Erika Henningsen

Erika Leigh Henningsen (born August 13, 1992) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her work on Broadway and for originating the role of Cady Heron in the 2018 Tony-nominated musical Mean Girls, for which she received an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination. Since 2024, she has voiced Charlie Morningstar in the adult animated series Hazbin Hotel.

Henningsen was born and raised in Moraga, California. She is the youngest of three daughters born to Phil and Marybeth Henningsen.

Henningsen started in theatre after her parents recognized her passion for "talking and being in front of people" from a young age. At the age of seven, her interest in theatre was piqued after she read the Jack Prelutsky poem "The Turkey Shot out of the Oven" and hearing the audience's positive response to her performance. When she was 14 years old, Henningsen was cast in a local production of Grey Gardens and has stated in interviews that after performing in this production, she knew she wanted to pursue musical theatre as a career.

Henningsen graduated from Campolindo High School in 2010 and then studied at the University of Michigan, earning a BFA in musical theatre in 2014. During her undergraduate years, she also studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London through the NYU London program. Henningsen was selected as the winner of the 2014 Alan Eisenberg Award Scholarship, an award given to a University of Michigan graduating senior in recognition of "outstanding talent and career potential" in musical theatre.

In November 2014, she made her New York Philharmonic debut as Kim Ravenal in a staged concert production of Kern and Hammerstein's Show Boat. A live taping of the production later aired on PBS on October 16, 2015.

Later that year, Henningsen starred as Beth in the musical Diner, based on Barry Levinson's 1982 film of the same name with music and lyrics by Sheryl Crow. The musical, directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall, made its world premiere with a sold-out run at the Signature Theatre in Washington, D.C., from December 9, 2014, to January 25, 2015. She remained part of the production and its extended run when it was staged by the Delaware Theatre Company in December 2015.

Henningsen made her Broadway debut as Fantine in the revival of Les Misérables on March 3, 2015. She has disclosed in interviews that she was about to file for unemployment when she learned she was cast as Fantine, which also happened to be the last role she played as an undergraduate at the University of Michigan, 11 months earlier. She is the youngest actress in Broadway history (to date) to portray the role of Fantine. She left the production along with fellow Les Misérables co-stars Ramin Karimloo and Samantha Hill on August 30, 2015, and was replaced by Memphis star Montego Glover.

In the summer of 2016, Henningsen portrayed Ensign Nellie Forbush, opposite Ben Davis, in the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera's production of South Pacific.