Olga Merediz
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Olga Merediz

Olga Merediz is an acclaimed American actress and singer whose career spans over four decades across Broadway, film, and television. Born in Guantánamo, Cuba, in 1956, she moved to the U.S. and grew up in Puerto Rico, before graduating from Tulane University. She is most famous for originating the role of the beloved matriarch Abuela Claudia in the Broadway musical In the Heights, a performance that earned her a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical in 2008. She reprised this iconic role in the 2021 film adaptation, receiving significant critical acclaim. Merediz has an extensive list of stage credits, including roles in major Broadway productions such as Les Misérables (as a replacement/understudy for Madame Thénardier), Mamma Mia! (as Rosie), Man of La Mancha, and The Human Comedy. Her film career includes being the singing voice of Abuela Alma Madrigal in the Disney animated hit Encanto (2021), and appearances in notable films such as Evita (1996), Requiem for a Dream, The Place Beyond the Pines, and the recent romantic comedy Somebody I Used to Know (2023). On television, she has held recurring roles on popular series like Orange Is the New Black, Shades of Blue, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and was a series regular on the Netflix comedy Blockbuster. Beyond acting, she has expanded her career into directing and producing, notably with the 2022 documentary My Two Moms: A Story of Separation.

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