Brigid Harrington (born 2000) is an American actress, singer, dancer and voice artist. She is best known as the first voice of Koko on the American version of the British animated TV series ''
Chuggington
''Chuggington'', also known as ''Chuggington: Tales from the Rails'' in series 6, is a British animated television series aimed at pre-school children, produced by Ludorum plc and Herschend Entertainment Studios. It is broadcast on the BBC's ...
'', and on
Broadway as Jane Banks in ''
Mary Poppins Mary Poppins may refer to:
* Mary Poppins (character), a nanny with magical powers
* Mary Poppins (franchise), based on the fictional nanny
** Mary Poppins (book series), ''Mary Poppins'' (book series), the original 1934–1988 children's fanta ...
''.
Biography
Harrington has, at a young age, played a lead character in two major Disney properties on television
and Broadway.
Since 18 January 2010, her voice has been heard daily on the Disney Channel's animated preschool series
Chuggington
''Chuggington'', also known as ''Chuggington: Tales from the Rails'' in series 6, is a British animated television series aimed at pre-school children, produced by Ludorum plc and Herschend Entertainment Studios. It is broadcast on the BBC's ...
as Koko, and is also used in Chuggington Interactive Toys,
on DVD
,
in Apps
and online.
On Broadway, Harrington played Jane Banks in Mary Poppins
[ ] at the
New Amsterdam Theatre. Other widely seen work includes voice overs for
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...
& the
Nick Jr. Channel.
Her speaking and singing voice has been used to introduce various Nick Jr. shows and in educational segments. Commercially, she is featured in many radio spots. While on camera, she has been seen nationally and internationally.
She has also been featured in theatrical productions regionally
including performing at the
Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia Pa.
Raised in
Barnegat Township, New Jersey
Barnegat Township (pronounced "BAR-nuh-git") is a Township (New Jersey), township in Ocean County, New Jersey, Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 24,296, the highest ...
, Harrington attended the
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...
, double-majoring in Film/Television/Theatre and Political Science. She graduated from The University of Virginia School of Law with her J.D. in 2025.
For high school, Brigid attended
OCVTS Performing Arts Academy. Harrington transferred to
Barnegat High School for her sophomore year, where she appeared in the school's production of ''
The Addams Family''.
Career
Disney Channel
Harrington originated the American voice of the lead female character Koko in the animated series Chuggington, when it debuted in America on the
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...
on 18 January 2010.
Harrington records for the American version, and also joined other cast members in singing the US show's theme song. She is also featured in a series of "Be Safe" PSAs running on the Disney Channel in conjunction with the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA ) is an agency of the U.S. federal government, part of the Department of Transportation, focused on automobile safety regulations.
NHTSA is charged with writing and enforcing Feder ...
.
In 2017, the Disney Channel launched "Chuggington Little Trainees", an updated version of Chuggington (in which Harrington continues to voice lead female character Koko), and a new line of toys for the next generation of viewers.
Nickelodeon
For Nickelodeon and Nick Jr., Harrington has recorded
bumpers and musical intros for many of their shows
such as
The Backyardigans
''The Backyardigans'' ( ) is an animated musical children's television series created by Janice Burgess for Nickelodeon. The series was written and recorded at Nickelodeon Animation Studio. It centers on five anthropomorphic animal neighbors ...
,
Go, Diego, Go!,
Ni Hao, Kai-Lan, and the
Fresh Beat Band. She also recorded special BrainBooster segments and educational features for "Ni-Hao, Kai-lan".
Television
Harrington played "April" opposite
Jerry Springer
Gerald Norman Springer (February 13, 1944 – April 27, 2023) was a British-American broadcaster, journalist, actor, lawyer, and politician. He was best known for hosting the controversial tabloid talk show '' Jerry Springer'' from 1991 to 2 ...
and
Greg Mullavey in the reading for Peter Welch's TV sitcom in development,
The House Arrest Rooney's' in New York City in 2016. In 2014, Harrington played "Kelly" in the premiere episode, "A Killer Routine", of Discovery ID Channel's ''Momsters: When Moms Go Bad'', hosted by Roseanne Barr. In 2010, she appeared in the A&E International show "Bloodwork".
Also that year, ahw sang a song in Italian and played
Lidia Bastianich's granddaughter "Julia" in ''Nonna Tell Me a Story: Lidia's Christmas Kitchen''
which ran on PBS and CreateTV,
and is now available on DVD. In 2011, Harrington was interviewed on ABC's
Good Morning America
''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...
,
and was also featured in some performance shots while she sang and danced
as Jane Banks in ''Mary Poppins'' on Broadway.
America's Got Talent
Brigid Harrington and her sister Shannon Harrington were taped at the
Hammerstein Ballroom
The Hammerstein Ballroom is a ballroom located within the Manhattan Center at 311 West 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The capacity of the ballroom is dependent on the configuration of the room; it seats 2,000 people for theat ...
in New York City for
America's Got Talent (season 5).
A portion of their act and interview were featured in a "Great Talent" promo for the show which aired on
NBC, and the
Oxygen Network.
Commercials
Among Harrington's credits are commercials for
IKEA
IKEA ( , ) is a Multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in Sweden that designs and sells , household goods, and various related services.
IKEA is owned and operated by a series of not-for-profit an ...
(in which she was cast with sister Shannon Harrington),
Hasbro
Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herma ...
,
CarMax,
Comcast
Comcast Corporation, formerly known as Comcast Holdings,Before the AT&T Broadband, AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, not th ...
and
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC was an American cable television company. Before it was acquired by Charter Communications on May 18, 2016, it was ranked the second largest cable company in the United States by revenue behind only Comcast, o ...
.
