Actor Lindsay Mendez earned her first Tony nomination for playing the beloved Carrie Pipperidge in this season’s revival of Carousel. (The role marked the first nomination and first win for Audra McDonald with the 1994 revival.)
Mendez made her Broadway debut in the 2007 revival of Grease as Jan, and she’ll never forget the first time she saw her name in a Playbill. “Oh my gosh it was so magical,” she says in the video above. “I was doing Grease and I was so proud I couldn’t believe I was holding the Playbill I was in and I still feel that way every time I get a new one. I’m still getting to be a part of this community—that’s so awesome.”
She’s played roles in Godspell and Everyday Rapture as well as Elphaba in Wicked and she originated the role of Laura in last season’s Significant Other, she carefully considered how she wanted to play Carrie—Julie Jordan’s dearest friend—and what she hopes audiences think of her: “I hope people come away thinking, ‘I want to be friends with that girl.’”
But Mendez says she couldn’t be brilliant onstage without the support of one person, in particular. “My husband, Philip. He’s my constant cheerleader and keeps our life together. He is always there at the end of the day to help me decompress and do whatever needs to be done for our little family.”
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