Helen J Shen

Helen J. Shen is an American musical theater actress born on January 28, 2000, in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, where she was raised in the Bernards Township section of the state. Her parents are Chinese immigrants originally from Shanghai. Shen graduated from Ridge High School in 2018. She began studying piano at age five and was competing in international competitions by age eight, continuing that pursuit through her high school years. Upon enrolling at the University of Michigan, she shifted her focus to musical theater performance and earned the Earl V. Moore Award during her studies there.

Shen launched her professional stage career in 2022, playing Kyung-Hwa in the Williamstown Theatre Festival production of Man of God. The following year, she originated the role of JJ in the world premiere of the musical The Lonely Few at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles. She subsequently joined the off-Broadway cast of Teeth at Playwrights Horizons, a world premiere production in which she played Promise Keeper Girl Keke, before departing that production to reprise the role of JJ when MCC Theater brought The Lonely Few to New York in 2024.

In November 2024, Shen made her Broadway debut originating the leading female role of Claire in Maybe Happy Ending, a musical that had its world premiere in Korea in 2016. Her performance earned her a nomination for the 2025 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lead Performance in a Musical, as well as a Grammy Award nomination for Best Musical Theater Album at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards. She also received a Theatre World Award in 2025 in recognition of her Broadway debut. Shen has been in a relationship with Broadway actor Andrew Barth Feldman since 2021.