Caroline Bowman

Caroline Bowman is an American musical theatre actress from Howard County, Maryland, whose Broadway career has spanned from 2003 to 2025. She attended Glenelg High School, graduating in 2006, and went on to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre from Pennsylvania State University in 2010. In 2014, Penn State's Alumni Association honored her with an Alumni Achievement Award, given to alumni aged 35 and under.

Before completing her degree, Bowman gained international performance experience, touring with Fame in China and playing Rizzo in Grease in Turkey. She was also a member of the Young Columbians. After relocating to New York City, she joined the national tour of Spamalot as the Lady of the Lake. Her Broadway debut came when she was cast in an ensemble role in Wicked, where she also understudied the lead role of Elphaba.

In 2013, Bowman left Wicked to join the original Broadway company of Kinky Boots. She departed that production shortly after its premiere to take on the role of Eva Perón in the national tour of Evita. When the Evita tour concluded in October 2014, she was offered the lead role of Elphaba in Wicked, stepping into the part on December 16, 2014, replacing Christine Dwyer. An injury in early 2015 temporarily sidelined Bowman, during which time Dwyer returned for a four-week emergency engagement and Jennifer DiNoia also covered the role briefly. Bowman returned to the production in early April 2015 and remained with the show until mid-September 2015, when Rachel Tucker succeeded her.

In April and May of 2016, Bowman reprised Eva Perón for the Vancouver Opera's production of Evita, stepping in for the previously announced Jenn Colella. She also served as narrator in a production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Toby's Dinner Theatre, part of the 45th anniversary celebrations for the Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts.

Announced in May 2019, Bowman was cast as Elsa in the national tour of Frozen, which opened in December 2019 at the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles. In August 2024, it was announced that she would serve as a standby for the role of Norma Desmond in Jamie Lloyd's Broadway revival of Sunset Blvd. She shared the role with Mandy Gonzalez during Nicole Scherzinger's scheduled absence the week of January 7–12, 2025. In October 2024, Bowman was announced as the originator of the role of Karen in the Broadway production of Smash.

Bowman married actor Austin Colby on November 25, 2017. The two had been co-stars on the Frozen national tour. She is a long-time resident of Columbia, Maryland, and has a German Shepherd named Kodak.