Jessie Mueller

Jessie Mueller

Jessie Mueller and Drew Gehling in Waitress
Born Jessica Ruth Mueller
(1983-02-20) February 20, 1983
Evanston, Illinois
Alma mater Syracuse University
Occupation Actress/Singer

Jessica Ruth "Jessie" Mueller (born February 20, 1983)[1] is an American actress and singer. She started her career in Chicago and won a Joseph Jefferson Award in 2008 for her role as Carrie Pipperidge in Carousel. In 2011, she moved her talents to New York City to star in the Broadway revival of On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. She won the 2014 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in the lead role of Carole King in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.

Mueller is currently performing the lead role of Jenna in the new musical Waitress at Broadway's Brooks Atkinson Theatre.

Personal life

Mueller was born and raised in Evanston, Illinois, the daughter of actors Jill (née Shellabarger) and Roger Mueller. Her two brothers Andrew and Matt along with sister Abby are all actors known for their work in the Chicago theatre community. Mueller is Lutheran.[2] She graduated from Evanston Township High School in 2001 and from Syracuse University in 2005.[3] She is dating fellow actor Andrew Truschinski.[4]

Chicago theatre

After graduation, Mueller returned to Chicago and acted for the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, traveling in 2006 to England to perform at the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon as Lady Mortimer in Henry IV. She followed this with various roles in the Chicago area including Lizzie Fields in Baby, Once Upon a Mattress as the Lady-In Waiting, and Esther in Meet Me in St. Louis. At the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, Illinois, she performed roles in Shout! The Mod Musical, Shenandoah, Miss Adelaide in Guys and Dolls, and Tzeitel in Fiddler on the Roof. In 2009 performed in two musicals at the Goodman Theatre, Animal Crackers as Grace/Mary and A Christmas Carol as Belle/Catherine.[5]

In 2011, she was named Actor of the Year by the Chicago Tribune and also was nominated for two Joseph Jefferson Awards, winning Best Lead Actress in a Musical for her performance as Amalia Balash in She Loves Me.[6][7][8][9][10]

Broadway

Mueller made her Broadway debut in a revised revival of On a Clear Day You Can See Forever as Melinda Wells, a role originated by Barbara Harris. Mueller received critical praise for her performance, with one reviewer commenting "...Her voice contains notes of Garland, but she’s no diva — this is a star of supreme self-possession".[11] For this role, Mueller was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.[12][13][14][15]

Mueller next was cast in the role of Helena Landless / Miss Janet Conover in Roundabout Theatre Company's 2012 revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood for which she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award. She then took over Kelli O'Hara's role of Billie Bendix in Nice Work If You Can Get It, from March 29, 2013 until the show closed on June 15, 2013.[16]

Mueller appeared in the musical Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, which opened on Broadway on January 12, 2014. She played the title role of Carole King. She had performed this role in the try-out in San Francisco in 2013. She won the Drama Desk Award and Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical. She left the Broadway production on March 6, 2015.[17][18][19] On February 8, 2015, Mueller won a Grammy award for Best Musical Theater Album (shared with Carole King (music and lyrics), and producers Jason Howland, Steve Sidwell & Billy Jay Stein).[20]

On April 27, 2015, Mueller was the recipient of the prestigious 2015 Sarah Siddons Society Award at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, IL. The Sarah Siddons Society, founded in 1952 by prominent Chicago theater patrons determined to promote excellence in the art, presents its annual award (named after the 18th century Welsh actress), to an actor of outstanding achievement. Previous winners have included such legends as Audra McDonald, Barbara Cook, Helen Hayes, Geraldine Page, Carol Channing, Bette Davis, Angela Lansbury, Lauren Bacall, Julie Andrews, Chita Rivera, Patti LuPone and many more. [21]

With previews starting March 2016, Mueller will reprise her role as Jenna in the musical adaption of the film Waitress on Broadway, having previously played the role in a workshop of the musical in late 2014.[22][23] With music and lyrics by pop singer Sara Bareilles and direction by Diane Paulus, the musical premiered at the American Repertory Theater in August 2015. Its Broadway debut is set for March 2016. [24]

Other theatre

Mueller portrayed Cinderella in a 2012 Public Theater production of Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods.

In 2013, she reprised her role as Carrie Pipperidge in Carousel at Lincoln Center in a staged concert production backed by the New York Philharmonic.

References

  1. ↑ https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QJGX-K9FL Date of birth, familysearch.org; accessed June 4, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Jessie Mueller as Herself After a Starry Night" The New York Times, June 10, 2014
  3. ↑ "DIVA TALK: Chatting With On a Clear Day Star Jessie Mueller". Playbill.com. Retrieved 2012-06-18.
  4. ↑ "Taking Her Tony Home". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
  5. ↑ http://www.writerstheatre.org/jessie-mueller-biography
  6. ↑ Jones, Chris (22 December 2011). "Theater Chicagoan of the Year is Jessie Mueller: A glass slipper, a crystalline voice". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
  7. ↑ Abarbanel, Jonathan (2010-10-01). "Chicago’s New Shining Stars". Footlights.com. Retrieved 2012-06-18.
  8. ↑ Jessie Mueller. "Marriott Theatre In Lincolnshire". Marriotttheatre.com. Retrieved 2012-06-18.
  9. ↑ "Chicago Shakespeare Theater - Bio - Mueller". Chicagoshakes.com. Retrieved 2012-06-18.
  10. ↑ "Where you've seen Jessie Mueller". Chicago Tribune. May 28, 2014.
  11. ↑ Brown, Scott. "Theater Review: Unfogging On a Clear Day You Can See Forever". Vulture. Retrieved 2012-06-18.
  12. ↑ "Nominee Reactions: ON A CLEAR DAY's Jessie Mueller - 'I Really Wasn't Expecting It...'". Broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 2012-06-18.
  13. ↑ "Jessie Mueller – Broadway’s New Star | How to Sing Like You Speak with Sally Morgan". Singlikeyouspeak.com. 2009-01-13. Retrieved 2012-06-18.
  14. ↑ "Jessie Mueller « Here She Is Boys". Heresheisboys.com. 2011-11-22. Retrieved 2012-06-18.
  15. ↑ "Jessie Mueller scores in B'way debut; local troupes move north". Wbez.org. 2011-12-13. Retrieved 2012-06-18.
  16. ↑ Jones, Kenneth. "Jessie Mueller, John Treacy Egan and Conrad John Schuck Love a Gershwin Tune; They Join 'Nice Work' March 29" playbill.com, March 29, 2013
  17. ↑ Gans, Andrew. "68th Annual Tony Awards Nominations Announced; 'Gentleman's Guide' Leads the Pack" Playbill, April 29, 2014
  18. ↑ Ferri, Josh. "Jessie Mueller Will Star as Carole King in the New Musical 'Beautiful'; Broadway Dates Announced" broadway.com, August 12, 2013
  19. ↑ Blank, Matthew. "Photo call: 'Beautiful: The Carole King Musical', starring Jessie Mueller, opens on Broadway; Red carpet arrivals, curtain call and cast party" Playbill, January 14, 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2014
  20. ↑ "Grammy Aeards Complete Coverage" The Washington Post. February 8, 2015
  21. ↑ "Sarah Siddons Society Honors Jessie Mueller" suntimes.com
  22. ↑ "Jessie Mueller to Star in Sara Bareilles 'Waitress'" gulfnews.com
  23. ↑ " 'Waitress' Workshop" playbill.com
  24. ↑ "Sara Bareilles 'Waitress' Musical" billboard.com

External links

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