Jaquel Spivey

Jaquel Spivey is an American actor born on November 13, 1998, in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he was raised by a single mother before relocating to New Jersey to live with his aunt. He attended Montclair High School in Montclair, New Jersey, and subsequently enrolled at Point Park University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he earned a degree in musical theatre in May 2021. During his time at Point Park, he took on the role of Louis in a production of Sunday in the Park with George.

Spivey has credited his upbringing in a household of Black women with shaping his confidence and his identity, which he has described as very feminine, queer, and outspoken. Following his graduation, he was cast as Usher in A Strange Loop in July 2021, stepping into the role after Larry Owens departed following the show's off-Broadway run. Spivey first performed the role during a seven-week tryout at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., before the production transferred to New York City.

A Strange Loop opened at the Lyceum Theatre in April 2022, marking Spivey's Broadway debut. The production received 11 Tony Award nominations that year, including one for Best Actor in a Musical for Spivey's performance. He won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical and received a Theatre World Award. Additional recognition included the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical, a nomination for the Drama League's Distinguished Performance Award, and a Grammy Award nomination for Best Musical Theater Album, shared with the cast as principal vocalists on the cast recording. A Strange Loop closed on Broadway in January 2023.

In December 2022, Spivey was cast as Damian Hubbard in Mean Girls, a film adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name, which itself is based on the 2004 film Mean Girls.