Burnsville-born, Eagan-educated, Tony-nominated

Right now, Burnsville native Laura Osnes is the talk of the town and the toast of Broadway—not bad for a girl born and raised south of the river. Last week, Osnes was nominated for a Tony Award for her work on "Bonnie & Clyde," the musical.

Though the show received mixed or modest reviews, it inspired plenty of good buzz for Osnes, a graduate of Eagan High. She's been interviewed by New York Times Magazine about her beauty regimen (Hint: lots of planking), is the subject of many fawning blogs, and was recently spotlighted in Vanity Fair which warmly prasied her "Ivory-soap looks and clarion pipes."

"We remain skeptical about placing two homicidal, sociopathic bank robbers at the center of a big-ticket pop musical, but if anyone can make this project work it’s Laura Osnes," the author concluded.

If you're still not convinced, consider this: The top google search connected with her name is "Laura Osnes husband." Obviously, she has quite a few admirers.

Clearly, it's her moment, the one she's been working up to since her first acting performance in the second grade, when she played a munchkin in The Wizard of Oz. We at Patch will be crossing our fingers until the winners are announced on June 10.

Osnes is not the only Minnesotan to be honored with a Tony nomination in 2012. Check out this article in MinnPost if you'd like to know more.