Ranson has appeared on Broadway in Jez Butterworth's Jerusalem and the Steppenwolf production of August: Osage County. She continued with August: Osage County at the National Theatre in London and at the Sydney Theatre Company in Australia.
Other theatre credits include The Burnt Part Boys and Pride and Prejudice.
She is a graduate of LaGuardia Arts High School, where she was the recipient of a Drama Desk Scholarship Award.
| Full given name: | Molly Abigail Ranson
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| Where you were born/where you were raised: | Upper West Side of Manhattan |
| Zodiac Sign: | Cancer |
| What your parents did/do for a living: | My mom works in the pharmaceutical advertising industry. My dad was a carpenter. He helped build many a movie set and also a lot of the furniture I still use today. |
| Current audition song/monologue: | I tend to try to find a song that fits the show perfectly and will often drive myself insane clicking through iTunes. |
| Special skills: | I have some nifty levitation tricks up my sleeve, thanks to Carrie. |
| Something you're REALLY bad at: | Getting rid of things. I attach way too much sentimental value to everything. |
| First Broadway show you ever saw: | Hello Dolly! with Carol Channing when I was 5. I enjoyed it but remember being confused as to why it was so different from the movie. |
| If you could go back in time and catch any performance, what would it be? | Original cast of A Chorus Line and Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl |
| Current shows you have been recommending to friends: | Sleep No More and Once |
| Favorite showtune of all time: | “I Could Have Danced All Night” from My Fair Lady “Hello Dolly” from Hello Dolly! “Maybe this Time” from Cabaret “Edelweiss” from The Sound of Music |
| Some favorite modern musicals: | Movie musicals I grew up on like My Fair Lady, The Music Man, The Sound of Music, Fiddler on the Roof... I also love pretty much everything by Sondheim, and more recently I loved The Light in the Piazza. |
| Favorite contemporary plays: | I’m a big fan of Stephen Adly Guirgis and Martin McDonagh |
| Stage or screen star of the past you would most have loved to perform with: | Charlie Chaplin |
| Your personal acting idols, living or dead: | Marin Mazzie is a huge inspiration to me. I also have learned so much from and deeply respect my castmates in August: Osage County and Jerusalem. |
| The one performance – attended - that you will never forget: | The final performance of A Normal Heart |
| Music that makes you cry, any genre: | Show overtures. The lights go down, the music starts, and that's it. |
| What you learned from Mark Rylance: | The beauty of being spontaneous and how to take a bloody curtain call! |
| MAC or PC? | MAC |
| Most played song on your iPod: | "Blue Ridge Mountains" by Fleet Foxes. I listen to the whole album a lot. |
| Most-visited websites: | YouTube |
| Last book you read: | "Be Here Now" by Ram Dass |
| Last good movie you saw: | "The Artist" |
| Some films you consider classics: | "The Graduate" "Charade" "The Wizard of Oz" |
| Favorite horror films of all time: | "Rosemary’s Baby" "Carrie" "Paranormal Activity" "Nosferatu" "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" |
| What was your experience with/knowledge of the Carrie musical prior to becoming involved? | I didn’t know anything about the musical but had always been a fan of the movie. |
| Performer you would drop everything to go see: | Mark Rylance performing Shakespeare |
| Pop culture guilty pleasure: | “Jersey Shore” |
| Favorite cities: | New York is obviously my favorite, but I also love Paris, Sydney and London. |
| First CD/Tape/LP you owned: | Spice Girls |
| Favorite non-theatre musicians/bands/groups: | Beatles, Beck, Animal Collective, Vampire Weekend, Fleet Foxes, Buena Vista Social Club, CocoRosie, Astrud Gilberto, Regina Spektor, David Bowie, Queen, Arcade Fire |
| First stage kiss: | The boy who played Danny to my Sandy in Grease at Long Lake Camp for the Arts circa 2004. |
| Favorite or most memorable onstage role as a child/teenager: | Most memorable: A tree in New York City Ballet’s production of Sleeping Beauty when I was 9. I had to wear a hooded brown unitard and my head got stuck in the costume. The wardrobe women had to cut it apart to get me out of it. |
| How you got your Equity card: | Understudying in August: Osage County |
| Favorite pre-/post- show meal: | I’ve recently taken up eating organic baby food from a squeeze tube. I buy it from Health and Harmony down the block on Hudson. It’s a quick, nourishing pre-show snack. My castmates enjoy making fun of me for it. |
| Favorite liquid refreshment: | Anything from Juice Generation. My current favorite is Mate Zen. |
| Pre-show rituals or warm-ups: | Stretching, vocalizing, breathing and drinking hot water with apple cider vinegar |
| Most challenging role you have ever played: | Carrie! |
| Worst flubbed line/missed cue/onstage mishap: | Before we mastered all the quick changes, I had a few hilarious costume mishaps for the volley ball section of the opening number, "In." I've performed the section wearing the knee pads I use for "And Eve Was Weak" since I put them on too early, and I forgot to wear my gym shorts once and played volley ball wearing my long skirt. |
| Worst costume ever: | The unitard tree costume |
| Leading lady role you've been dying to play: | Annie... I think I missed my chance. |
| Leading man role you wish you could play: | Tevye |
| Something about you that surprises people: | I'm quite a handyman. I love fixing things. |
| Something you are incredibly proud of: | Being a part of this show for the past two years. |
| Your New Year's Resolution for 2012: | To be in each moment |
| Career you would want if not a performer: | A plumber. I LOVE unclogging drains. |
| Three things you can't live without: | Food, water and oxygen. |
| Words of advice for aspiring performers: | Value and trust your uniqueness. |
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