Rachel Bay Jones

Rachel Bay Jones is an American actress and singer whose Broadway career spans from 1989 to 2016. Born to two Shakespearean actors, Jones has Jewish heritage on her mother's side and grew up in a household steeped in performance. She left high school early to appear in a local production, then relocated to New York City at nineteen to pursue acting professionally. Her brother Darren is her only sibling, and she has a daughter named Miranda with her partner, actor Benim Foster.

Jones made her Broadway debut in 1989 as an understudy for the lead role of Esther in Meet Me in St. Louis. In the early 1990s, she expanded her stage work through national and international touring productions, including Grand Hotel on tour, Rent performed in German, and Evita performed in Spanish. She returned to Broadway in 2009 as a replacement in the revival of Hair, taking on the roles of Mother, Buddahdalirama, and Member of the Tribe.

Her next major Broadway credit came with the 2013 revival of Pippin, in which she originated the role of Catherine, Pippin's lover, remaining with the production for its entire run. She also appeared on Broadway in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and starred in A Christmas Story the Musical.

Jones first portrayed Heidi Hansen, mother of the title character, in Dear Evan Hansen when the musical premiered at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. in July 2015. She reprised the role in the Off-Broadway production at Second Stage Theatre in May 2016 and then brought it to Broadway beginning in November 2016. Her performance as Heidi earned her the 2017 Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical, presented at the 71st Tony Awards. The role also brought her a Daytime Emmy Award and a Grammy Award, placing her among a small group of artists to have received three of the four major American entertainment awards. She departed Dear Evan Hansen on August 5, 2018, after which she performed Something Beautiful, a one-woman cabaret show drawing on music from her career.

Beyond Broadway, Jones has maintained an active presence in television and concert work. She appeared in the CBS drama God Friended Me in 2018 as Susan, and has had guest roles on Modern Family and Grey's Anatomy. In 2021, she joined the cast of The Good Doctor as Salen Morrison, reuniting her with former Dear Evan Hansen castmate Noah Galvin. In 2022, she joined Young Sheldon as Audrey McAllister, the mother-in-law of adult Georgie Cooper, a role she continued in the spin-off series Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage. On the concert stage, she appeared in a Transport Group presentation of Sweet Charity at Merkin Concert Hall at the Kaufman Music Center on June 17, 2019. From January 29 to February 3, 2020, she starred as Diana in Next to Normal at the Kennedy Center Broadway Center Stage series. In 2023, Jones originated the role of Marianne in Stephen Sondheim's Here We Are.