Natalie Venetia Belcon


Natalie Venetia Belcon is an American actress and singer. She is best known for originating the role of former child television star Gary Coleman in the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Avenue Q and her performance as Omara in Buena Vista Social Club, for which she won the 2025 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. Her Broadway credits also include Joanne Jefferson in Rent, and Matilda the Musical.

Early years

Belcon was born in Trinidad and grew up in the Bronx. Her father was a jazz trumpeter of Venezuelan and Spanish heritage, and her mother, who studied classical piano at the Juilliard School of Music, is Trinidadian.
She is a 1991 graduate of Carnegie Mellon University.

Theater

Belcon has performed on the original cast recordings of Avenue Q, The Glorious Ones and The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin.
She appeared as Columbina in the world premiere of the musical The Glorious Ones at the Pittsburgh Public Theater in
April 2007. She appeared Off-Broadway in the same role later in 2007, in which a reviewer commented that her "seductive presence is matched by her smoky voice."
Belcon has performed in various productions and workshops of The Last Smoker in America, an original 4 character musical by Bill Russell and Peter Melnick, which received its world premiere at CATCO in Columbus, Ohio. A workshop production was previously presented in the 2009 New York Musical Theatre Festival. The Last Smoker in America began performances Off-Broadway at the Westside Theatre on July 11, 2012 and closed in September 2012. She was in Matilda the Musical on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre as Mrs Phelps, replacing Karen Aldridge.
In March 2025, she opened the Broadway production of Buena Vista Social Club playing Cuban singer and dancer Omara Portuondo. For her performance, she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.

Television

Belcon appeared as an HR Rep in Damages. Before this she was seen in Johnny and the Sprites until its end with her Avenue Q co-star, John Tartaglia. She plays Gwen, the neighbor of Tartaglia's character, Johnny T.
Belcon had recurring roles on the television shows The Education of Max Bickford, Beverly Hills, 90210 and Roc. Her most notable guest star appearance came in an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, as JoAnn Morgan. She also guest starred in episodes of Martin, Living Single, and The Cosby Show.