Carly Rose Sonenclar (born April 20, 1999) is an American child actress, singer and songwriter. Carly Rose Sonenclar, age 13, started singing at the age of two and has not stopped since! She began her professional career in 2006 in The Night of the Hunter, in which she played the lead role of Pearl.
Early life
Sonenclar was born into a Jewish family in New York City and resides in Westchester County, New York. She began singing at age two, imitating several of the performers on the early years of American Idol. She took numerous singing, dancing and acting classes, and one of her teachers put her in touch with a New York City talent agency, which signed her. She enjoys softball and has an older brother, Russell.Career
Sonenclar began her professional career in 2006 in The Night of the Hunter at the New York Musical Theater Festival in which she played the lead role of Pearl. In that same year, she made her Broadway debut in Les Miserables as Young Cosette. In 2009, she appeared in the national tour of Little House of the Prairie the Musical, starring Melissa Gilbert, originating the principal role of Carrie. Sonenclar made her television debut as Gilda Flip, the newest Prankster and protégé of the lovably evil Francine Carruthers, the leader of the Pranksters, in season three of The Electric Company, produced by Sesame Workshop and airing on PBS.In 2011, Sonenclar originated the principal role of Chloe in the short-lived musical Wonderland on Broadway and the earlier Tampa workshop. This musical featured music by Frank Wildhorn, best known for the musical Jekyll and Hyde. In this role, she garnered good reviews including one by The New York Times theater critic Charles Isherwood, who described Sonenclar as a good actress and an "almost preternaturally skilled singer" and comparisons to Sutton Foster. She is a featured soloist on the cast CD produced by Sony Masterworks and was named the 2011 Best Young Performer by broadwayworld.com. Most recently, Sonenclar originated the lead role of Parsley in The Big Bank, a new musical which was performed at the New York Musical Theater Festival in October, 2011.
Sonenclar has sung the National Anthem for the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium and at the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament in New York City. She has performed at numerous charity benefits including one at which she was accompanied by the ex-New York Yankee great, Bernie Williams, who is a world-class Puerto Rican-born guitarist and recording artist.
Sonenclar has appeared in two feature movies, a small role in The Nanny Diaries playing "child of nanny" and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, and has made numerous TV guest appearances, including ABC News, WPIX Morning News and NBC News.
In 2012, she auditioned for season two of The X Factor with the song "Feeling Good" originally sung by Nina Simone and was highly praised by all four judges, advancing to the next round. Simon Cowell awarded her "4,833 yeses". Soon after, she advanced through the first day of 'boot camp'. She was of the half that got through out of 120 people. She was one of six contestants in the teens category to perform at the Judges Houses stage of the competition, for Britney Spears and her guest judge Will.I.Am, performing the song "Brokenhearted". Both Spears and Will.I.Am responded positively to her performance, referring to her as being possessed.
