Former University of Cincinnati student Karen Olivo has found a touch of home on the West Coast.
The Tony-winning actress added to NBC's "Harry's Law" this fall loves sitting at the show's replica Arnold's Bar and Grill, which viewers will see for the first time on Wednesday's episode.
"It's so comforting to sit down there between takes. You see the pictures and memorabilia on the walls, the old Cincinnati Reds stuff. It's a very homey place," said Olivo, who plays attorney Cassie Reynolds.
"I'm the only one on the set who would recognize everything. It makes me giggle to know they got it right. It's really cool," said Olivo, who studied at UC's College-Conservatory of Music (1994-97) before joining the "Rent" cast in New York City.
Producers of Kathy Bates' legal series built the fake Arnold's on a Warner Bros. sound stage to give a Cincinnati flavor lacking in the first shows last winter.
Attorney Harriett "Harry" Korn (Bates) and her co-workers hang out after hours in the bar, based on the 150-year-old tavern on Eighth Street Downtown. Viewers this fall also see dozens of Cincinnati street scenes pulled from 22 hours of video shot by a "Harry's Law" crew this summer.
"Every single show, you get a lot of great snapshots of Cincinnati," Olivo said.
Born in New York, and raised in Central Florida, the daughter of a children's theater director doesn't find it ironic that she landed her first TV series regular role in a show set in the Queen City.
Olivo had been flying from New York to LA to get into TV for five years, even before winning the 2009 best actress Tony for Anita in "West Side Story."
"It just makes perfect sense," she said.
Just like coming to CCM from Harrison School for the Arts in Lakeland, Fla., in 1994.
"The first day I walked on the campus, I felt: This is where I should be," she said.
At CCM, she appeared in "Big River," "Cabaret," "Oklahoma!" and not many other shows because she was working her way through school at Bagel Bros.
Despite Broadway success in "Rent" and "In the Heights," she never forgot the words of Aubrey Berg, CCM musical theater chair. "He was the first teacher I had who said I ought to be on TV," she said.
Berg said Olivo was overflowing with potential when she came to Clifton.
"She was a strong singer, dancer and actress. She certainly had the looks and acting chops for a career in television, even then." Berg said.
"I love watching her on the small screen, but I am so glad she first made her mark on stage," Berg said.
The admiration is mutual.
"So much of my success has been based in my Cincinnati years," she said.
Her UC years help Olivo play by-the-book Cassie, the lone sane character in an Over-the-Rhine loft office filled with eccentrics.
"When they say, 'You're standing outside the courthouse,' I know exactly where I am because I've been to the courthouse before. When they talk about Cincinnati, I feel I don't have to act as much," she said.
Producers haven't told her much about Cassie, so she's invented her own back story.
"She definitely lives in a swanky little place in Mount Adams. She goes to the Aronoff Center and Playhouse in the Park," she said.
Cassie also loves Skyline Chili. Three way, no onions, same with Olivo. Except that Cassie hasn't tasted any on the show. Yet.
"I keep asking them: 'When do we have chili?' They have no idea what I'm talking about!
"I keep asking all the time, 'When do we have Skyline?' "
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