Anika Larsen

Cambridge, Massachusetts native Anika Larsen grew up in a musical household, singing with her nine siblings at family Christmas parties. After majoring in theater at Yale, where she also sang in an a cappella group, she moved to New York City, where she made her Broadway debut in Rent in 2000. In the years that followed, she accumulated stage credits both on and off Broadway, including roles in Broadway's Xanadu and Avenue Q, and the production of a musical she wrote about her own childhood titled Shafrika, the White Girl. A Drama Desk Award winner and Tony Award nominee for her role as Cynthia Weil in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, she is featured on the musical's Broadway cast recording, released in spring 2014. Her solo recording debut, Sing You to Sleep, a collection of pop ballads and standards, was released later that year on Yellow Sound Label and features a duet with Tony Award-winner Jessie Mueller on James Taylor's "You Can Close Your Eyes." ~ Marcy Donelson