She also appears in an anti-smoking public service announcement by NJ Quitline.
Theatre
Harrington began her career on the stage, and within a couple of years made her Broadway debut at the
New Amsterdam Theatre on May 10, 2011 starring as Jane Banks in Disney's ''Mary Poppins''. She played opposite 3 "Mary's":
Ashley Brown,
Laura Michelle Kelly, and Steffanie Leigh. Also in 2011, she participated in the annual
Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids Gypsy of the Year Competition. Along with ''Mary Poppins castmates, Harrington won First Runner-Up for Best Stage Presentation,
and according to David Noh of
Chelsea Now', "Performance-wise, little Brigid Harrington, who plays one of the children in 'Mary Poppins', got the biggest applause. In that show's contribution to the competition, kids played adult roles, and Harrington, wearing a gray-streaked wig and pearls, hilariously impersonated Martha in 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf.' "
Harrington and a castmate's performance was recognized by
Playbill
''Playbill'' is an American monthly magazine for Audience, theatergoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most copies of ''Playbill'' are printed for particular productions and distributed at the door as the ...
Contributing Writer
Seth Rudetsky as one of his "Most unforgettable experiences of 2011".
.
In 2015, Harrington originated the role of "Charlotte" in the new musical, ''Once 'Round the Circle'', written by Shanan Estreicher. The cast recorded a demo at the Avatar studios in NYC, and during the winter of 2016, performed a workshop production in New York City as part of Emerging Artist Theatre's New Work Series. Harrington has also performed in many professional and regional theatrical productions such as Ah, Wilderness!
Muriel for the Equity professional
East Lynne Theater Company in 2017,
Scrooge The Musical (Tiny Tim),
and
Annie, (Annie).
[Alt URL]
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She played Susan Waverly
at the historic Walnut Street Theatre's production of Irving Berlin's White Christmas. Her younger sister Shannon Harrington also played the same role on the Broadway National Tour of the same production.
Film
In 2016, Harrington played "Julie" in ''Benji The Dove'', a feature film released in 2017, starring Lynn Cohen
Lynn Harriette Cohen (née Kay; August 10, 1933 – February 14, 2020) was an American actress known for her roles in film, television and theater. She was particularly known for her role as Magda in the HBO series ''Sex and the City'', which sh ...
('' Hunger Games''), and directed by Kevin Arbouet. Also in 2016, Harrington participated in the screenplay reading of ''Hedges'', a coming-of-age story written by Charlie Zicari, in which Harrington plays the love interest to the main character, read by Evan Roe. In 2014, Harrington shot a scene in her first feature film — ''Lullaby''
— playing "Sarah" in a scene that includes, among others, Garrett Hedlund and Jennifer Hudson. The film is the first by Andrew Levitas, who is the film's Director and Writer. Starting in October 2012, Kidtoon Films released Chuggington Traintastic Adventures
to theaters nationwide as a way to introduce children to their first cinematic experience.
Voice-over and recordings
In addition to her voice-over work on the Disney Channel, Disney Jr., and Nickelodeon, Harrington has provided the voice of Koko in Chuggington Interactive toys,
games and apps. She can be heard on 3 The Magic School Bus audio books from Scholastic
as Wanda & Molly. She has recorded many radio commercials including ads for Twizzlers, Capital One Bank, and several for Comcast. Harrington also recorded an original song with Mary Poppins' cast on Carols for a Cure 2011: Vol. 13, the annual holiday CD featuring Broadway performers, with proceeds going towards Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids.
Live performances
*Hammerstein Ballroom - performed with sister Shannon Harrington for ''America's Got Talent'' Season 5, (recorded for broadcast) April 22, 2012
*Student and Youth Travel Association Conference, NYC - performed with company of ''Mary Poppins'', August 22, 2011
*Broadway Sessions, NYC - performed at reunion of Broadway's revival cast of ''Hair'', April 25, 2013
*Broadway for the Arts Concert of Stars,- Skyline Theatre Company, 2013 - 2017
*NJSDD Songwriting Competition - NJPAC, Newark NJ, 2015
* Michael Mitnick Concert - Joe's Pub, NYC 2013
Community Outreach
In 2017, Brigid and her sister Shannon formed the arts education program
Broadway ArtsReach
to spread appreciation of the arts while creating substantive change in arts education. The Broadway ArtsReach mission is to provide arts education to diverse communities and advocate for its necessity through educational performances, fundraising, th
We Want Arts!
advocacy podcast, and arts policy recommendations.
After Brigid performed with Todd Rundgren
Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the bands Nazz and Utopia. He is known for his sophistica ...
in 2018, Broadway ArtsReach formed a partnership with Rundgren'
Spirit of Harmony Foundation
(SOHF), donating a portion of Broadway ArtsReach's proceeds to help this philanthropic organization support music and music education in public schools.
Recognition
*1st Runner Up, Best Stage Presentation: 23rd Annual BC/EFA "Gypsy of the Year" Competition
*Recognized as "Unforgettable experiences of 2011" in Playbill.com
*National Finalist: ''Shrek The Musical'' "Not Your Ordinary Princess" Broadway competition.
* Cynopisis Media Kids Imagination Award: ''Chuggington Traintastic Adventures'' app.
* Annie Award Nomination: ''Chuggington'', 2012. and 2013.
* Online Voting People's Choice Finalist in New Jersey Shout Down Drugs (NJSDD) songwriting competition
References
External links
Official Website
*
Brigid Harrington in Broadway World
Chuggington's Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrington, Brigid
2000 births
Living people
American child actresses
American voice actresses
American stage actresses
People from Barnegat Township, New Jersey
Barnegat High School alumni
21st-century American women