Ann Harada

Ann Harada is an American actress and singer known for originating the role of Christmas Eve in '' Avenue Q''.

Early life

Harada was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. She attended the Punahou School and was active in theatre in high school. After college at Brown University, she moved to New York City and worked with producer Suzanne Schwartz. She performed with the New York City Gay Men's Chorus, did cabaret, and appeared in the Broadway production of '' M. Butterfly''.

Career

Harada earned her Equity card in 1987 when she was cast in Maury Yeston and Larry Gelbart's ''1,2,3,4,5'' at Manhattan Theatre Club. She is a member of the Vineyard Theatre's Community of Artists and appeared in four original musicals there, including ''Hit the Lights!.''

In 1998, Harada starred in the National Asian American Theatre Company's production of '' Falsettoland''. Peter Marks of ''The New York Times'' described her rendition of "Holding to the Ground" as a "full-throttle success." Also in 1998, Harada had a small part in the Todd Solondz film ''Happiness.''

Harada was in the original Broadway company of '' Seussical'' in 2000. She had also been in its first workshop and all of the pre-Broadway iterations of the show.

''Avenue Q''

Harada got involved in '' Avenue Q'' starting with the first performance of the show at the York Theatre in 2000. Lyricist Amanda Green had recommended Harada to ''Avenue Q'' writers Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx. Harada opened ''Avenue Q'' at the Vineyard Theatre in New York in March 2003 and moved with the show to Broadway that July. She took a break for parental leave in late 2004, returning in early 2005. Harada left the Broadway company of ''Avenue Q'' on 26 February 2006. In June 2006, she opened the London production of ''Avenue Q'' at the Noël Coward Theatre in the West End. She played her last performance on 18 November 2006. She is the only actor who played the role of Christmas Eve in both the Broadway and West End productions of ''Avenue Q''.

About her performance in the Broadway production, Ben Brantley wrote in ''The New York Times'': " e deliver in the show's wittiest coup de théâtre, a full-throated ballad in the manner of a 1950's musical diva...in a shivery, rafters-shaking alto." Hilton Als of ''The New Yorker'' called her "a funny girl who can sing, act, and let the audience in on the joke all at the same time."

On July 6, 2009, Harada returned as part of the final Broadway cast of '' Avenue Q''. The show closed on September 13, 2009.

In 2009, Harada reprised the character of Christmas Eve for a series of one-night-only benefits for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS originally entitled ''Christmas Eve with Christmas Eve,'' singing reinterpretations of duets with Broadway leading men. The fifth edition on December 14, 2015, was renamed ''Christmas Eve's Holiday Hunkfest''. The final edition of ''Hunkfest'' was on December 14, 2016.

2000s

On April 24, 2007, Harada joined the Broadway company of ''Les Misérables'' playing Madame Thénardier; she replaced Jenny Galloway. Harada left ''Les Misérables'' on October 30, 2007, being replaced by Galloway.

Harada was featured Wes Anderson-directed commercials for AT&T.

Harada was a guest on John Tartaglia's television show '' Johnny and the Sprites'', singing the Laurence O'Keefe song "Everything Must Go" on an episode entitled "The Sprites Save Grotto's Grove". It premiered on the Disney Channel on 22 March 2008.

Harada was in The Muny's production of '' High School Musical on Stage!'' in 2008, playing the drama teacher Ms. Darbus.

She was in the original cast of ''9 to 5'' as Kathy and in the ensemble through June 21, 2009. She left to return to the cast of ''Avenue Q''.

2010s

In May 2011, she played the role of Annette in a production of '' God of Carnage'' at George Street Playhouse.

Her recording of "A Last Confession" on Steve Marzullo's album ''Show Some Beauty'' was a featured in USA Today in June 2011.

She appeared as Linda the stage manager in eighteen episodes of NBC's '' Smash''.

From January 2013 to December 2014, she appeared in the original Broadway production of ''Cinderella'' as the stepsister Charlotte. In its review of the show, '' Variety'' said that Harada gives "a hoot of a perf."

Harada was the star of her own installment of the 2014 American Songbook series at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Allen Room in New York City on 22 February 2014.

Harada was in the original cast of the musical ''Brooklynite'', which opened its world premiere run at the Vineyard Theatre in New York on 25 February 2015.

On 8 June 2015, in a one-night-only concert of ''Bombshell'', ''Smashs show-within-the show, Harada reprised her role as Linda and performed ''"''I Never Met a Wolf Who Didn't Love to Howl".

In June 2016, Harada appeared as Maggie Jones in The Muny's production of '' 42nd Street'' and in its production of '' Mamma Mia!'' in July.

In October 2016, Harada appeared as Stacey in The Women's Project's world premiere of ''Stuffed'', a new play by Lisa Lampanelli.

''The Wall Street Journal'' wrote that "Ann Harada is especially good in the unlikely-sounding triple role of the Emperor of Japan, a French admiral and a whorehouse madam" in John Doyle's staging of '' Pacific Overtures'', which opened at Classic Stage Company on 4 May 2017 and ran through 18 June 2017.

Harada was in the world premiere of the musical ''The New World'' at Bucks County Playhouse in October, 2017 and "br ughtdown the house."

In the March 2019 Encores! production of '' I Married an Angel'', " a relatively insignificant role, Ann Harada manage to steal the show at the end with the perfectly hilarious delivery of a single line."

2020s

In early 2020, Harada played Pile of Poo in the musical '' Emojiland''.

On April 26, 2020, Harada rejoined three of her '' Pacific Overtures'' castmates for ''Take Me to the World: A Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration'' on Broadway.com in a split-screen video version of the song "Someone in a Tree". Wesley Morris, writing in ''The New York Times'', described it as "pure magic" and named it one of the best performances of 2020. ''Take Me to the World'' won the 2021 Drama League Award for Outstanding Digital Concert Production.

In October 2020, Harada was announced in the cast of the musical show '' Schmigadoon!'' Harada plays Florence Menlove, the wife of the Mayor; she sings "He's a Queer One, That Man o' Mine" in the series' third episode.

In May 2022, Harada played Jack's Mother in the Encores! production of ''Into the Woods''. In ''The New York Times'' Critic's Pick review of the production, she was described as a "comic genius." She reprised the role in the Broadway revival beginning September 27, 2022, when she replaced Aymee Garcia in the part.

In a well-received June 2023 production at The Muny of ''Beauty and the Beast'', she played Mrs. Potts. In November 2023, Harada originated the role of Myra Babbitt in the acclaimed world premiere of ''Babbitt'' at La Jolla Playhouse.

In June 2024, Harada was "brightly amusing" in the American premiere of Lucy Kirkwood's ''The Welkin'' at the Atlantic Theater Company.

In February 2025, Harada reprised her role as Florence Menlove in the world premiere of '' Schmigadoon!'' as a stage musical at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Stage credits

Broadway

Other stage credits

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

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Ann Harada
Broadway.com profile
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Harada, Ann

American film actresses
American television actresses
American voice actresses
American stage actresses
Brown University alumni
Living people
Actresses from Honolulu
Punahou School alumni
American actresses of Japanese descent
20th-century American actresses
21st-century American actresses
Year of birth missing (living people)