Photo provided Marja Harmon, who is portraying Angelica Schulyer in the current tour of “Hamilton,” will be returning to Columbus on Feb. 26 in a show titled “Love Letters” for Cabaret at the Commons.
Columbus’ very own Broadway star is coming home to kick off the spring Cabaret at the Commons series.
Marja Harmon, otherwise known as Angelica Schulyer in the current tour of “Hamilton,” will be returning to Columbus on Feb. 26 in a show titled “Love Letters.” The last time she performed in Columbus was in 2012, so this homecoming has been a long time coming, she said.
“I feel really excited to be back performing for the community that has been such a part of my formative time as a performer and has nurtured me and have journeyed to see me perform, whether in New York or across the country and that has meant so much to me, so it’s great to be able to come to them,” Harmon said.
The show starts at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 26. Tickets are available now at thecip.org.
A graduate of Columbus East High School and the daughter of African American Fund board members Tom and Mary Harmon, Marja Harmon spent much of her childhood performing locally. Whether that was at Pacers games, with the Mill Race Players or being asked by former Mayor Fred Armstrong to perform at events, Harmon said she took every opportunity she could to perform.
“There were many vocal instructors in Columbus that were so integral in my journey, Jim Lazzell, Janie Gordon,” Harmon said. “So I was really nurtured before going out into the world, the world of LA and New York and getting involved, like putting myself in the professional industry, but I had such great training and nurturing from my time growing up in Columbus.”
Even when she got to high school, she continued to participate in drama and with Mill Race during the summer. After graduating from Columbus East, she attended the University of Southern California with a focus on theatre and the music industry, where her love for theatre continued to grow.
Although she loved theatre, Harmon said she didn’t expect for it to be her career as she didn’t see a path to it. For the longest time, she tried pursuing a recording artist career, but her desire to perform and tell stories kept her coming back to the stage for productions.
“… by the time I graduated at USC, my younger sister Chasten was at NYU in New York, so I went and joined her there and found an agent and started auditioning, working like three survival jobs in New York City and auditioning until I got my first show out of New York which was the North American tour of ‘Aida,’ and I was playing the title role,” Harmon said.
Her Broadway debut was playing Maggie in the first all-Black production of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” directed by Debbie Allen and starred James Earl Jones and Phylicia Rashad. She has also starred in the national Broadway tour of “The Lion King” as Nala, but being involved with the historic production of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” with theatrical giants has definitely been a highlight of her career, she said.
Harmon currently stars as Angelica Schuyler in the national Broadway tour of “Hamilton,” a journey that she said has been amazing. She began her tour in late 2018, leaving the Broadway company of “The Book of Mormon” to join the production.
“Getting to play this role is a dream,” Harmon said. “From the moment that I saw the original company, I knew I wanted to be a part of it, I knew I wanted to do that specific role and getting to do it nightly and also getting to share it across the country, I just feel very grateful because it’s a story that’s very important, especially now more than ever.”
Audience members will hear a couple of her songs from “Hamilton” at her upcoming Cabaret at the Commons show, though her show will mostly focus on pop and R&B songs. Harmon will also share stories of growing up in Columbus, the vocal instructors who influenced her and her journey performing. Joining her on stage to help share some of those stories will be her sister Chasten.
“I’m working with a four-piece band out of New York, so I’m very excited and there’s going to be some cool arrangements of things that people probably mostly know, maybe some things that will be new to the ear,” Harmon said. “A couple ‘Hamilton’ things for fun, but I’m really excited just to sing outside the show and sing some things I don’t normally get to do.”
Harmon’s show will also be in celebration of Black History Month and her show has been featured on Black History Month Columbus’ event calendar. Being able to perform in her hometown in celebration of Black History Month and as the daughter of parents who have done so much work for diversity and culture in the community is amazing, she said.
“… to be able to start the series and do it in February and standing up there as a Black woman who was enriched by my parents and went out into the world, I think it means a lot to me to be able to have that representation,” Harmon said.
