Ciara Renée Harper (born October 19, 1990) is an American actress and musician. She is best known for her roles on Broadway as The Witch in ''

Big Fish ''Big Fish'' is a 2003 American fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Tim Burton, and based on the 1998 novel of the same name by Daniel Wallace. The film stars Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange, Helena Bonham Car ...

,'' the Leading Player in ''

Pippin Pippin or Pepin may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Pippin (comics), ''Pippin'' (comics), a children's comic produced from 1966 to 1986 * Pippin (musical), ''Pippin'' (musical), a Broadway musical by Stephen Schwartz loosely based on the life ...

'', and Elsa in '' Frozen.'' She played Esmeralda in ''The Hunchback of Notre Dame'' at

Paper Mill Playhouse Paper Mill Playhouse is a regional theater with approximately 1200 seats, located in Millburn, New Jersey on the Rahway River. Due to its relatively close location to Manhattan, it draws from the pool of actors (and audience members) who live i ...

and

La Jolla Playhouse La Jolla Playhouse is a not-for-profit, professional theatre on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. History La Jolla Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, and Mel Ferrer. In 1983, it was revived under ...

. She starred as Kendra Saunders / Hawkgirl in the CW series '' DC's Legends of Tomorrow'', a spin-off of '' Arrow'' and '' The Flash.'' Her vocal type is mezzo-soprano.

Early life

Renée was born and raised in

Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. She attended

Central Dauphin East High School Central Dauphin East High School is a large, suburban, public high school located in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. It is one of two high schools operated by the Central Dauphin School District. In the 2017–2018 school year, enrollmen ...

and graduated with a degree in Music Theatre from

Baldwin Wallace University Baldwin Wallace University (BW) is a private university in Berea, Ohio. It was founded in 1845 as Baldwin Institute by Methodist businessman John Baldwin. The school merged with nearby German Wallace College in 1913 to become Baldwin-Wallace C ...

in 2013.

Career

In fall September 2013, Renée made her Broadway debut at the Neil Simon Theatre as The Witch in ''Big Fish'' after working in a pre-Broadway workshop of ''Bull Durham''. In February of the following year, she was cast in a revival of the musical ''Pippin'', replacing Patina Miller as the Leading Player. Renée guest-starred on '' Law & Order: SVU'' in the fall of 2014 on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

. Based on the

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

novel and animated Disney film of the same name, Renée took on the role of Esmeralda in a musical adaptation of ''

The Hunchback of Notre Dame ''The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'' (french: Notre-Dame de Paris, translation=''Our Lady of Paris'', originally titled ''Notre-Dame de Paris. 1482'') is a French Gothic novel by Victor Hugo, published in 1831. It focuses on the unfortunate story ...

'' at the Paper Mill Playhouse in association with the La Jolla Playhouse from March 15 to April 5 of 2015, a performance the NY Daily News described as "earthy and lovely". In March 2015, it was announced that Renée had been cast as Kendra Saunders / Hawkgirl in The CW's spin-off series ''DC's Legends of Tomorrow'', an expansion of the network's existing universe of

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

adaptations. She joined co-stars

Caity Lotz Caitlin Marie Lotz (born December 30, 1986) is an American actress, dancer and singer. She has portrayed Stephanie Horton in '' Mad Men'', Officer Kirsten Landry in the MTV mockumentary series ''Death Valley'' (2011), Annie in '' The Pact'' (201 ...

Brandon Routh Brandon James Routh (; born October 9, 1979) is an American actor. He portrayed Superman in the 2006 film '' Superman Returns'', which garnered him international fame. In 2011, he played the titular character of the film '' Dylan Dog: Dead of N ...

Franz Drameh Franz Alhusaine Drameh (born 5 January 1993) is an English actor. His film debut was in Clint Eastwood's fantasy drama, ''Hereafter'' (2010). He also appeared in British film ''Attack the Block'' (2011) and the 2014 blockbuster ''Edge of Tomorr ...

Dominic Purcell Dominic Haakon Myrtved PurcellO'Connor, B,Break Out". ''Men's Fitness''. December/January 2007 Issue; retrieved 18 December 2006. (born 17 February 1970) is a British-Australian actor. He is best known for his portrayals of Lincoln Burrows in ...

Victor Garber Victor Joseph Garber (born March 16, 1949) is a Canadian-American actor and singer. Known for his work in film, television, and theatre, he has been nominated for three Gemini Awards, four Tony Awards, and six Primetime Emmy Awards. He has also ...

Wentworth Miller Wentworth Earl Miller III (born June 2, 1972) is an American-British actor and screenwriter. He rose to prominence following his starring role as Michael Scofield in the Fox series ''Prison Break'', for which he received a nomination for the ...

, and

Arthur Darvill Thomas Arthur Darvill (born 17 June 1982) is an English actor. He is known for portraying Rory Williams, a companion of the Eleventh Doctor in the television series ''Doctor Who'' (2010–2012), as well as Rip Hunter in ''Legends of Tomorrow'' ...

. Renée made a special guest appearance as Kendra Saunders on the first-season finale of ''The Flash'' on May 20, 2015. In 2016, Renée played Susan in the Off-Broadway revival of

Jonathan Larson Jonathan David Larson (February 4, 1960 – January 25, 1996) was an American composer, lyricist and playwright most famous for writing the musicals ''Rent'' and '' Tick, Tick... Boom!'', which explored the social issues of multiculturalism, ...

's autobiographical musical '' Tick, Tick... Boom!''. The production ran from October 20 to December 18. In the summer of 2017, she played Mary Magdalene in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical '' Jesus Christ Superstar'' at

The Muny The St. Louis Municipal Opera Theatre (commonly known as The Muny) is an amphitheatre, amphitheater located in St. Louis, Missouri. The theatre seats 11,000 people with about 1,500 free seats in the last nine rows that are available on a first ...

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. It was announced on January 15, 2020 that Renee will return to Broadway to play Elsa in '' Frozen'' beginning February 18. However, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, all Broadway theatres were closed in March 2020. Disney later announced ''Frozen'' will not reopen after the lockdown is lifted. Renee replaced country singer

Jennifer Nettles Jennifer Odessa Nettles (born September 12, 1974) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and record producer. Nettles is the lead vocalist of the duo Sugarland alongside Kristian Bush, and prior to this she fronted the Atlanta-based band ...

as Jenna in the Broadway musical ''

Waitress Waiting staff (British English), waitstaff (North American English), waiters (male) / waitresses (female), or servers (North American English), are those who work at a restaurant, a diner, or a bar and sometimes in private homes, attending ...

'' on November 25, 2021.

Personal life

Ciara's mother's heritage comes from a mix of European cultures. Her father's heritage comes from African, Middle Eastern, Native American, and European cultures.

Filmography

Theatre

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Renee, Ciara Living people 1990 births Musicians from Pennsylvania American television actresses American musical theatre actresses American mezzo-sopranos 21st-century American actresses African-American actresses American people of Native American descent American people of European descent 21st-century African-American women singers