Emily Althaus, a Louisville native and WKU theater graduate, will be making her debut Broadway performance tonight in Harvey starring Jim Parsons from the popular sitcom The Big Bang Theory.

When asked for a statement, she simply responded with, "Too excited for words..."

Althaus has been an understudy for the roles of Myrtle Mae Simmons and Ruth Kelly in the broadway revival of Harvey since June. Tonight will be her first performance on stage before a paying New York audience at Studio 54.

While studying performing arts at Western Kentucky University, Althaus appeared in productions of Sweet Charity and As Bees in Honey Drown. She also headlined in the musical Violet.

Earlier this year Emily Althaus received a warm homecoming during a performance at WKU with her two-woman original show, A Night of Well-Adjusted Ladies - a touring improv with fellow WKU graduate, Megan Venzin. Venzin also currently resides in New York and works with The Upright Citizens Brigade.