Danya El-Kurd was born in Orange, California and was interested in the performing arts from a young age. She started taking tap and ballet classes at age four, and went on to perform in the theatre departments at her middle school and high school. After graduating high school, she went on to attend junior college at both Irvine Valley College & Saddleback College, where she received intensive training in musical theatre, performing in shows such as Anything Goes, The Importance of Being Earnest, Grease, Footloose, Godspell, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and A Charlie Brown Christmas.
In February 2014, Danya was nominated for the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship for her work as Lucy in A Charlie Brown Christmas, travelling to Utah to compete in a regional theatre festival with her fellow students. While in Utah, she auditioned for the Open Jar Institute’s week-long musical theatre intensive and was accepted among sixty students worldwide to attend.
Danya transferred to San Francisco State University in 2015, where she has since performed in student written productions, Urinetown: The Musical, and Chicago. While in school, she had the opportunity to audition for the national tour of the Broadway sensation Hamilton and also trained in workshops with the resident choreographer for the tour. She was the recipient of the Clarence Miller Musical Theatre Scholarship, awarded to students who show promise in the area of musical theatre. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Performance in May 2017, graduated with honors, heading the department theatre club, and was even selected by her fellow students to speak on behalf of the theatre department at the School of Theatre and Dance graduation ceremony.
Immediately after graduation, Danya booked her first professional role as "Fritzie" in Cabaret at Contra Costa Civic Theatre. Since then, she has been performed all across the Bay Area in regional premieres, new works, and beloved classics. Some notable roles have been in Avenue Q, Sister Act, Leila’s Quest for Flight, Grease, Head Over Heels and more!
Recently, Danya has decided to relocate to Los Angeles and continue her musical theatre career while exploring national theatre, and film and television.