Phillipa Soo | |
---|---|
Born | Phillipa Anne Soo May 31, 1990 [1] Libertyville, Illinois, U.S. |
Other names | Pippa Soo |
Education | Juilliard School (BFA) |
Occupations |
|
Years active | 2012–present |
Spouse |
Phillipa Anne Soo [lower-alpha 1] (born May 31, 1990) is an American actress and singer. Known for her leading roles on Broadway primarily in musicals, she has received two Grammy Awards along with nominations for a Tony Award and a Primetime Emmy Award.
Soo gained prominence for originating the role of Eliza Hamilton in the musical Hamilton on Broadway. She earned a nomination for the 2016 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical and received a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album that same year. [2] [3] [4] Her performance was captured in the Disney+ live stage recording of Hamilton which was released in 2020 for which she earned a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie.
Soo's other Broadway credits include the title role in Amélie (2017), Rebecca in The Parisian Woman (2017–18), Cinderella in Into the Woods (2022), and Guenevere in Camelot (2023). She also originated the role of Natasha Rostova in the off-Broadway production of Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (2012) as well as the role of suffragist Inez Milholland in Suffs (2022).
Soo has appeared in the films Over the Moon, The Broken Hearts Gallery (both 2020), and Tick, Tick...Boom! (2021). [5] In 2013, she made her television debut in the NBC series Smash and has since acted in Hulu miniseries Dopesick (2021) and the Apple TV+ series Shining Girls (2022).
Soo was born in Libertyville, Illinois. Her father is Chinese American (her paternal grandparents emigrated from China to the United States) and her mother is white. Her father is a doctor and her mother, who is from Southern Illinois, is involved in the arts. [6]
Soo attended Libertyville High School in suburban Chicago from 2004 to 2008. [7] She graduated from The Juilliard School's acting program in 2012. [8]
After graduating from Juilliard in 2012, Soo was cast as Natasha Rostova in the Ars Nova production of Dave Malloy's Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 , based on Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace . The show went on to transfer from Ars Nova to another Off-Broadway space, Kazino, a tent custom-built for the show.
After seeing her performance in Great Comet, director Thomas Kail and composer and writer Lin-Manuel Miranda asked her to take part in an early 2014 reading of the musical Hamilton , where she read the part of "Eliza" (Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton). Soo played Eliza when the show premiered off-Broadway at The Public Theater and on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theater. For her performance in Hamilton, Soo received a nomination for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical. [9] Soo played her final performance in Hamilton on July 9, 2016, and the role of Eliza was taken over by Lexi Lawson. [10]
Soo played the titular character in the pre-Broadway engagement of Amélie at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles from December 2016 to January 2017. Soo reprised her role when Amélie began preview performances on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre on March 9, 2017, opening officially on April 3. [11] [12] The show closed on May 21, 2017. [13] That same year Soo returned on Broadway as Rebecca in The Parisian Woman , an original play by Beau Willimon. The production began preview performances at the Hudson Theatre on November 7, 2017, and opened on November 30 for a limited run through March 11, 2018. [14]
In 2022, Soo portrayed suffragist Inez Milholland in Shaina Taub's musical Suffs . The production premiered Off-Broadway at The Public Theatre to positive reviews. Entertainment Weekly declared, "Soo, best known for originating the role of Eliza Schuyler in Hamilton, grounds the story with her poignant voice, infusing Inez Milholland with emotion and vulnerability so striking, you're reminded of why she's so closely associated with another woman who wrote herself into the narrative." [15] The production opened on April 6 and ran a limited run through May 29, 2022.
On May 26, it was announced Soo would play Cinderella in the Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods at the St. James Theatre. [16] Soo starred opposite Sara Bareilles, Brian D'Arcy James, Gavin Creel, Joshua Henry, Patina Miller, and Cheyenne Jackson. She received acclaim for her role, with The Hollywood Reporter critic David Rooney describing her performance as, "one of her best roles since her shattering performance as the original Eliza in Hamilton ." [17] She remained with the show through September 4, 2022. [18] Soo would go on to win her second Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album for her work in Into the Woods. [19]
On August 2, 2022, it was announced that Soo would play Sarah Brown in a revival of Guys and Dolls at The Kennedy Center. The cast included Soo's husband, Steven Pasquale, as well as James Monroe Iglehart, Jessie Mueller, Rachel Dratch, and Kevin Chamberlin. [20] In The New York Times article on the Best Theatre of 2022, Scott Heller of praised Soo as "a gift to the musical theater" and that in that year she "showed more sides to her talent than ever". [21]
On November 1, 2022 it was announced Soo would star as Guenevere in the Broadway revival of Camelot opposite Andrew Burnap, and Jordan Donica. The production debuted in March 2023 at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Center with Bartlett Sher as director and Aaron Sorkin with a revised book. [22]
In 2013, she was cast in a small recurring role in the NBC television series Smash as the character Lexi. She appeared in five episodes in the second season before the show's cancellation. [23] She had a small supporting role as Nia in the 2014 television pilot Dangerous Liaisons, but it did not get picked up to series. [24]
In 2018, it was announced that Soo had been cast in the CBS series The Code . [25] The show aired for one season before its cancellation in July 2019. [26] In 2021, she received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie nomination for her performance in the Disney+ live stage recording of Hamilton which was released in 2020.
