Eden Espinoza (Photo: Courtesy, self)
By Julio Martinez
For many years actress/singer Eden Espinosa has lent her voice to Disney theme park attractions, movies and TV series. The actress adds another credit with the Mickey Mouse company co-starring in Disney Junior’s new animated show Alice’s Wonderland Bakery.
The fantastical show for preschoolers follows Alice, the great-granddaughter of the original heroine from the 1951 classic animated film Alice in Wonderland. Through culinary adventures with her friends, Alice discovers the distinct family heritages of her friends, each with a wide array of tastes and traditions.
Espinosa stars as the Queen of Hearts, a major character considered among the main members of the Disney Villains franchise. The Mexican-American actress knows something about Disney characters. “Oh, yes, I was born in Anaheim, California, and I grew up going to Disneyland,” she says. “I worked at the park for many, many years and had the good fortune to do a fireworks show.” She was featured as a soloist in the Magic Kingdom’s fireworks spectacular Magical. “I was the voice in the sky, and that created a lot of amazing opportunities with the Disney family,” adds Espinosa.
Espinosa began singing at the age of three, performing at age five and recording at the age of 10. In high school in her hometown, she played the role of Maria in the theater play West Side Story. After graduating, she worked at Disneyland and Universal Studios and became a member of The Young Americans singing group, which performed worldwide. She also has a solo career as a singer.
Alice’s Wonderland Bakery marks Espinosa’s return to Disney, where she has voiced other animated fairy tales. She co-starred in the movie Tangled: Before Ever After and the TV shows Tangled: Short Cuts and Tangled: The Series, in all three playing the deuteragonist Cassandra opposite Mandy Moore as Princess Rapunzel. She was also the evil moth fairy Orizaba in Elena of Avalor.
Espinoza feels confident about her new role. “I have a good take on the Queen of Hearts,” she states with self-assurance. That assertiveness may come both from her history with Disney and her stage work in several productions in one of the world’s most prestigious live theater districts.
Espinosa made her Broadway debut as a member of the original cast of Stephen Schwartz’s musical Wicked in 2003. She joined the production as standby for Idina Menzel in the role of Elphaba, which earned her a Broadway.com Audience Award for Favorite Female Replacement. A few years later, she was chosen to originate the same role for the third U.S. production of Wicked in Los Angeles, which opened at the Pantages Theatre in February of 2007.
“Having experienced playing Elphaba, it definitely helps me tap into a different side of myself,” says Espinosa. However, the actress points out that her Wicked’s and Alice’s Wonderland Bakery characters are markedly different. “Elphaba comes from a place of hurt and insecurity, while the Queen just thinks very highly of herself,” affirms Espinosa. “I feel that these incarnations of the characters in the series are more well-rounded and more human,” she adds about her royal villainess–infamous for often threatening to behead her subjects in previous iterations–and other roles in the Disney Junior show. “They have more sides to them, especially the Queen,” Espinosa says. “You see more of her humanity, as well as her soft and fun side. Of course, there is her occasional, ‘Off with her head.’ But we don’t take anyone’s head off.”
Starring the Disney series as the voice of Alice is newcomer Libby Rue. Grammy-winning singer Jon Secada is her father, the King of Hearts; Donald Faison (Scrubs) is Harry the March Hare; SNL alumni Vanessa Bayer and Bobby Moynihan are twins Tweedle Do and Tweedle Don’t, respectively; and Scottish-American comedian Craig Ferguson is the Doorknob.
Noteworthy to point out is that two other Latinas also join the show’s cast, Abigail Estrella as Princess Rosa and Mandy Gonzalez as Mother Rose.
Multi hyphenate Espinosa is among a sizable group of artists able to combine Broadway, Hollywood, national theater tours and a singing career. She has appeared on various television shows, including Law & Order, Dog Whisperer and Ugly Betty. The actress starred in another fairy tale role in a live performance, the Fairy Godmother in the 2011 Nashville Symphony Orchestra concert version of Cinderella. In 2018, Espinosa played the role of Daniella in the concert version of Lin-Manuel Miranda‘s In the Heights.
Early this spring the singer, who has been featured in recordings of Disney, theater musicals and gospel songs, will take her concert overseas to London at Cadogan Hall.
But at the moment, Espinosa is excited that Alice’s Wonderland Bakery allows her to inhabit a character from a beloved children’s novel that has been reimagined for preschoolers. “Right now, it is so enjoyable to be the voice of The Queen,” she says, describing her experience as a “blast” and expressing pride in her voice-acting work. “That is so much fun.”
