway, thanks to a cluster of new stars who are revitalizing the Diva tradition. By Adam Feldman

Historians of the Broadway musical, from the academy to the piano bar, agree on one thing: The archetypal Broadway star is a woman. Merman, Martin, Verdon, Channing?legendary ladies such as these were the bulbs that lit the Broadway marquee in the Golden Age, and they still dominate the mythology of the genre. Great dames have become rarer, but the past Broadway sea-son offers hope to show-tune fans everywhere: The divas are back. In recent years, audiences could consider themselves lucky when a season offered a single first-rate, tell-your-friends diva turn. This one has had four: Donna Murphy in Wonderful Town, Tonya Pinkins in Caroline, or Change, and Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel in Wicked. All of these performers carry their shows, and have enjoyed unanimously rapturous reviews; in nearly any other year, any one of them would be a shoo-in for a Tony Award. "Stand-out performances, no doubt about it," says Gerald Schoenfeld, chair-man of the Shubert Organization, the city's largest theater owner.

Soap Opera Digest - Aug. 17,2004

Tonya Pinkins (Livia, ALL MY CHILDREN) has quite a story to tell. This is known to Digest even before she tells it; although it's been a long while (more than 13 years) since she's been the subject of a full-length profile in these pages, her tale has made its way to print in such distinguished sources as The New York Times, which devoted more than 3000 words to it in May, and 0, The Oprah Magazine, which earlier this year bestowed one of its "First Annual Chutzpah Awards" upon her.

After a heady rise and humiliating fall, AMC's Tonya Pinkins is relishing her second shot at success By Gabrielle Winkel
Soap Opera Weekly - August 10, 2004

It's summer 2004 and the living seems easy for All My Children' Tonya Pinkins (Livia). She's everywhere, or about to be. TV. Broadway. The big screen. The record store. 0, The Oprah Magazine included her in their first-annual Chutzpah Awards.