'Very Excited' South Pacific Star Kelli O'Hara Expecting Her First Child

South Pacific star Kelli O’Hara and her actor husband Greg Naughton are expecting a honey bun of their very own: The Tony-nominated actress is pregnant with her first child, due in mid-July. She plans to depart the show “sometime in March” and hopes to return to play Ensign Nellie Forbush in the fall.

“We are very, very excited,” O’Hara told Broadway.com. “Everyone at the show and at Lincoln Center has been so supportive. [LCT artistic director] Andre Bishop said, ‘We’re going to throw you a big shower.’ All the guys in the cast go out of their way to help me up the stairs.”

O’Hara reports that she’s feeling fine and continues to perform Nellie’s cartwheel in the show every night. “It’s great for me to stay active because it keeps me feeling well,” she says. As for her costumes, which include uniforms, gowns and a two-piece bathing suit worn during the exuberant “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair” number, O’Hara says that designer Catherine Zuber is making adjustments “as we speak, for my comfort and also because you don’t want to take away from the story. I’ll get a one-piece [swimsuit] and different skirts.”

O'Hara is one of Broadway's fastest-rising leading ladies, receiving Tony Award nominations for her last three critically-acclaimed performances in The Light in the Piazza, The Pajama Game and South Pacific. Other Broadway credits include Jekyll and Hyde, Sweet Smell of Success, Follies and Dracula, the Musical. Last year, she released her first solo CD, Wonder in the World, on Ghostlight Records.

The popular star wrote of her desire for a family in a First Person essay for Broadway.com during the run of The Pajama Game. “It’s something we’ve wanted for a long time,” she says. But she won’t be gone for long: Citing co-star Paulo Szot’s plan to remain with South Pacific through 2009, O’Hara says she’ll be back in the fall for the end of his run.