She co-wrote a children's book, Piper Chen Sings, with her sister-in-law Maris Pasquale Doran. The book was published by Random House Studio in 2024 and became a New York Times best seller.
Inspired by Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, the character she played in Hamilton , Soo started the Eliza Project initiative in partnership with Graham Windham, the first private orphanage in New York City that is mentioned in the last song at the end of the show. Through the program, Soo plans to provide students at the Graham School with acting, dancing, and rap workshops. According to Soo, the core mission of "The Eliza Project" is "to use the arts as a means of expression, as an outlet for personal experience, and to uplift the creative spirit." [27]
Soo became engaged to actor Steven Pasquale in February 2016. [28] They married on September 24, 2017. [29] In 2019, the two starred opposite each other in an episode of The Code. [30] She has a dog named Billie, which she adopted for her 30th birthday in 2020. [31] She and her husband practice Transcendental Meditation. [32]
† | Denotes works that have not yet been released |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2013 | Keep The Change | Karen | Short film |
2016 | Moana | Additional voices | |
2018 | Here and Now | Oona | |
2020 | The One and Only Ivan | Thelma | Voice role |
The Broken Hearts Gallery | Nadine | ||
Over the Moon | Chang'e [33] | Voice role | |
2021 | Tick, Tick... Boom! | "Sunday" Legend | Cameo appearance |
2022 | Blue's Big City Adventure | Audition Person #4 | Cameo appearance |
2023 | One True Loves | Emma Blair | Also executive producer |
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | Smash | Lexi | 5 episodes | [34] |
2014 | Dangerous Liaisons | Nia | Unaired pilot | [35] |
2019 | The Code | Lieutenant Harper Li | 13 episodes | [36] |
2020 | Hamilton | Eliza Hamilton | Disney+ special of the musical | [37] |
2021 | The Bite | Cydni Estereo | 6 episodes | [38] |
2021 | Dopesick | Amber Collins | 7 episodes | [39] |
2022 | Shining Girls | Dr. Jin-Sook Gwansun | 8 episodes | [40] |
Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance | Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 | Nominated | [55] |
2014 | Lucille Lortel Awards | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical | Nominated | [56] | |
2015 | Hamilton | Won | [57] | ||
2016 | Tony Awards | Best Actress in a Musical | Nominated | [58] | |
Grammy Awards | Best Musical Theater Album | Won | [59] | ||
2020 | Critics' Choice Super Awards | Best Voice Actress in an Animated Movie | Over the Moon | Nominated | [60] |
2021 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie | Hamilton | Nominated | [61] |
2023 | Grammy Awards | Best Musical Theatre Album | Into the Woods | Won | [62] |
Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical | Nominated | |||
Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards | Favorite Featured Actress In A Musical | Won | |||
Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance | Camelot | Nominated | ||
Helen Hayes Award | Outstanding Performer in a Visiting Production | Guys and Dolls | Nominated | [63] |
The Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album has been awarded since 1959. The award is generally given to the album's producers, principal vocalist(s), and the composer and lyricist if they have written a new score which comprises 51% or more playing time of the album, though the number of recipients has varied over the category's tenure.
Gavin James Creel is an American actor, singer, and songwriter best known for his work in musical theater. Creel made his Broadway debut in 2002 in the leading role of Jimmy in Thoroughly Modern Millie before starring as Claude in the 2009 Broadway revival of Hair, both Tony Award-nominated performances. From 2012 to 2015, he starred as Elder Price in The Book of Mormon; he received a Laurence Olivier Award for originating the role in the West End version of the musical and has played the role in the US National Tour and on Broadway. In 2017, he received a Tony Award for his performance as Cornelius Hackl in Broadway's Hello, Dolly!.
Celia Keenan-Bolger is an American actress and singer. She won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for portraying Scout Finch in the play To Kill a Mockingbird (2018). She has also been Tony-nominated for her roles in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (2005), Peter and the Starcatcher (2012), The Glass Menagerie (2014), and Mother Play (2024).
Brian d'Arcy James is an American actor and musician. He is known primarily for his Broadway roles, including Shrek in Shrek the Musical, Nick Bottom in Something Rotten!, King George III in Hamilton, and The Baker in Into the Woods. He has received five Tony Award nominations for his work. On-screen, he is known for his recurring role as Andy Baker on the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why, Officer Krupke in West Side Story, and reporter Matt Carroll in Spotlight.
