Ann Harada is an American actress and singer who was first known for the musical Avenue Q, in which she originated the role of Christmas Eve, the heavily accented Japanese therapist.
28 Facts About Ann Harada
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Ann Harada was raised in Hawaii and attended the Punahou School and Brown University.
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Ann 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.
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In 1998, Ann Harada starred in the National Asian American Theatre Company's highly praised All-Asian production of William Finn's Falsettoland.
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Also in 1998, Ann Harada had a small part in the Todd Solondz film Happiness as one of the co-workers of Jane Adams's character.
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Ann Harada was in the original Broadway company of Seussical in 2000.
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Ann Harada had been in its first workshop and all of the pre-Broadway iterations of that show.
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Ann Harada was involved in Avenue Q since the first performance of the show at the York Theatre in 2000.
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Ann Harada opened Avenue Q at the Vineyard Theatre in New York in March 2003 and moved with the show to Broadway that July.
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Ann Harada took a break for maternity leave in late 2004, returning in early 2005.
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Ann Harada left the Broadway company of Avenue Q on 26 February 2006.
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Ann Harada played her last performance on 18 November 2006; the role was taken over by Naoko Mori.
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On July 6,2009, Harada returned as part of the final Broadway cast of Avenue Q The show closed on September 13,2009.
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Ann Harada left Les Miserables on October 30,2007, replaced by Galloway.
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Ann Harada rejoined Avenue Q star John Tartaglia as a guest on his television show Johnny and the Sprites.
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Ann Harada was in the original cast of the Dolly Parton musical 9 to 5 as Kathy and in the ensemble through June 21,2009.
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Ann Harada's recording of A Last Confession on Steve Marzullo's album Show Some Beauty was a Playlist pick in USA Today in June 2011.
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Ann Harada appeared as Linda, the stage manager of the show-within-a-show, in eighteen episodes of NBC's musical drama Smash alongside Debra Messing, Anjelica Huston, Jack Davenport and her 9 to 5 colleague Megan Hilty.
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Ann Harada was the star of her own installment of Lincoln Center's 2014 American Songbook series at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Allen Room in New York City on 22 February 2014.
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Ann Harada's set included "OK, That's Ten," a very short, previously unheard song written by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman for her character on Smash.
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Ann Harada was in the original cast of the "goofily endearing" new original musical Brooklynite, with Matt Doyle, Nicolette Robinson and Nick Cordero.
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On 8 June 2015 in a one-night-only concert of Bombshell, Smash's show-within-the show, Ann Harada reprised her Smash role as Linda the Stage Manager, then "as a substitute Marilyn" performed I Never Met a Wolf Who Didn't Love to Howl.
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In October 2016, "the excellent Ann Harada" appeared as Stacey in The Women's Project's world premiere of Stuffed, a new play by the comedienne Lisa Lampanelli with "some laughs here, some genuine pain and even a bit of insight".
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Ann Harada "brings down the house" in the world premiere of the Thanksgiving musical, The New World, at Bucks County Playhouse in October, 2017.
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In early 2020, Ann Harada played Pile of Poo in the new musical Emojiland, as she told one reporter.
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Ann Harada reprised the role in the Broadway revival beginning September 27,2022, when she replaced Aymee Garcia in the part.
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In November 2023, Ann Harada was "particularly striking" in originating the role of Myra Babbitt in the acclaimed world premiere of Babbitt, at La Jolla Playhouse opposite Matthew Broderick as the title character.
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In June 2024, Ann Harada was "brightly amusing as a woman in the throes of menopause" in the highly-praised American premiere of Lucy Kirkwood's The Welkin, at Atlantic Theater Company with Sandra Oh as the leader of a jury of 12 women.