Eden Espinosa facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Eden Espinosa
Espinosa in May 2008
Born	Eden Erica Espinosa (1978-02-02) February 2, 1978 (age 47) Anaheim, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress, singer
Years active	2000–present
Spouse(s)	Joseph Abate ​ ​ (m. 2010; div. 2019)​

Eden Erica Espinosa (born February 2, 1978) is an American actress and singer. She is most famous for playing Elphaba in the musical Wicked on Broadway and in Los Angeles and San Francisco. In 2022, she was nominated for an Emmy Award for her voice work as the Queen of Hearts in Alice's Wonderland Bakery. In 2024, Eden was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role in the musical Lempicka.

Eden Espinosa's Early Life and Training

Eden Espinosa was born in Anaheim, California. Her family has Mexican roots. She started singing when she was just three years old. By age five, she was already performing, and by ten, she was recording music.

In high school, at Canyon High School, she played the main role of Maria in the musical West Side Story. After finishing school, Eden worked at fun places like Disneyland and Universal Studios. She was also part of a successful performing group called The Young Americans. This group is based in Southern California and performs for audiences all over the world.

Eden Espinosa's Career Highlights

Eden Espinosa has had many important roles in her career. She is well-known for her powerful singing and acting on stage.

Playing Elphaba in Wicked

Eden Espinosa first appeared on Broadway in the musical Wicked. The show opened on October 30, 2003. She started as the standby for Idina Menzel, who played Elphaba. A standby is an actor who is ready to perform if the main actor cannot. Eden also sometimes filled in for the role of Nessarose.

In the summer of 2004, Eden played Elphaba for a whole month while Idina Menzel was away filming a movie. Eden left Wicked on September 5, 2004. She then went to star in a new musical called Brooklyn.

After Brooklyn closed, Eden returned to Wicked. She played Elphaba for the First National tour in San Francisco from August 5 to September 11, 2005. She took over from Stephanie J. Block while Stephanie was recovering from an injury.

On January 10, 2006, Eden came back to the Broadway production of Wicked as Elphaba. She took over the role from Shoshana Bean. Eden was part of the special 1,000th performance of Wicked on Broadway, which happened on March 21, 2006. She left the Broadway show on October 8, 2006.

Eden won the 2006 Broadway.com Audience Award for "Favorite Female Replacement." This award recognized her great performances as Elphaba on Broadway.

Eden also played Elphaba when Wicked opened in Los Angeles on February 21, 2007. She played the role until December 30, 2007, and received excellent reviews. She returned to the Los Angeles show on October 31, 2008, and stayed until it closed on January 11, 2009. From March 2 to June 26, 2010, Eden played Elphaba in the San Francisco production of Wicked. This was the last time she played the famous green witch.

Starring in Brooklyn the Musical

Eden Espinosa helped create the main role in Brooklyn the Musical over two years. The show first opened for previews on April 30, 2003, in Denver.

Eden opened in Brooklyn on Broadway at the Plymouth Theatre on October 21, 2004. She stayed with the musical until it closed on June 26, 2005. The show had 27 preview performances and 284 regular performances.

For her performance, Eden was nominated for a 2005 Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance. She also sang on the original Broadway cast recording of Brooklyn the Musical.

Performing in Rent

On May 30, 2008, Eden Espinosa joined the Broadway cast of Rent at the Nederlander Theatre. She stayed with the show until it closed on September 7, 2008. Eden appeared on Good Morning America and at the 2008 Tony Awards with the original and closing Broadway casts. She was also in the filmed version of the final Broadway performance.

Other Theatre Roles

Eden Espinosa has performed in many other stage productions. She played the Fairy Godmother in a concert version of Cinderella in 2011. She also starred as Sadie in the new musical Rain in 2016. In 2017, she played Mary in Merrily We Roll Along.

In 2018, Eden played Daniella in a concert version of Lin-Manuel Miranda's In the Heights. For a year in 2019, she toured the country playing Trina in Falsettos. In 2020, she was one of The Narrators in the 50th Anniversary concert of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Eden also starred in The Gardens of Anuncia, a musical about the life of Graciela Daniele. She played Graciela's mother.

She played the main character in Lempicka at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in 2018 and later at the La Jolla Playhouse from 2019 to 2020. This musical moved to Broadway's Longacre Theatre in 2024. For her amazing performance, Eden was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical.

Eden Espinosa's Solo Shows and Concerts

On October 22, 2005, Eden Espinosa had her first solo concert. She shared the stage with Tony Award nominee Euan Morton at Town Hall in New York City.

In March 2009, Eden performed her solo show called "Me" in New York City. She brought the show to Southern California in July 2009. In December 2009, she performed another solo show called "From Eden With Love" in San Francisco.

