Happy Birthday to Tony-winning actress Jessie Mueller, born Feb. 20, 1983, in Evanston, Ill. She and her siblings have followed their parents into the theater. After graduating from Evanston Township H.S. in 2001, Mueller studied musical theater at Syracuse University, returning to Chicago in 2005 to start her performing career. She made her professional debut in Once upon a Mattress (2005) at Chicago’s Drury Lane and appeared regularly at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre.
Mueller received her first Joseph Jefferson Award for her supporting role as Carrie Pipperidge in Carousel (2008). The following year, she met her partner, actor Andy Truschinski, during Goodman Theatre’s production of A Christmas Carol. She won a second Jeff Award for the lead role in She Loves Me (2010) and a third nomination for Guys and Dolls (2011). Below is Mueller with Heidi Kettenring singing “I Don’t Know His Name” from She Loves Me.
She moved to New York in 2011 to make her Broadway debut in the revival of On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, for which she received the Theatre World Award and her first Tony and Desk Desk award nominations. The following year, Mueller made her Off-Broadway debut as Cinderella in the Public Theater revival of Into the Woods and returned to Broadway in the revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, for which she received her second Drama Desk nomination. Below is Mueller singing “Ev’ry Night at Seven” from On a Clear Day.
In 2013, Mueller appeared in the closing Broadway cast of Nice Work If You Can Get It, then once again took on the role of Carrie Pipperidge in Carousel for Lincoln Center’s concert production filmed for PBS. The following year, she appeared in Broadway premiere of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, for which she won Tony, Drama Desk, and Grammy awards. Below is Mueller and the Beautiful cast performing “Will You Love Me Tomorrow / I Feel the Earth Move” with Carole King at the 2014 Tonys.
https://youtu.be/TuVgUEXAKwI
Mueller returned to Broadway in 2016 with Waitress, which brought her another pair of Tony and Drama Desk nods. Two years later, she was back on Broadway in the lead role of Julie Jordan for the revival of Carousel, which earned Mueller her fifth Drama Desk nomination (and second win) and fourth Tony Award nomination. Below is the Waitress cast performing “Opening Up / She Used to Be Mine” at the 2016 Tonys.
https://youtu.be/x7uLeydDNsg
In the past few years, Mueller has appeared opposite Norm Lewis in the Kennedy Center’s 2019 concert production of The Music Man and opposite Megan Hilty in the Lifetime original movie Patsy & Loretta. She had begun previews for the play The Minutes, when the pandemic closed Broadway. The show plans to resume in spring 2022, with an opening set for March 15. Below is the trailer for Patsy & Loretta.