Krysta Rodriguez
Rodriguez in 2016
Born	Krysta Anne Rodriguez[1] Orange, California, U.S.[1]
Education	New York University
Occupations	Actress, Singer
Years active	1995–2000, 2004–present
Known for	Smash Spring Awakening The Addams Family

Krysta Anne Rodriguez is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles as Ana Vargas in theNBC seriesSmash, Summer Henderson in theNBC seriesTrial & Error, Maxine Griffin in theABC seriesQuantico and Ms. Crumble in theNetflix comedy seriesDaybreak. She's also starred onBroadway in the musicalsSpring Awakening,The Addams Family, andInto the Woods.

Rodriguez grew up in Orange County, California.^[2] She began taking dance lessons at the age of 13, after being involved with cheerleading in middle school.^[3] After traveling to New York and seeing eightBroadway shows, she realized performers had to sing and act as well as dance, so once she returned home Rodriguez began taking singing and acting lessons.^[3] She was a cast member of the Christian television showColby's Clubhouse from 1995 to 2000.^[4] She attendedOrange County High School of the Arts^[2] where she played many lead roles including Marian inThe Music Man,^[3] as well as the lead role inGidget: The Musical, a musical co-written and directed byFrancis Ford Coppola, that starred Orange County High School of the Arts students during its (ultimately unsuccessful) tryouts in 2000.^[5] She attendedNew York University for a few years, but began working soon after enrolling. Rodriguez said of her education, "[A]lthough I would have loved to finish I did not get that opportunity because I started working. So…no degree in musical theater, but so far an okay career."^[2]

Rodriguez made herBroadway debut in the short-lived 2005jukebox musicalGood Vibrations.^[6] She later became a replacement for the role of Bebe in the Broadway revival ofA Chorus Line in 2007.^[2] She has played numerousensemble andunderstudy parts in the Broadway productions ofSpring Awakening andIn the Heights, as well as a regional production ofThe Boy Friend directed byJulie Andrews.^[7] She made her feature film debut in the role of Krysta in the 2010 filmThe Virginity Hit.

Beginning performances in fall 2009, Rodriguez originated the role ofWednesday Addams in the world premiereChicago try-out run of the newBroadway-boundmusicalThe Addams Family, based on the cartoons ofCharles Addams. From March 2010, the show received its planned debut at New York'sLunt-Fontanne Theatre. After playing the role for over a year and lending her voice to the show's original cast recording, Rodriguez left the musical on March 8, 2011, and was replaced byRachel Potter.^[2][8]

Other credits include anEncores! production ofBye Bye Birdie. Her first television role was a guest appearance as the character Jordan Steele inGossip Girl.^[9] In 2011, Rodriguez starred in the television movieIceland as Rose, one of a group of friends who reunite to heal and nurture each other after the death of one of their own.

In 2012, Rodriguez starred in another television movieShadow of Fear as Lauren. The movie is about the push and pull between a schizophrenic new waiter and a popular young waitress. In 2013, she guest starred in the web series created by Mitchell Jarvis andWesley Taylor,It Could Be Worse. She played an assistant to a Broadway Star named Bridgett/Bridget in two episodes, titled "Payment Plan" and "Let Your Hair Down".

Rodriguez joined the cast of theNBC seriesSmash for its second, and final, season in 2013, playing the role of Ana Vargas, an aspiring Broadway performer and the new roommate ofKatharine McPhee's character Karen.^[10]

In July 2013, Rodriguez returned to Broadway playing Casey inFirst Date, co-starring withZachary Levi.^[11]

In December 2013, Rodriguez appeared inHit List, a concert presentation of the fictional musical created for the second season ofSmash, as The Diva/Sarah Smith.^[12] Rodriguez was scheduled to have a major role in the plannedCBS sitcomHow I Met Your Dad; aspinoff and successor to the long-running sitcomHow I Met Your Mother, but on March 25, 2014, it was announced that Rodriguez had exited the pilot.^[13] (The proposed spin-off would ultimately not be picked up.^[14])

Rodriguez guest starred onMarried in 2014, as Kim, a friend of a couple desperately trying to save their marriage. OnIan, Rodriguez guest starred as Fly Girl. Additionally, Rodriguez starred in theLifetime holiday movie entitledWishin' and Hopin' in the role ofAnnette Funicello, ateen idol,movie actress and Mickey Mouse Club Mousekteer.

