And it feels very right.. 2. Aww. One couple was so excited, they got up and started dancing with us, she says. She then took singing lessons. Phillipa Soo as Cinderella in "Into the Woods" on Broadway, at the St. James Theatre. 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. She will star opposite her husband, Steven Pasquale, their first collaboration, as well as James Monroe Iglehart, Jessie Mueller, Rachel Dratch, and Kevin Chamberlin. There's been like a lot of experiences that will, I think, keep me warm in my old age.". She appeared in five episodes in the second season before the show's cancellation. Why Phillipa Soo Relishes Originating Roles. 4. Can you guys hear me? But what exactly led Hamilton's biggest stars to leave the hit musical in the first place? The Broadway hit "Hamilton" cast member along with the producers and others, received an initial email that their salary would be ranging from $29,000 to . In fact, Im more interested in having experiences that are different, scary, challenging and something that might be surprising to me, or might be surprising to other people. "And like the show, to see that it's imperfect, that revolution is messy. In 2013, she was cast in the recurring role of Lexi for the NBC television series, Smash. Soo's other Broadway credits include the title role in Amlie (2017), Rebecca in The Parisian Woman (201718), and Cinderella in Into the Woods (2022). She is of half-Chinese descent; her paternal grandparents emigrated from China to the United States. I was very wary to try and take it in one day at a time and really be present. Natasha sort of influenced my experience with Hamilton, but Hamilton was my first Broadway show ever. She was 97 years old. Soo attended Libertyville High School from 2004 to 2008, after which she joined the Juilliard School's acting program. Any young person of color watching it would be inspired just by seeing it. From December 2016 to January 2017, Soo was seen playing the lead role in the pre-Broadway engagement of Amlie in Los Angeless Ahmanson Theatre. specific hamilton request w/phillipa soo. And I was like: "O.K., well, hopefully it sounds good. She originated yet another role on Broadway, the title character in Amlie during the 20162017 season. She earned an Tony nomination for her role as Eliza, but beyond that, Soo's career has been layered with diverse characters and inclusive casts including stage roles in Natasha, Pierre & The. She's The Bullet. Over the years, Soo has proved what a powerhouse of talent she is, and her body of work is a testimony to the same! Copyright 1991-2023 Playbill Inc. All Rights Reserved. He was introduced to his wife, who was rehearsing Hamilton, by one of her castmates, Jonathan Groff. She received a 2016 Tony Award nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical, along with Laura Benanti, Carmen Cusack, Jessie Mueller, and winner Cynthia Erivo. Starting At $160, Buy Tickets We would be there in a heartbeat, too! She is set to star as Guinevere in the Broadway revival of Camelot in 2023. Not surprisingly for someone who was always dancing and singing in her living room, she went from high school . I was very much always encouraged, but the mentality of get your education was still there. Actors' Equity deemed Soo their most promising female.The Clive Barnes Foundation wasnt the only organization to recognize Soos potential. Soo has since become one of Broadway's biggest box-office draws. 5 min read. Sometimes we just stare at each other like, Can you believe this? March 8, 2017, By Our website is made possible bydisplaying online advertisements to our visitors. [30] She has a dog named Billie, which she adopted for her 30th birthday in 2020. Now, dont throw away your shot to watch Phillipa Soo in action on the live-stage performance of Hamilton youll be glad you did, along with the rest of the outstanding original Broadway cast of the musical. But she held onto her grudge against Monroe. As a family, we wouldnt talk about something difficult like race or even economic relations in this country. Lets talk about it and lets unpack it. When shes not onstage, she and other company members can often be found in front of the Richard Rodgers Theatre, doing a little preshow riffing. Once we got up there, we couldn't actually hear anything. "But I didn't really get nervous. And while leaving Hamilton was a sort of graduation for Odom, he told HuffPostin 2017 that he "would clear [his] schedule and go" if Lin-Manuel Miranda called him for a reunion. You can find her writing in The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, the anthologies "How Does One Dress to Buy Dragonfruit?" Soo originated the role of Amlie in the workshop version of the new musical.While Samantha Barks played the role at Berkely Repertory Theatre in California, Soo did originate the role she now plays on Broadway when the project was in its earliest stages. "If something feels strained vocally, I think that tells me that I'm not necessarily invested in the moment," she told Backstagein 2017 of the connection between her voice and her acting choices. Hamilton's success which included 11 Tony Awards, a Grammy, a Pulitzer Prize, and the most in-demand touring company tickets in recent memory meant that virtually every major member of its . Soos final performance for Hamilton came on July 9, 2016, but not before helping her realize all her dreams and aspirations; and bringing her stardom and fanfare. For the now-famous leads, closing the door on Hamilton was the only way to embrace the vast opportunities that existed on the other side of its success. It asks the question: How are you? 