In the “where are they now” department, we check in today with a longtime member of the bluegrass community, Carol Beaugard, who served for nearly 30 years as the host of Lonesome Pine RFD on WFDU, broadcast from the campus of Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, NJ.
The show reached a wide broadcast audience, including New York City, where a full generation of bluegrass fans had grown accustomed to her voice announcing new music each week on the show. In 2007 it was picked up by Bluegrass Country and re-aired several times each week on their worldwide streaming signal.
She started doing radio while in college, studying theater, but was initially attracted to jazz and Latin music. She was bitten by the bluegrass bug after school and launched Lonesome Pine RFD in 1985. Bluegrass became a passion over the years, so much so that she even married a banjo player!
But in 2014, Carol took the plunge and decided to pursue her acting career full time. Theater was something she had always enjoyed, and Beaugard did regular work in New York, off-broadway, and on television as well as radio. It simply came to a point where doing both wouldn’t work, with the weekly WFDU commitment cutting into her ability to accept roles that were coming her way.
Since that time, she has appeared in a number of film and television shorts, and played lead roles in several NYC theater productions. Recently Carol received the Best Actress Award from the Strawberry Theatre Festival for her portrayal of Grandma Carmen in The Plastic Couch.
Now she has been cast as Yente, the matchmaker, in the North American tour for the Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof. Anyone who has seen the theatrical or film edition of this classic musical knows this is a central role, and a big break for Beaugard to be seen on stage all over the US.
Carol tells us this is something she has been working towards almost her whole life.
“This is my first national tour and I’m absolutely thrilled to win the comical lead role of Yente. Fiddler was the first show I ever did as a young girl and it’s one of my favorite musicals of all time. The show’s message of love, life and hope is inspiring and poignantly relevant. The music is familiar and joyous. I can’t wait to bring this incredible celebration to audiences around the country.”
Congratulations to Carol for this achievement!
Ticket information for the tour can be found online.
