JULIE BENKO is best known for her star turn as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl on Broadway, where she was named the 2022 Breakout Star for Theatre by The New York Times. Her other Broadway and National Tour credits include Harmony (Ruth), Fiddler on the Roof, Cosette in Les Miserables, and Spring Awakening. Regional highlights include Girl in Once at Weston Playhouse and Bella in Rags at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, where she received a Theater Bay Area Awards nomination for Beat Featured Actress in a Musical. She has also been seen regionally as Rebeca in Barrington Stage Company's world premiere musical The Golem of Havana (a 2015 IRNE Best New Play nominee), Cosette in Les Miserables at North Carolina Theater and Amarillo Opera, and Olive in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at the Downtown Cabaret Theater. Other career highlights include singing alongside the stars at the 85th Academy Awards ceremony as well as on the 70th Tony Awards telecast. In February of 2017, Ms. Benko won both the Gold Medal and the Johnny Mercer Award in the American Traditions Vocal Competition in Savannah, Georgia. Her debut jazz album was released in October 2017. Julie holds a BFA in Drama with honors from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.