'Survivor' Couples Ranked by Longest Relationship: No. The musical, directed by Pam MacKinnon, features a book by Craig Lucas (An American in Paris), music by Daniel Mess (Twelfth Night), and lyrics by Mess and Nathan Tysen (Tuck Everlasting). She was an incredible woman, Soo says, after chaining up her blue 10-speed outside a Midtown cafe. They asked me to join Hamilton and then Hamilton happened. She appeared in five episodes of the show before its immature cancellation. Phillipa Soo's Take on the Famous 'Hamilton' Gasp SiriusXM 1.34M subscribers Subscribe 14K 507K views 2 years ago Broadway actor Phillipa Soo, Jess, and Julia share their theories about. DEADLINE: How has Hamilton influenced your own advocacy? You wanted to be a citizen in this country and stand up for what you believe in. The level of needing to take action in a way that I dont think any of us have ever felt before was stirred by this moment in time that were living in. But it's the beginning of something else.". "Modern Family" star Jesse Tyler Ferguson shared a photo of the newlyweds on Instagram, and in . Her multicultural heritage was brought to the. When Soo isn't creating art, shespends time with her dogs and husband, actorSteven Pasquale. 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 as the leading female role, "Eliza" (Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton). Dont move!. Soo's father is a first-generation Chinese-American, whose parents came from China; her mother is European-American, born and raised in Illinois. She has a dog named Billie that she adopted in 2020 as a 3oth birthday gift to herself. At 26, she has helped originate three roles in five years: Natasha Rostova, the romantic ingnue at the center of a love affair in "Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812"; Eliza. Since an early age, Soo was encouraged to pursue acting. "You have a little bit of sadness, because you're like, 'Oh, this means it's the end of something.' | No, Eliza as she was known, was not . document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Or it can celebrate the fact that there are a bunch of Black and brown people telling American history on a stage on Broadway and any young person of color watching it would be inspired. 5 Things You Didnt Know About Phillipa Soo, Phillipa Soo, Alyse Alan Louis, Harriett D. Foy, and Maria-Christina Oliveras, Last Chance: Schedule of Upcoming Broadway and Off-Broadway Show Closings, 18 Popular Musicals That Have Never Been Revived on Broadway. I ended up in this by just saying 'yes' to a thing that felt really good. Its definitely not a history that we were necessarily included in as people of color but I think what the show does and it did then, and what it continues to do now is it holds this piece as a mirror up to society and ask ourselves where are we right now. She is Chinese-American with her father, a doctor, being first-generation Chinese. Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie, "Asian Actors Onstage: Lea Salonga, Phillipa Soo Sound Off on Broadway, Eliza Schuyler Representation, Cultural Perceptions", "Phillipa Soo on starring in Broadway's sold-out smash 'Hamilton', "Phillipa Soo Soars in Broadway Hit 'Hamilton', "Guiding light to new myth; Late screenwriter Audrey Wells helped 'Over the Moon,' a Chinese legend-inspired film voiced by Asian Americans, find its way", "BWW Interview - Debut of the Month: HAMILTON's Phillipa Soo", "See Full List of 2016 Tony Award Nominations | Playbill", "Full Cast Announced for Broadway-Aimed Amlie Musical | Playbill", "New Musical Amlie Opens on Broadway April 3 | Playbill", "Instagram post by Amlie on Broadway May 4, 2017 at 11:02pm UTC", "Hamilton's Phillipa Soo and Marton Csokas Join The Parisian Woman on Broadway | Playbill", "Suffs review: A rousing and inspiring story of the women's suffrage movement", "Encores! In the Tony Award-winning musical Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda plays the founding father of the title who takes the spotlight, but lets face it, Phillipa Soos Eliza Schuyler should take just as much of that spotlight because as Alexander Hamiltons wife, she was the only one that could put him in his place. [10], Soo appeared in the title role in the pre-Broadway engagement of Amlie at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles from December 2016 to