Lorraine Vélez (born November 2, 1964) is an American singer and actress of Puerto Rican descent, who has specialized in musical theatre. Her name has sometimes appeared as Loraine Velez. She is the identical twin sister of actress Lauren Vélez. Early life Lauren and Lorraine's parents moved from Puerto Rico in the early 1950s and lived in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City. The twins were born in Brooklyn, New York. They have five other sisters and one brother. Their father, a New York City Police Department officer, eventually bought a house in Far Rockaway, Queens, and moved there with his wife and eight children. The twins enjoyed setting up improvised plays and acting for the family, and they participated in nearly all their high school productions, such as Fiddler on the Roof. After graduating from high school, they each received scholarships to attend the Alvin Ailey Dance School. They both went on to study acting at the Acting Studio with its founding artistic director James Price, the protégé and personal friend of Sanford Meisner. Early career Lorraine's first professional job was singing and acting for the Theater for the New City (TNC) in the East Village. She went on to play in Dreamgirls at the Ambassador Theater on Broadway, and she performed in the off-Broadway production of Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? She played Leah and Sister Hilton in the original Black Nativity at the Master Theater, Young Maria in Maria de Buenos Aires at Houston Grand Opera, and Anita in West Side Story at the Lakeview Theater, Virginia. In the independent film A Day Out of Days, she took the role of Roxanne. With a production of Blues in the Night, she toured throughout Central and South America, and she sang in Japan and France. West End and Broadway career In 1993, Vélez moved to London, where she worked regularly for a number of years on the West End stage. She played Carmen in the original cast of the musical Fame, which opened to standing ovations at the Prince of Wales and Cambridge Theatres. Vélez recorded the title track of the Fame CD, which was released by Polydor Records. Fame also played at The Theatre Royal, Plymouth. In addition, Lorraine played Hannah in Out of the Blue at the Shaftesbury Theatre, Lena Horne in Mama, I Want to Sing! at the Prince of Wales Theatre, and