In 2015, Rodriguez was cast as Vanessa, a straight talking, no-nonsense cancer patient ready to share her truth, in a multi-episode arc in the second season of theABC Family television showChasing Life.^[15] The season aired in the summer of 2015.^[16][17]

Also in 2015, she played Madison in an episode ofInside Amy Schumer. Krysta also guest starred in an episode ofThe Mysteries of Laura as April Watkins.

Rodriguez starred in the 2016 filmBakery in Brooklyn as Chloe, one of the lead characters.

Through June 14, 2015, she returned to star as Ilse in theDeaf West Theatre production ofSpring Awakening, held at theWallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts inBeverly Hills, California.^[18][19] TheLos Angeles Times featured her in an article about her return to the production that she helped to create on Broadway.^[20] In July 2015, it was announced that the production would be transferring to Broadway with its current cast for a limited engagement at theBrooks Atkinson Theatre. Rodriguez performed in the Broadway revival from September 8, 2015, through its closing on January 24, 2016.^[21][22] The show ran two weeks past its intended run due to its rave reviews, and garnered threeTony Award nominations including Best Revival of a Musical.^[23][24]

Rodriguez performed in the Off-Broadway production ofWhat We're Up Against, a play about how women are treated in the workplace. It shows the inequality of women and how nothing has changed in the past twenty-five years. She played "Eliza, a sharp young architect who [was] new to the firm".^[25] The show ran from October 28 through December 3, 2017.^[26] This was the first time Rodriguez andSkylar Astin worked together sinceSpring Awakening in 2006.^[27]

In 2017, Rodriguez starred as Summer Henderson in theNBC comedy seriesTrial & Error.^[28] In the same year, it was announced that Rodriguez was cast in the recurring role of Maxine Griffin in the second season ofABC's thriller seriesQuantico.^[29]

In 2018, it was announced that Rodriguez was cast in the main role of Ms. Crumble in theNetflixcomedy-drama seriesDaybreak.^{[30][31][32][33]}

Rodriguez made her solo debut atFeinstein's/54 Below from September 10–14, 2019, directed by Ben Rauhala. Special guests includedKathryn Gallagher,Andy Mientus,Joe Iconis,Megan McGinnis,Jelani Alladin, and Adam Josef Levy.^[34]

In 2021, Rodriguez appeared in the role ofLiza Minnelli in the Netflix miniseriesHalston. In 2022, she co-starred withSantino Fontana in theHallmark Channel filmJust One Kiss.^[35]

In September 2022, Rodriguez starred asCinderella in the 2022 Broadway revival ofInto the Woods. She left the production in November of that year.^[36] From 13 July to 30 July 2023, she reprised her role of Cinderella at theAhmanson Theatre on the US National Tour ofInto the Woods.^[37]

In the fall of 2014, Rodriguez was diagnosed withbreast cancer.^[38][39] In 2015, Rodriguez started the website ChemoCouture.com to create a blog detailing her journey during chemotherapy as well as providing various fashion, beauty, and wellness tips that she employs during her battle with cancer.^[40] After going public with her diagnosis, Rodriguez was contacted byCosmopolitan to blog for their Cosmo Online Health and Fitness readers about her experiences.^{[41][42][43][44][17]}

Wikimedia Commons has media related toKrysta Rodriguez.

• Krysta Rodriguez at theInternet Broadway Database
• Krysta Rodriguez at theInternet Off-Broadway Database
• Krysta Rodriguez atIMDb

• Living people
• 21st-century American actresses
• 21st-century American singers
• 21st-century American women singers
• Actresses from Orange County, California
• American musical theatre actresses
• American television actresses
• Orange County School of the Arts alumni
• Actors from Orange, California
• Singers from California
• American actresses of Mexican descent

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles with hCards
• Commons category link is on Wikidata
• IBDB name template using Wikidata
• Year of birth missing (living people)