Biography
American actress Kelli O'Hara used her exquisite singing voice to become one of the top musical theater talents of her time. Born in Elk City, Oklahoma, she was classically trained as an opera singer in college. After school, however, she chose to follow a path that allowed for her acting talents to come to the fore as well. Her break on stage came when she earned a spot in the touring production of "Jekyll & Hyde" (2000), before then joining the show's Broadway cast. She quickly became a fixture on the Great White Way, with roles in Stephen Sondheim's "Follies" (2001) and "The Sweet Smell of Success" (2002) with John Lithgow. After roles in "Dracula: the Musical" (2004) and "The Light of the Piazza" (2005), the actress starred opposite Harry Connick Jr. in the Tony Award-winning revival of "The Pajama Game" (2006). Another revival, this time of the Rodgers & Hammerstein classic "South Pacific" (2008), earned O'Hara her third Tony nomination. She would be nominated again for "Nice Work If You Can Get It" (2012) and "The Bridges of Madison County" (2014) before finally winning for the first time for "The King and I" (2015). Her early training allowed her to add performances at the New York Metropolitan Opera, in "The Merry Widow" (2014) and "Cosi Fan Tutte" (2018). While known primarily for her Broadway work, she did crossover to work on screen regularly. On television, she appeared in a recurring role on "Masters of Sex" (Showtime, 2013-16) and appearing with fellow stage veteran Brian d'arcy James in "13 Reasons Why" (Netflix, 2017-), as well as starred in the web series "The Accidental Wolf" (2017). She also played the role of Mrs. Darcy in the TV musical "Peter Pan Live!" (NBC, 2014). On the big screen, she had roles in "Sex and the City 2" (2010) and "All the Bright Places" (2019). Having already played two of the most famous characters in musical theater, Nellie Forbush and Anna Leonowens, she added a third when she starred in a well-received revival of "Kiss Me, Kate" (2019) as Lilli/Katharine.
