Personal Information
Jane Lanier was born in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, and previously married John Rubinstein. At the age of 19, she traveled to New York City to visit and secured a role in the pre-Broadway production of the musical Colette, written by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt and starring Diana Rigg. Following the show's road tour, she relocated permanently to New York, where she spent many years working as a dancer, singer, and actress on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and across the country. Her Broadway credits feature a starring role in Fosse, which earned her a Drama Desk Award Nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, as well as appearances in Jerome Robbins' Broadway (directed by Jerome Robbins, earning a Tony Award Nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical), Guys and Dolls (directed by Jerry Zaks), Sweet Charity (directed by Bob Fosse), Anything Goes (directed by Jerry Zaks and starring Patti LuPone), and On Your Toes (directed by George Abbott). In the early 1990s, Lanier moved to Los Angeles. Her television and film work includes guest and recurring roles in Glee, Murder One, Diagnosis Murder, The Shield, and Medium, alongside lead roles in the independent film Mercy and the Nora Ephron-directed Michael, starring John Travolta. She joined the Interact Theatre Co, where she performed in numerous plays, including Counsellor at Law directed by John Rubinstein, a production that received LA Critics Circle, Ovation, and Drama Logue Awards. Transitioning into choreography, her credits include serving as Associate Choreographer for Guys and Dolls: Broadway 2009, and choreographing Ring of Fire at La Mirada, No Way to Treat a Lady at Colony Theatre, Kiss of the Spider Woman for the Musical Theatre Guild, and Little Fish and Wild Party for The Blank Theatre Co. The production of Wild Party garnered LA Weekly and Beverly Garland Awards, along with Ovation and NAACP Award Nominations. Further choreography work includes Johnny Guitar (staged both Off-Broadway at The Century Theatre and at La Mirada), Smokey Joe's Cafe and Pippin at Fifth Ave Theatre Seattle, Kiss Me Kate for Musical Theatre West, Nightingale at Vineyard Theatre NYC, and Guys and Dolls, Little Night Music, and Music Man for Interact Theatre Co, in addition to several national commercials. Lanier eventually became a director, helming staged readings of Yesterday, Quicksand, and The Swan for the Jukebox Young Playwrights Festival at The Blank Theatre Co. Her directing portfolio also includes The Connex by Dan Friedenbruger for the Fremont Theatre and Interact Theatre, Smell of the Kill for Interact Theatre, and Out of My Mind for guerilLA Theatre Co, written by Steven Cane, the head writer of The Closer.
