Morrison left Boston Conservatory, attended the HB Studios in New York, spent time in San Francisco before arriving back in Chicago. At 19, she joined
The Benny Kim Show, a 7-member family band created by Korean Big Band leader Benny Kim. As Emcee and singer/trombone player she wore a black afro wig and a '70s white jump suit with glitter and fringe. They played nightclubs and Holiday Inns in and around Chicago for the next year. This ended when while on stage it was announced that she would marry the second eldest son and left the show. Morrison was admitted to an apprentice program that
Burt Reynolds was sponsoring at his
Jupiter, Florida dinner theater. Besides singing in the lobby before performances the 10 member group would work back stage on the crew. This gave Morrison the chance to watch and get to know the TV and film stars (
Tyne Daly,
Sally Field, and
Kate Jackson) some of whom were making a stage debut. She was given an opportunity when it was decided she would play the Girl in
The Fantasticks. At the end of the year-long program each apprentice earned their Actors' Equity Association card by signing a contract for
The Sound Of Music (Morrison played Sister Margaretta), the last show of the season. Prior to that they each appeared on
Dinah! when
Dinah Shore brought her daytime TV talk show to the stage of the Burt Reynolds Theater for one week. Morrison sang
"I Can Cook Too" wearing a 1940s style costume with hat and gloves. After wowing Dinah and the live audience,
Burt Reynolds declared that Morrison was the one to watch and that we would probably see her on Broadway in a year or so. Having Earned her AEA card, Morrison moved to New York where within a month was cast in a new Waldman/Uhry musical
Dream Time. Regional productions of
Grease,
Babes In Arms and
Godspell followed. Then she was cast in a role that would change her life. After seeing her play silent film actress
Mabel Normand in a new musical
Keystone at the GEVA Theatre in Rochester, NY, famed choreographer
Ron Field told her she should play Mary Flynn in the new Sondheim/Furth musical
Merrily We Roll Along. All of the roles had been cast but
Harold Prince was still looking for Mary. She was flown to New York for a first audition for the casting director, then returned to GEVA to finish her run. Back in New York, on her 25th birthday she was asked to sing for Harold Prince and Stephen Sondheim. She recalls in interviews that Prince walked down to the stage and offered her the role of Mary. They would begin rehearsals 6 months later. Much has been written about what happened when
Merrily We Roll Along opened on Broadway. During 6 weeks of previews (52 performances) James Weisenbach was replaced by
Jim Walton and
Larry Fuller took over as choreographer when
Ron Field was replaced. Morrison claims that there were changes in every performance until 3 days before opening. The morning after the show closed, the cast went into the studios at
RCA Records to make the Original Broadway Cast recording. The next spring, Morrison received a
Theatre World Award for her performance as Mary Flynn. Together with former
Merrily castmate
Jason Alexander, she replaced the original cast of
Forbidden Broadway at Palsson's in New York. She impersonated
Mary Martin,
Julie Andrews,
Carol Channing and appeared on TV on
The Merv Griffin Show as
Patti LuPone in
Evita. While playing in
Forbidden Broadway she taped a TV version of
Keystone for broadcast on New Jersey Network, reprising her role as
Mabel Normand. American producer Louis Busch Hager wanted to cast an American actress in the title role of a new musical version of ''
Peg O' My Heart set for the West End in London. He cast Morrison after her London audition and back in New York she began a series of backers auditions while working with composer David Heneker (Half A Sixpence). Heneker completed the song Manhattan Hometown'' while he and Morrison were staying at Hager's Cooperstown, NY home.
Peg as the musical was now titled, began rehearsals in London for an April 1984 opening. She was welcomed by her British cast of West End stars
Sian Phillips, Edward Duke, and Patricia Michael, in a small production (9 characters, no chorus) giving them a modest run through the summer. They made a cast recording before Morrison returned to New York. In the years that followed, Morrison created the role of Lizzie in the highly acclaimed Polly Pen/Peggy Harmon musical
Goblin Market first Off-Off Broadway at the
Vineyard Theatre, then moving to Circle In The Square Downtown Off Broadway. This earned her a
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical nomination. With Teri Klausner she made an Original Cast recording with JAY Records. In her new home of Los Angeles she played Faye Apple in the West Coast Premiere of
Anyone Can Whistle and won a
Dramalogue Award for
Blame It On The Movies II. In regional theaters across the country she has starred in
Peter Pan,
Guys and Dolls,
Little Shop Of Horrors,
Cabaret,
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever,
Oliver!,
Good News, musical versions of ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night and Love's Labour's Lost, Can-Can, Sunset Boulevard, Shadowlands
and On The Verge. She has done countless cabaret performances and concerts, most notably the S.T.A.G.E. benefits for APLA, the Merrily We Roll Along Reunion Concert in 2002 and the Stephen Sondheim birthday celebration, Children And Art'', at the
New Amsterdam Theater. In 2006
Harold Prince secured her for the workshop and several backers auditions for the new musical
LoveMusik, to play
Lotte Lenya opposite
Michael Cerveris as
Kurt Weill. When the show opened on Broadway, the role went to
Donna Murphy and a small role was added for Morrison who understudied and performed as
Lotte Lenya on May 13, 2007. Morrison is currently touring the U.S. in the title role of the 2025-26 National Tour of
Kimberly Akimbo. ==Recordings==