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Kelli O'Hara, soprano
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Biography
Kelli O'Hara has unequivocally established herself as one of Broadway's great leading ladies.
This fall, Kelli starred alongside Sam Waterson in the Public Theater's production of King Lear.
Kelli starred in the Tony Award-winning revival of South Pacific at Lincoln Center, enrapturing audiences and critics alike with her soulful and complex interpretation of Nellie Forbush, and garnering a third Tony nomination.
A native of Oklahoma, Kelli received a degree in opera, and, after winning the State Metropolitan Opera Competition, moved to New York and enrolled in the Lee Strasberg Institute.
She made her Broadway debut in Jekyll & Hyde and followed it with Sondheim's Follies, Sweet Smell of Success opposite John Lithgow, and Dracula. In 2003 Kelli committed to a production of The Light in the Piazza at Seattle's Intiman Theatre. The show landed on Broadway in 2005 and earned Kelli her first Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations. She moved from one huge critical and commercial success to another when she joined Harry Connick on Broadway in the 2006 Tony award-winning production of The Pajama Game, for which Kelli received Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Award nominations. Kelli has worked regionally and Off Broadway in Sunday in the Park with George at Reprise, My Life With Albertine at Playwright's Horizons, Beauty at the La Jolla Playhouse and recently as Ella Peterson in Bells Are Ringing at City Center Encores.
In addition to her critically acclaimed performance as Eliza Doolittle in the New York Philharmonic production of My Fair Lady, Kelli has performed a solo concert at Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops conducted by Rob Fisher. She has sung at Carnegie Hall with Barbara Cook and with the New York Pops under Steven Reineke, at the Kennedy Center with Marvin Hamlisch and the National Symphony Orchestra, with the New York Philharmonic also under Hamlisch, the Boston Pops under Keith Lockhart, Lincoln Center, Town Hall, the Kennedy Center, Cooper Union, Joe's Pub, the Philly Pops conducted by Peter Nero, the Seattle Symphony, OCPAC, Broad Stage, Ravinia Festival, Tanglewood and sold-out runs at Cafe Carlyle and Feinsteins. She sang "God Bless America" at Yankee Stadium at Game 6 of the World Series and performed on PBS's Memorial Day Concert Live from Washington DC as well as the recent PBS's July 4th Live from Washington DC Concert. She performed at the 2008 Kennedy Center Honors as part of the Barbra Streisand tribute and again at the 2010 Kennedy Center Honors as part of the Jerry Herman tribute. She recently performed her solo show to a sold out at Town Hall to rave reviews.
Among her film and television credits are Sex & The City 2, Martin Scorsese's short The Key to Reserva opposite Simon Baker; The Dying Gaul starring Patricia Clarkson and Campbell Scott; Blue Bloods (NBC pilot), All Rise (NBC pilot), Alexander Hamilton (Maria Reynolds) starring Brian F. O'Byrne (PBS), NUMB3RS (CBS), All My Children, the upcoming animated series Car Talk, and numerous live performances on national television shows. Kelli's recordings include South Pacific (Sony), The Light in the Piazza (Nonesuch records; Grammy nomination), The Pajama Game (Sony; Grammy nomination), The Sweet Smell of Success (Sony), My Life with Albertine (PS Classics), Dream True (PS Classics), Jule Styne Goes Hollywood (PS Classics), and her solo album Wonder in the World on Ghostlight Records. Kelli recently released her second solo album entitled "Always."
This spring, Kelli will return to the Broadway stage in the new Gershwin musical comedy Nice Work If You Can Get It opposite Matthew Broderick.
Kelli resides in New York with her husband Greg and their son Owen.