Kelli O'Hara
Kelli O'Hara
Kelli Christine O'Hara is an American actress and singer. She has appeared on Broadway and Off-Broadway in many musicals since making her Broadway debut as a replacement in Jekyll & Hyde in 2000. A six-time Tony Award nominee, her first nomination was for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for the 2005 production of The Light in the Piazza. Her subsequent nominations were for The Pajama Game, South Pacific, Nice Work If You Can Get Itand The Bridges of Madison...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionStage Actress
Date of Birth16 April 1976
CityElk City, OK
CountryUnited States of America
In my special place, room service could only consist of my husband making me a breakfast of eggs, avocados, and hummus. And coffee with milk.
I've always wanted my characters to have more dimension and realistic cores than the ingenue material often provides. It's been a challenge.
I feel so rich in my emotions and in my life and so grateful when I'm home and so grateful when I'm at work.
I don't want to be famous for being famous.
Corned beef and cabbage - that's our favorite holiday meal when all the O' Haras gather around the table.
It is such a luxury to open a new book that's highly recommended by friends - either an inspirational yet humorously self-deprecating memoir, or a page-turning piece of fiction.
I've had great opportunities to show different sides of myself, but the challenge will always be getting either people to let you do it or finding the right things to do in order to do it.
The 'Carousel' overture has always been one of my all-time favorite pieces of music.
My mom's side of the family is from Arkansas!
Playing characters allows me to do things I may not always do, while singing in concerts allows me to really find my own voice and grow.
I love playing an ingenue, and I love doing revivals, and I will continue to do that.
If I get tickled in a certain way, I actually lose the ability to stand. I don't mean to, but something happens to my knees, and I fall on the ground.
The hardest role that I've ever tried to play was Clara Johnson in 'Light in the Piazza' at Lincoln Center. It was the least fun I've ever had, but the most beautiful experience I've ever had. I could not understand her. I could not put my feet in her shoes. I came home every night, and I was depressed.
I mean, it feels like a homecoming in a really wonderfully comfortable place to be - the same director, the same musical director, my same dressing room! [laughs] It's a great place to build something with freedom.