Lexi Lawson

Lexi Lawson is an American actress and singer born and raised in the Bronx, New York City, who later relocated with her family to Newburgh, New York. She graduated from Newburgh Free Academy in 2002.

Lawson's professional career includes both touring and Broadway productions. In 2010, she was cast as Mimi Marquez in the North American tour of Rent, a role she pursued after reaching the finalist round of American Idol's eighth season, which she left in order to join the production. Following her time with Rent, she was cast as Vanessa in the United States national tour of Lin-Manuel Miranda's In the Heights.

Her Broadway debut came when she was announced as the replacement for Phillipa Soo in the role of Eliza Hamilton in Miranda's Hamilton, with her first performance in the part taking place on July 9, 2016. Her Broadway credits span from 2009 to 2015 and include The Heights and Rent in addition to Hamilton.

On February 12, 2017, Lawson joined former Rent cast members for a tribute performance of "Seasons of Love" at The Cutting Room in New York City. Later that year, in December 2017, she released a recording of "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" and attended the unveiling of a restored bust of Alexander Hamilton at the Museum of the City of New York alongside fellow Hamilton cast member Anthony Lee Medina. In 2018, she appeared on Miranda's Hamildrops track "First Burn" alongside four other actresses who had played Eliza Hamilton in various Hamilton productions: Julia K. Harriman, Shoba Narayan, Rachelle Ann Go, and Arianna Afsar. Miranda stated on Twitter that the song was the original version of a number sung by Eliza in the musical.

Lawson is married to actor Leonidas Gulaptis, and the two have one child together. She owns a Yorkshire Terrier, which she purchased from a breeder in 2008 and brought with her throughout her touring productions of Rent and In the Heights.