In September 2012, Eden was one of the first big performers to open Feinstein's/54 Below. She performed a show that honored the singer-songwriter Eva Cassidy.

Eden was also a soloist for Disneyland's "Magical" firework show, which started in 2009. She sang the theme song and other Disney songs like "Baby Mine".

In February 2020, Eden started a new acoustic solo show called Unplugged & Unplanned. Each concert had a completely new setlist. The shows in February sold out, and more dates were added for March 2020. However, the last two shows were canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. When live performances started again in 2021, Eden finished her last two shows.

Today, many of Eden's concerts are like her Unplugged & Unplanned show. She sings songs from her Broadway career, her solo albums, pop/rock covers, and takes requests from fans. On August 8, 2021, she performed her first solo concert on the Las Vegas Strip. Fans who couldn't be there could watch it online. On November 13, 2021, Eden performed a special concert in Holmdel, New Jersey.

Eden brought her concert to London at Cadogan Hall on April 8, 2022.

Eden Espinosa's Solo Albums

In August 2012, Eden Espinosa announced she was making her first solo album. It was called Look Around and featured modern Broadway songs with a pop sound. The album was released on December 18, 2012. It reached #41 on the iTunes Pop Charts. The album also won several awards for independent artists, including Pop Album of the Year.

On July 25, 2015, Eden announced she was working on her second album. She used a Kickstarter fundraiser to help pay for it. The album was delayed because of her busy schedule with theater, voice acting, concerts, and personal events. These personal events actually inspired the original songs on the album. Her second album, called "Revelation," was released on January 23, 2019. It reached #15 on the Pop iTunes charts.

Eden Espinosa on Television

Eden Espinosa has appeared on several TV shows. These include Law & Order, Robot Chicken, and Dog Whisperer. In 2009, she had a repeating voice role as Sasha Caylo on the animated series Titan Maximum.

In 2007, the ABC show Ugly Betty featured songs from Wicked in an episode called "Something Wicked This Way Comes". Eden and other members of the Los Angeles Wicked cast performed in it.

She has also appeared on the Today Show in 2004, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade TV broadcast in 2004, and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in 2007. She also performed at the 2008 Tony Awards.

In 2011, she was on the animated comedy show Mad. She voiced Katy Putty, a character made of Play-Doh who sang about things that are flammable. This was a funny version of Katy Perry's song "Firework".

In 2016, she voiced Orizaba, a moth fairy, in the show Elena of Avalor. She voiced the character again in 2018.

She voiced Rapunzel’s friend Cassandra in the 2017 movie Tangled: Before Ever After and in Tangled: The Series/Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure. For the show, she sang the main vocals for the song "Waiting in the Wings." This song won a Daytime Emmy Award in 2020 for Outstanding Original Song in a Children's, Young Adult or Animated Program.

In 2022, she voiced The Queen Of Hearts in Disney Junior's Alice's Wonderland Bakery. She also sang in the musical number "TRUCKS" in the Cars on the Road episode of the same name.

Game Night with Eden & Kamilah

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Eden Espinosa and her friend Kamilah Marshall created a weekly online show called Game Night with Eden & Kamilah. They played musical theater trivia games. The show started on Instagram Live. Later, it moved to Zoom so fans could play along. Most recently, Game Night became a real live studio game show. Eden and Kamilah host it with special Broadway guests. It was released on Broadstream on November 3, 2021.

Eden Espinosa's Personal Life

Eden married Joseph Abate on October 16, 2010. They later divorced in 2019.

Film and Television Roles

Stage Performances

Recordings and Albums

Eden Espinosa has lent her voice to many recordings, including cast albums and her own solo music.

Featured Recordings

• Top 25 Praise Songs – Updated (2000)
• Top 25 Acoustic Worship Songs (2002)
• The Maury Yeston Songbook (2003)
• Hair – The Actors' Fund of America Benefit Recording (2005)
• Bright Lights, Big City (2005 concept album)
• Brooklyn the Musical (2005 Original Broadway Cast Recording)
• Dreaming Wide Awake: The Music of Scott Alan (2007)
• David Burnham – featured duet: "As Long as You're Mine" (2007)
• Magical: Disney's New Nighttime Spectacular of Magical Celebrations (Disneyland, 2009) – Featured Vocals
• Celebrate! Tokyo Disneyland (Tokyo Disneyland, 2018) – Featured Vocals
• Lempicka: Original Broadway Cast Recording (2024)

Solo Albums

• Look Around (2012)
• Revelation (Eden Espinosa album)|Revelation]] (2019)

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Eden Espinosa para niños