Sara Beth Bareilles is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She has sold over three million albums and over 15 million singles in the United States. Bareilles has earned various accolades, including two Grammy Awards, as well as nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards and three Tony Awards. In 2012, VH1 named her one of the Top 100 Greatest Women in Music.
Steven Pasquale is an American actor. He is best known for his role as the New York City Firefighter/Emergency Medical Technician Sean Garrity in the series Rescue Me. He made his television debut on the HBO series Six Feet Under, playing a love interest for David. He has also starred in the film Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, and as Scott in American Son, on both stage and screen.
Jayne Houdyshell is an American actress. Known for being a prolific character actor in theater, film, and television, Houdyshell has received numerous accolades including a Tony Award, two Obie Awards, and a Drama Desk Award.
Patina Renea Miller is an American actress and singer. Miller's breakout role was as originating the role of disco diva wannabe Deloris Van Cartier in the 2009 West End and 2011 Broadway productions of Sister Act for which she earned a Laurence Olivier Award and Tony Award nominations respectively. She also starred as the Leading Player in the 2013 Broadway revival of Pippin, for which she won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. She later returned to Broadway to star as the Witch in the 2022 Broadway revival of the Stephen Sondheim musical Into the Woods.
Joshua Anthony Charlton Henry is a Canadian-American actor and singer of stage and screen.
Jessica Ruth Mueller is an American actress and singer. She started her acting career in Chicago and won two Joseph Jefferson Awards in 2008 and 2011 for her roles as Carrie Pipperidge in Carousel and Amalia Balash in She Loves Me. In 2011, she moved to New York City to star in a Broadway revival of musical On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She won the 2014 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for her performance as Carole King in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. She went on to receive two additional Best Actress in a Musical Tony Award nominations for her leading roles in Waitress (2016) and the Broadway revival of Carousel (2018).
Pam MacKinnon is an American theatre director. She has directed for the stage Off-Broadway, on Broadway and in regional theatre. She won the Obie Award for Directing and received a Tony Award nomination, Best Director, for her work on Clybourne Park. In 2013 she received the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for a revival of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? She was named artistic director of American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, California on January 23, 2018.
Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 is a sung-through musical adaptation of a 70-page segment from Leo Tolstoy's 1869 novel War and Peace written by composer/lyricist Dave Malloy and directed by Rachel Chavkin. It is based on Part 8 of Tolstoy's novel, focusing on Natasha's romance with Anatole and Pierre's search for meaning in his life.
Jasmine Cephas Jones is an American-British actress, singer, and producer who is best known for originating the dual roles of Peggy Schuyler and Maria Reynolds in the Broadway stage musical Hamilton. Her work on Hamilton's accompanying cast album earned her a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. In 2020, Cephas Jones won a Primetime Emmy for portraying Tyisha in #freerayshawn.
Waitress is a musical with music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles and a book by Jessie Nelson. Based on the 2007 film of the same name, written and directed by Adrienne Shelly, it tells the story of Jenna Hunterson, a baker and waitress in an abusive relationship with her husband, Earl. After Jenna unexpectedly becomes pregnant, she begins an affair with her doctor, Dr. James "Jim" Pomatter. Looking for ways out of her troubles, she sees a pie baking contest and its grand prize as her chance.
Denée Ayana Benton is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her performance as Natasha Rostova in the 2016 musical Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet of 1812 on Broadway, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award. Benton assumed the role of Eliza Hamilton in the Broadway production of Hamilton, beginning performances on October 30, 2018. Her television acting credits include UnREAL and The Gilded Age.
Amber Gray is an American actress and singer. She is known for portraying Hélène Bezukhova in the 2016 Broadway musical Natasha, Pierre, & the Great Comet of 1812 and for originating the role of Persephone in the musical Hadestown, both off and on Broadway. For the latter 2019 role, she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, additionally earning the 2020 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.
Eva Maria Noblezada is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her work in theatre, starring in musicals in the West End and on Broadway. Her accolades include a Grammy Award and two Tony Award nominations.
Lexi Lawson is an American actress and singer, best known for her work in musicals. She held the lead female roles in touring productions of Rent and In the Heights. Lawson made her Broadway debut as Eliza Hamilton in Hamilton.
Jordan Donica is an American actor and singer. He is known for his theatrical roles in musicals.
Suffs is a stage musical with book, music, and lyrics by Shaina Taub, based on suffragists and the American women's suffrage movement, focusing primarily on the historical events leading up to the ratification of the nineteenth amendment to the United States constitution in 1920 that gave some women, primarily white women the right to vote. It premiered Off-Broadway at The Public Theater in April 2022.
In terms of my own experience, my dad is first-generation, so his parents were from China, and my mom was born and raised in southern Illinois, and she was involved in the arts. My dad's a doctor. I was very much always encouraged, but the mentality of "get your education" was still there.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)