Harada earned her
Equity card in 1987 when she was cast in
Maury Yeston and
Larry Gelbart's
1,2,3,4,5 at
Manhattan Theatre Club. She is a member of the
Vineyard Theatre's Community of Artists and appeared in four original musicals there, including
Hit the Lights!. In 1998, Harada starred in the National Asian American Theatre Company's production of
Falsettoland. Peter Marks of
The New York Times described her rendition of "Holding to the Ground" as a "full-throttle success." Also in 1998, Harada had a small part in the
Todd Solondz film
Happiness. Harada was in the original Broadway company of
Seussical in 2000. She had also been in its first workshop and all of the pre-Broadway iterations of the show.
Avenue Q Harada got involved in
Avenue Q starting with the first performance of the show at the
York Theatre in 2000. Lyricist
Amanda Green had recommended Harada to
Avenue Q writers
Robert Lopez and
Jeff Marx. Harada opened
Avenue Q at the
Vineyard Theatre in New York in March 2003 and moved with the show to Broadway that July. She took a break for
parental leave in late 2004, returning in early 2005. About her performance in the Broadway production,
Ben Brantley wrote in
The New York Times: "[S]he deliver[s], in the show's wittiest coup de théâtre, a full-throated ballad in the manner of a 1950's musical diva...in a shivery, rafters-shaking alto." Hilton Als of
The New Yorker called her "a funny girl who can sing, act, and let the audience in on the joke all at the same time." On July 6, 2009, Harada returned as part of the final Broadway cast of
Avenue Q. The show closed on September 13, 2009. In 2009, Harada reprised the character of Christmas Eve for a series of one-night-only benefits for
Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS originally entitled
Christmas Eve with Christmas Eve, singing reinterpretations of duets with Broadway leading men. The fifth edition on December 14, 2015, was renamed ''Christmas Eve's Holiday Hunkfest
. The final edition of Hunkfest'' was on December 14, 2016.
2000s On April 24, 2007, Harada joined the Broadway company of
Les Misérables playing
Madame Thénardier; she replaced
Jenny Galloway. Harada left
Les Misérables on October 30, 2007, being replaced by Galloway. Harada was featured
Wes Anderson-directed commercials for
AT&T. Harada was a guest on
John Tartaglia's television show
Johnny and the Sprites, singing the
Laurence O'Keefe song "Everything Must Go" on an episode entitled "The Sprites Save Grotto's Grove". It premiered on the
Disney Channel on 22 March 2008. Harada was in
The Muny's production of
High School Musical on Stage! in 2008, playing the drama teacher Ms. Darbus and the science teacher Ms. Tenny. She was in the original cast of
9 to 5 as Kathy and in the ensemble through June 21, 2009. She left to return to the cast of
Avenue Q.
2010s In May 2011, she played the role of Annette in a production of
God of Carnage at
George Street Playhouse. Her recording of "A Last Confession" on Steve Marzullo's album
Show Some Beauty was a featured in
USA Today in June 2011. She appeared as Linda the stage manager in eighteen episodes of
NBC's
Smash. From January 2013 to December 2014, she appeared in the original Broadway production of
Cinderella as the stepsister Charlotte. In its review of the show,
Variety said that Harada gives "a hoot of a perf." Harada was the star of her own installment of the 2014 American Songbook series at
Jazz at Lincoln Center's Allen Room in New York City on 22 February 2014. Harada was in the original cast of the musical
Brooklynite, which opened its world premiere run at the
Vineyard Theatre in New York on 25 February 2015. On 8 June 2015, in a one-night-only concert of
Bombshell,
Smash's show-within-the show, Harada reprised her role as Linda and performed
"I Never Met a Wolf Who Didn't Love to Howl". In June 2016, Harada appeared as Maggie Jones in
The Muny's production of
42nd Street and in its production of
Mamma Mia! in July. In October 2016, Harada appeared as Stacey in The Women's Project's world premiere of
Stuffed, a new play by
Lisa Lampanelli.
The Wall Street Journal wrote that "Ann Harada is especially good in the unlikely-sounding triple role of the Emperor of Japan, a French admiral and a whorehouse madam" in
John Doyle's staging of
Pacific Overtures, which opened at
Classic Stage Company on 4 May 2017 and ran through 18 June 2017. Harada was in the world premiere of the musical
The New World at
Bucks County Playhouse in October, 2017 and "br[ought] down the house." In the March 2019
Encores! production of
I Married an Angel, "[i]n a relatively insignificant role, Ann Harada manage[d] to steal the show at the end with the perfectly hilarious delivery of a single line."
2020s In early 2020, Harada played Pile of Poo in the musical
Emojiland. On April 26, 2020, Harada rejoined three of her
Pacific Overtures castmates for
Take Me to the World: A Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration on
Broadway.com in a split-screen video version of the song "Someone in a Tree".
Wesley Morris, writing in
The New York Times, described it as "pure magic" and named it one of the best performances of 2020.
Take Me to the World won the 2021
Drama League Award for Outstanding Digital Concert Production. In October 2020, Harada was announced in the cast of the musical show
Schmigadoon! Harada plays Florence Menlove, the wife of the Mayor; she sings "He's a Queer One, That Man o' Mine" in the series' third episode. In May 2022, Harada played
Jack's Mother in the
Encores! production of
Into the Woods. In
The New York Times Critic's Pick review of the production, she was described as a "comic genius." She reprised the role in the Broadway revival beginning September 27, 2022, when she replaced Aymee Garcia in the part. In a well-received June 2023 production at The Muny of
Beauty and the Beast, she played Mrs. Potts. In November 2023, Harada originated the role of Myra Babbitt in the acclaimed world premiere of
Babbitt at
La Jolla Playhouse. In June 2024, Harada was "brightly amusing" in the American premiere of
Lucy Kirkwood's
The Welkin at the
Atlantic Theater Company. In February 2025, Harada reprised her role as Florence Menlove in the world premiere of
Schmigadoon! as a stage musical at the
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. She transferred with the production when it opened on Broadway in April 2026. == Stage credits ==