Eden Espinosa

Eden Erica Espinosa (born February 2, 1978) is an American actress and singer who is best known for her performances as Elphaba for the Broadway, Los Angeles, and San Francisco productions of the musical Wicked.

In 2022, she was nominated for the Children's and Family Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice Performance in a Preschool Animated Program for her role as the Queen of Hearts in Alice's Wonderland Bakery.

Espinosa was born in Anaheim, California, of Mexican descent.

She began singing at the age of three, performing at age five, and recording at the age of ten.

At Canyon High School, she played the role of Maria in West Side Story.

After graduating, Espinosa worked at local theme parks such as Disneyland and Universal Studios.

She was also part of the successful performing group The Young Americans, which is based in Southern California and performs in front of audiences worldwide.

Espinosa made her Broadway debut as a member of the original Broadway cast of Stephen Schwartz's musical Wicked, which opened on October 30, 2003.

She started the production as standby for Idina Menzel in the role of Elphaba.

She was also an understudy for the role of Nessarose.

Its world premiere was on April 30, 2003 (previews), and it ran until June 15, 2003, at the Denver Civic Center.

Espinosa performed the role of Elphaba for a month continuously during the summer of 2004, while Menzel was filming Ask the Dust.

Espinosa left Wicked on September 5, 2004, to originate the lead for the Broadway debut of Brooklyn.

Espinosa opened in Brooklyn on Broadway at the Plymouth Theatre on October 21, 2004, and stayed with the musical until it closed on June 26, 2005.

It played 27 previews and 284 regular performances.

Following the closing of Brooklyn the Musical, Espinosa performed the lead role of Elphaba for the Wicked First National tour during the entire San Francisco run, from August 5 to September 11, 2005.

She replaced Stephanie J. Block while Block recovered from an injury.

Espinosa was nominated for a 2005 Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance for her performance.

She was featured on the original Broadway cast recording of Brooklyn the Musical.

On January 10, 2006, Espinosa returned to perform in the lead role of Elphaba for the Broadway production of Wicked, taking over the role from Shoshana Bean.

Espinosa performed for the Wicked celebration of its 1,000th performance on Broadway, on March 21, 2006.

She left the Broadway production on October 8, 2006, and was replaced by Ana Gasteyer.

Espinosa received the 2006 Broadway.com Audience Award for "Favorite Female Replacement", in recognition of her performances as Elphaba during her Broadway run as lead.

Espinosa originated the role of Elphaba for the third U.S. production of Wicked in Los Angeles, which opened on February 21, 2007, playing the role until December 30, 2007.

She received broad critical acclaim for the role.

She returned on October 31, 2008 and stayed with the production until its closing night on January 11, 2009.

On May 30, 2008, joined the Broadway cast of Rent at the Nederlander Theatre and stayed with the production until it closed on September 7, 2008.

Espinosa made appearances on Good Morning America and at the 2008 Tony Awards (which featured the original and closing Broadway casts).

She also featured in the filmed final Broadway performance.

Espinosa starred in a production of Flora the Red Menace which ran at UCLA's Freud Playhouse from May 6–18, 2008.

After its closing, on September 21, 2008, Espinosa made her West End debut in "Never Neverland", a benefit concert that raised money for British charities Ovarian Cancer Action and NCH.

The concert took place at the Duchess Theatre in London.

Espinosa performed as Miranda in the one-night staging of Howard Ashman's previously unproduced musical Dreamstuff on June 23, 2008, at the Hayworth Theatre in Los Angeles, directed by Michael Urie.

On March 2, 2010 until June 26, 2010, Espinosa played Elphaba in the San Francisco production of Wicked.

This was the last time Espinosa ever played Elphaba.

Espinosa originated and workshopped the title role in Brooklyn the Musical over the course of two years.

Espinosa played the Fairy Godmother in the 2011 Nashville Symphony Orchestra concert version of Cinderella on April 15, 2011, alongside Wicked alum Alli Mauzey, who played the title character.

She headlined the world premiere of the new musical Rain by Michael John LaChiusa as Sadie, at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego from March 24 to May 1, 2016.

Espinosa played the lead role in Studio Tenn's production of Evita in Nashville, Tennessee, from September 9 to 18, 2016.

In 2018, Espinosa played the role of Daniella in the concert version of Lin-Manuel Miranda's In the Heights.