Lena Hall

Had her tonsils removed at age 26, which made her voice change at the same time that she joined a rock band, The Deafening. Hall stated that it was good because it forced her to sing in ways other than musical theater and classical. It forced her to find the grittiness and the Janis Joplin stuff, in a way that she wouldn't hurt her voice so that she could perform for an hour and still be fine; she's really grateful for that because it made her more of a diverse performer and singer.

[on her name change - Broadway.com, July 2013] I came up with the name Lena Hall a couple of years ago. It was an idea for my rock persona, but the response for that name was so good. Multiple people in the industry suggested I have one name for everything. [Lena Hall] is just two shortenings of my first name and my last name. So Lena Hall is Celina Carvajal. It seemed like an easier way of people getting to know me. Lena Hall is a nice symmetrical name, and it reminds people of Lena Horne, who was a singer. And when people hear my name, I want them to think of a singer.