January 2017. It asks hard moral questions, hard questions about humanity and at the same time, its just really good and entertaining at the same time. Associated With She and fellow Asian-American Broadway actress Lea Salonga were interviewed by The Hollywood Reporter together. She is trying to find her voice, Soo said. Phillipa Soo, currently starring in "Hamilton" on Broadway, will leave the show and take the title role in a musical adaptation of the film "Amlie." "Amlie," which began its life . Even the stars of Hamilton dont always know which American president, rapper or movie star will pop up there next. From some of the best romantic comedies like Crazy Rich Asians . They were barely in their twenties. Actress: Hamilton. And I think the beauty is that she doesnt know [what it is]. Soo plays the character of 2nd Lieutenant Harper, a hyper-organized officer who is capable of sub-dividing any problem into color-coded action points. "What resonates differently to me now [is] the feeling of loss for a different time," Diggs told USA Todayin 2020. Soo played the original Eliza Schuyler when it hit Broadway alongside Miranda as well as Leslie Odom Jr., Daveed Diggs, Anthony Ramos, Rene Elise Goldsberry, Christopher Jackson, Okieriete Onaodowan and Jasmine Cephas Jones. And while Soo who plays Hamiltons wife, Eliza mists up recalling Streeps warm backstage visit, she seems unfazed by the stars colliding around her. However, she's been playing an essential part in the show that the story of Alexander Hamilton couldn't even exist without. The musical tells the story of a baker and his wife, who have been cursed by a witch with barrenness. " Hamilton " star Phillipa Soo took her final bow on stage at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on July 9, 2016, just days after recording what would become 2020's . According to Soo, Into the Woods may seem like a fantastical musical about fairy-tale characters, but its much more complicated than that. Phillipa Soo, one of Lin-Manuel Mirandas co-stars, usually finds out during their curtain call: After we bow, Lin whispers, How did you think your performance was today? says Soo, who in turn asks, Who was in the audience, Lin?. SOO: I dont necessarily have an exact answer for you, but I do know that Ive definitely been asking myself that question recently. Eliza Hamilton - (Jul 13, 2015 . Im just interested in a lot of things and I never want to be bored. I think theres something beautiful about that. Soo has appeared in the films Over the Moon, The Broken Hearts Gallery (both 2020), and Tick, TickBoom! 6. You know its wrong and at the same time, you dont quite know what to say. See also Jon Favreau Net Worth 2023. TV. Polishing her skills further at The Juilliard Schools acting program, Soo soon secured the role of Natasha in Off-Broadway, The Great Comet, and has not looked back ever since. Fans who knew Lin-Manuel Miranda's hip-hop musical. What are the things that are messy, imperfect and flawed? DEADLINE: It feels like we are very much at a watershed moment in history. [13] That same year Soo returned on Broadway as Rebecca in The Parisian Woman, an original play by Beau Willimon. We discussed the feel of the new . Soo first wanted to hear what Cagle and his co-host, Julia Cunningham, thought of the gasp, and they each offered somewhat different takes. She stole his heart, supported him through his political journey and even after he cheated on her, she taught him a harsh lesson of love on being a real husband, father and man. It made be very proud to be an Asian woman. Whats going on in society at large?. Its a beautiful process to be able to come together post-pandemic, post this reckoning of social and racial justice to be able to come together as a group and make something, and hold everything that weve experienced in the past couple of years there.. "Now that my hair is off, and I look less like The Guy in the Thing, my life's been a little easier.". Soo has been cast in the CBS upcoming drama pilot, The Code. July 13, 2022, 10:17 AM PDT By Diep Tran Early in her career, actor Phillipa Soo was advised to change her name. It's in the midst of that crowded landscape that the Hamilton movie, an expertly-crafted film of the stage show, is premiering on Disney+ this Friday. Phillipa Soo was born on May 31, 1990, in Libertyville, Illinois, USA. "I hope my unique experiences and my identity can shine a light on the characters I portray," the Chinese American actor said. Im always trying to find balance in my life and you cant really have that all the time as an artist. Its a show that is meant for everyone, and were representing the diversity that we want to see in all facets of the world that we live in, Soo said. | Each year, League members bring Broadway to more than 30 million people in . I think theres a passion in her, and also shes so young like Hamilton and all of his friends. 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. 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