Episode 241 - Eden Espinosa & Karen Olivo

Little Known Facts with Ilana Levine

Eden Espinosa is most recognized for her critically acclaimed portrayal of Elphaba in "Wicked” on Broadway and in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Other credits include originating the title character in “Brooklyn the Musical”, Flora in “Flora the Red Menace,” and Maureen in the closing company of “Rent” on Broadway. Eden also originated the role of Sadie Thompson in the world premiere of “Rain”, at the Old Globe Theater. She portrayed Eva Peron in TPAC and Studio Tenn’s production of “Evita”. In 2017 she toured Denmark and London playing Emma Borden in the rock musical “Lizzie”. She played Mary Flynn to rave reviews in Maria Freidmans productions of “Merrily We Roll Along” at the Huntington Theatre in Boston. Eden was Daniela in Kennedy Center’s “In The Heights”. Also portrayed Anita in West Side Story for the BBC PROMS at the Royal Albert Hall. Most recently she originated the role of Tamara De Lempicka in the world premiere of “Lempicka” at Williamstown Theatre Festival, directed by Rachel Chavkin. Her television appearances include shows such as Law and Order, Ugly Betty, and Elementary. Voiceover credits include Cassandra in the Disney Channel’s Tangled the Series, Robot Chicken, MAD TV, Elena of Avalor, and Titan Maximum Eden’s debut album, Look Around, charted in the Pop iTunes top 50 between Adele and Katy Perry. Her second album REVELATION of all new original music was released in January 2019.

Karen Olivo is a television, film, and stage actor who is most recognized for her Tony Award-winning performance as Anita in the acclaimed 2009 Broadway revival of West Side Story, a role for which she also earned Drama Desk, Drama League, Outer Critics Circle, and Astaire Award nominations. Some of her Broadway theater credits include originating the role of Vanessa in the Tony Award-winning musical In the Heights (2008 Astaire Award) and starring as Faith in the Broadway production of Brooklyn The Musical. She played the role of Angelica Schuyler in the Chicago production of Hamilton and currently stars as Satine in Moulin Rouge on broadway. Additional theatre credits include Murder Ballad at the Manhattan Theater Club, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark by Lynn Nottage at 2nd Stage, and The Miracle Brothers directed by Tina Landau at the Vineyard Theatre. Olivo is also recognized for her many television appearances including recurring & guest-starring roles on “The Good Wife,” “Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior,” “Chase,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “Conviction,” and “Law & Order.” Karen Olivo is a native New Yorker who currently lives in Madison, Wisconsin. Olivo recently taught Musical Theater Styles at UW-Madison as well as working as a teaching artist and writer for Theatre LILA, she serves on the Advisory Committee for Forward Theater and she also coaches students in her private Madison studio. Karen also released her first solo, ‘Leave,’ album in 2017. www.Karenolivo.com

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