Ann Harada

Ann Harada (born February 3, 1964 in Honolulu, Hawaii) is a New York-based actress who is best-known for the musical "Avenue Q" in which she originated the role of Christmas Eve, the heavily-accented Japanese therapist.

infobox actor

---

birthdate=birth date and age|1964|2|3
birthplace= Honolulu, Hawaii
occupation=Stage actress
children=Elvis

Biography

Harada was raised in Hawaii and attended the Punahou School and Brown University. She was active in theatre from high school. After college, she moved to New York and, anticipating working in production, worked with producer Suzanne Schwartz. Finding stage production not completely satisfactory, she performed with the New York City Gay Men's Chorus as a vocalist, performed cabaret, and appeared in the Broadway production of "M. Butterfly".

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. [Harada, Ann. [http://aeaweb.actorsequity.org/AboutEquity/HowIGotMyEquityCard/Ecard_Harada.asp How I Got My Equity Card.] Retrieved May 2, 2008.] She is a member of the Vineyard Theatre's Community of Artists and appeared in four original musicals there. [Ann Harada biography from "Avenue Q" UK production [http://www.avenueqthemusical.co.uk/the-show/cast/ann-harada.php] Retrieved May 10, 2008.]

Harada has a small part in the 1998 Todd Solondz film "Happiness" as one of the co-workers of Jane Adams's character.

Harada was in the original Broadway company of the legendary flop "Seussical" in 2000. She had also been in its first workshop and all of the pre-Broadway iterations of that show. About her experience she said "It was such a roller-coaster ride — everything that could go wrong went wrong. You'd just show up to work every day and go, 'I wonder what's going to happen today.'...There was way too much drama for one show to take, and it didn't deserve that kind of drama because it's really a great little show. . . . I loved it, and I still love it. . . I just keep thinking about what it was like doing that first workshop and us all just being so blown away by it and being so excited."Gans, Andrew. [http://www.playbill.com/celebritybuzz/article/109890.html DIVA TALK: Chatting with "Les Miz" Star Ann Harada Plus Betty Buckley at the Blue Note] , Playbill, 27 July, 2007. Retrieved September 8, 2007.]

"Avenue Q"

Harada was involved in "Avenue Q" since the first performance of the show at the York Theatre in 2000.Gans, Andrew. [http://www.playbill.com/celebritybuzz/article/89145.html DIVA TALK: Catching Up with "Avenue Q"'s Ann Harada; Family Night at the Cabaret Convention and Showstoppers!] , Playbill, 22 October, 2004] Lyricist Amanda Green had recommended Harada to "Avenue Q" writers Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx. She 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 maternity leave in late 2004, returning in early 2005. Her son is named Elvis. Harada left the Broadway company of "Avenue Q" on 26 February, 2006. Her role was taken over by Ann Sanders. In June 2006, she opened the London production of "Avenue Q" at the Noel Coward Theatre in the West End. She played her last performance on 18 November 2006; the role was taken over by Naoko Mori. She is the only actress who played the role of Christmas Eve in both the Broadway and London productions of "Avenue Q". [cite press release
publisher=Avenue Q UK
date=October 2006
url=http://avenueqthemusical.co.uk/news-and-reviews/news3.php
format=
title=Extension and New Cast Member Announcement
accessdate=2008-08-12 ]

About her performance in the Broadway production, Ben Brantley wrote in The New York Times: "Counseling the romantically troubled Kate, she temporarily drops her habitually pinched voice to deliver, in the show's wittiest coup de théâtre, a full-throated ballad in the manner of a 1950's musical diva..."The more you love someone/The more you want to kill him," Christmas sings in a shivery, rafters-shaking alto. And though you can construe the song as a satire if you choose, there is no doubt that Christmas means every word she sings." [Brantley, Ben. [http://theater2.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?_r=2&pagewanted=print&id=1077011419765&fid=.f561649&oref=slogin&oref=login THEATER REVIEW; A Feeling You're Not On Sesame Street] , "The New York Times", August 1, 2003. Retrieved September 8, 2007.] Hilton Als, in The New Yorker, in another rave for the show, noted that "Avenue Q" "has so much to recommend it...But not to single out the remarkable Ann Harada—a funny girl who can sing, act, and let the audience in on the joke all at the same time—would be a mistake." [Als, Hilton. [http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2003/08/11/030811crth_theatre Mayhem and Madness] , "The New Yorker", August 11, 2003. Retrieved September 8, 2007.]

After "Avenue Q"

On 24 April 2007, Harada joined the Broadway company of "Les Misérables" playing Madame Thénardier; she replaced the British actress Jenny Galloway. [Jones, Kenneth. [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/106688.html Avenue Vous: Harada Will Be Madame T in "Les Miz", With Davis, von Essen and Bruno] , Playbill, 20 March, 2007] Harada left "Les Misérables" on 30 October 2007, replaced by Galloway.

Harada is featured in the Wes Anderson-directed commercials for AT&T which began airing in September 2007. [YouTube [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOQJq6wINso AT&T Your Seamless World Architect Commercial] Retrieved October 6, 2007.]

Harada rejoined "Avenue Q" star John Tartaglia as a guest star on his television show "Johnny and the Sprites". Harada sings 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. [Gans, Andrew. [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/115953.html "Avenue Q"'s Harada and Tartaglia Reunited on March 22 "Sprites" Episode] , Playbill, 17 March 2008]

Harada did "sharp work" in The Muny's production of "High School Musical" in St. Louis in 2008 [Citation
last = Newmark
first = Judith
title = High School Musical
publisher = "St. Louis Post-Dispatch"
date = 24 June 2008
url = http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/entertainment/reviews.nsf/stage/story/F1956AC00625627C86257473000EC701?OpenDocument
accessdate = 2008-7-13] playing Ms. Darbus, the drama teacher. [Citation
last = Gans
first = Andrew
last2 = Hernandez
first2 = Ernio
title = Harada, Bogardus, McGinnis and More Cast in Muny's "High School Musical"
publisher = playbill.com
date = 18 June 2008
url = http://www.playbill.com/news/article/118806.html
accessdate = 13 July 2008 ]

She will be in the upcoming Dolly Parton musical "9 to 5" (based on the film of the same name) which is scheduled to premiere in Los Angeles on 20 September 2008 and then open on Broadway in April 2009. [Cite web
last = Broadway.com staff
title = "9 to 5" Headed for Broadway's Marquis Theatre; Complete Cast Announced
publisher = Broadway.com
date = 15 July 2008
url = http://www.broadway.com/gen/Buzz_Story.aspx?ci=568482
accessdate = 28 July 2008 ]

References

External links

*imdb|0361715
*ibdb|76149
* [http://www.broadway.com/gen/Buzz_Star_File.aspx?CI=35810 Ann Harada] Broadway.com Star File