Jaquel Spivey | |
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Born | Raleigh, North Carolina | November 13, 1998
Education | Point Park University |
Occupation | Actor |
Jaquel Spivey (born November 13, 1998) is an American actor. He won a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical and received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical for his starring role as Usher in the Broadway theatre production of A Strange Loop in 2022.[1][2][3] He also earned a Grammy Award nomination for the cast recording of the show.[4]
Spivey grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina, raised by a single mother, before moving to New Jersey to live with his aunt.[1] Spivey stated that he grew up "in a household of black women" who he credited for instilling confidence in him and his identity as "very feminine, queer, and outspoken."[5]
He graduated from Montclair High School in Montclair, New Jersey.[2] He attended Point Park University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and received a degree in musical theatre in May 2021.[1] At Point Park, he portrayed Louis in a production of Sunday in the Park with George.[1]
After Larry Owens left A Strange Loop following its off-Broadway run, Spivey was cast as Usher in July 2021 when the show transferred to Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., for a seven-week tryout.[1][6] The show then moved to New York City at the Lyceum Theatre, with Spivey making his Broadway debut with the opening of the production in April 2022.[2][1] A Strange Loop earned 11 Tony Award nominations in 2022, including one for Best Actor in a Musical for Spivey's performance.[2] Spivey, as the principal vocalist, and the rest of the cast received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Musical Theater Album.[4] Spivey won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical,[3] He was also nominated for a Distinguished Performance Award for the Drama League Awards,[7] and won the Outer Critics Circle Awards Outstanding Actor in a Musical and was honored with a Theatre World Award.[6] A Strange Loop closed on Broadway in January 2023.[8]
In December 2022, Spivey was cast as Damian Hubbard in Mean Girls, a film adaptation of the Broadway show of the same name, which itself is based on the 2004 film Mean Girls.[9]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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2024 | Mean Girls | Damian Hubbard |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2022–2023 | A Strange Loop | Usher | Lyceum Theatre, Broadway |
Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical | A Strange Loop | Nominated | [2] |
Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Won | [3] | ||
Drama League Award | Distinguished Performance Award | Nominated | [7] | ||
Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Won | [6] | ||
Theatre World Award | Honoree | [6] | |||
2023 | Grammy Awards | Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album | Nominated | [4] |