Rebecca Luker (April 17, 1961 – December 23, 2020) was an American actress, singer, and recording artist, noted for her "crystal clear operatic soprano" and for maintaining long runs in Broadway musicals over the course of her three-decade-long career.

[3] Beginning in regional theatre productions in the early 1980s, Luker made her Broadway debut in the original cast of The Phantom of the Opera as a Christine understudy and later took over the role as the principal actress.

She was nominated for three Tony Awards, for her performances as Magnolia in Show Boat (1994), Marian in The Music Man (2000) and Winifred in Mary Poppins (2006), another role that she created.

[1][4][5] She attended the University of Montevallo, earning a BA in music, taking a year off in 1984 to perform in Sweeney Todd as Johanna Barker at the Michigan Opera Theatre.

[12] She later replaced Victoria Clark as Crazy Marie/the Fairy Godmother in the Broadway production of Cinderella for an engagement that lasted from September 2013 to January 2014.

[13] Luker joined the cast of Fun Home at the Circle in the Square Theatre on Broadway, temporarily assuming the role of Helen Bechdel from April 5, 2016 to May 22, 2016.

[14] Luker appeared Off-Broadway in The Vagina Monologues,[15] Indian Summer, X (Life of Malcolm X), Brigadoon,[citation needed] Death Takes a Holiday,[15] and Can't Let Go.

[citation needed] Her TV appearances include Boardwalk Empire, The Good Wife, Matlock, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and the Hallmark movie Cupid & Cate.

She performed a solo concert as part of the American Songbook Series at Lincoln Center in 2005, featuring 20 songs composed by a group of younger songwriters including Paul Loesel, Scott Burkell, Jeff Blumenkranz, Barry Kleinbort, and Joseph Thalken.