sentences:  Following college, she was active in community theatre in San Diego, California, and subsequently received her Actor's Equity card at the La Jolla Playhouse through a production of "Silent Edward", a musical written by Des McAnuff, who was Artistic Director of the La Jolla Playhouse at the time and who would later direct Ripley in her Broadway debut in "The Who's Tommy".In her 1993 debut, Ripley played a Local Lass and the Specialist's Assistant in the original cast of "The Who's Tommy"; she also understudied the role of Mrs. Walker.Broadway roles that followed were Betty Schaefer in "Sunset Boulevard" (1994), Bathsheba in "King David" (1997), Violet Hilton in "Side Show" (1997), Fantine in "Les Misérables" (1998), Molly Ivors in "James Joyce's The Dead" (2000), Janet Weiss in "The Rocky Horror Show" (2000), one of The Sweethearts in "Dreamgirls", the concert (2001), and Diana Goodman in "Next to Normal" (2009).