# Rachel Bay Jones
**Rachel Bay Jones** (born 1969) is an American stage actress and singer best known for originating the role of Heidi Hansen in the musical *Dear Evan Hansen*, a performance that won her the 2017 Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical and, for the cast recording, a 2018 Grammy Award[1](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/rachel-bay-jones-486880) • [2](https://www.broadway.com/buzz/stars/rachel-bay-jones/profile/). Her Broadway career began in 1989, though her rise to prominence came decades later with the Tony-winning revival of *Pippin* and *Dear Evan Hansen*[1](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/rachel-bay-jones-486880).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | New York City, 1969; raised in Boca Raton, Florida[3](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/rachel-bay-jones/) |
| Broadway debut | Ensemble member and understudy (Esther Smith) in *Meet Me in St. Louis*, November 1989[1](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/rachel-bay-jones-486880) |
| Signature roles | Catherine in *Pippin* (2013 revival); Heidi Hansen in *Dear Evan Hansen* (2016–2018 on Broadway)[1](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/rachel-bay-jones-486880) |
| Tony Award | 2017, Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical, for *Dear Evan Hansen*[1](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/rachel-bay-jones-486880) |
| Grammy Award | 2018, for the *Dear Evan Hansen* original cast recording[2](https://www.broadway.com/buzz/stars/rachel-bay-jones/profile/) |
| Other honors | Lucille Lortel Award (2017) and Drama League nomination for *Dear Evan Hansen*; Drama Desk nomination (2016)[4](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Rachel-Bay-Jones/) • [1](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/rachel-bay-jones-486880) |
| Recent stage work | Marianne in Stephen Sondheim's final musical, *Here We Are*, at The Shed, 2023[4](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Rachel-Bay-Jones/) |
## Early life and Broadway debut
Jones was born in New York City to parents who were professional actors, and the family moved to [Boca Raton, Florida](https://www.edgepedia.org/boca-raton-florida), where she grew up[3](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/rachel-bay-jones/). In an interview with *The Washington Post*, she described her parents, Dennis Jones and Mona Feit, as classical actors who worked extensively at Shakespeare festivals and were, in her words, "very grand"[5](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/rachel-bay-jones-in-evan-hansenyou-wake-up-some-mornings-and-your-chest-hurts/2017/07/20/fa1bbbd2-63f5-11e7-a6c7-f769fa1d5691_story.html). She has said she initially wanted to stay away from show business and planned to be a marine biologist, a resolve that lasted until age 12, when she read her mother's audition script and decided she could play one of the parts; her parents then coached her for the audition[6](https://provincetownindependent.org/arts-minds/2019/12/25/rachel-bay-jones-is-a-broadway-baby/).
She moved to New York at 19 and, within her first week in the city, won a place in the original Broadway company of *Meet Me in St. Louis*, which opened at the [Gershwin Theatre](https://www.edgepedia.org/gershwin-theatre) in November 1989. She was in the ensemble and eventually understudied the role of [Esther Smith](https://www.edgepedia.org/esther-smith), the part associated with [Judy Garland](https://www.edgepedia.org/judy-garland) in the 1944 film[1](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/rachel-bay-jones-486880) • [6](https://provincetownindependent.org/arts-minds/2019/12/25/rachel-bay-jones-is-a-broadway-baby/).
## Two decades of stage work
After *Meet Me in St. Louis* closed in 1990, Jones worked steadily but without a Broadway breakthrough[5](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/rachel-bay-jones-in-evan-hansenyou-wake-up-some-mornings-and-your-chest-hurts/2017/07/20/fa1bbbd2-63f5-11e7-a6c7-f769fa1d5691_story.html). She toured nationally in *Grand Hotel* (1990, playing Hildegarde Bratts and Trude), *Fiddler on the Roof* (2000, as Hodel), and *A Christmas Story: The Musical* (2011, as the Mother)[1](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/rachel-bay-jones-486880) • [6](https://provincetownindependent.org/arts-minds/2019/12/25/rachel-bay-jones-is-a-broadway-baby/). She also performed internationally, appearing in *Rent* in Germany and *Evita* in Spanish-language production[4](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Rachel-Bay-Jones/).
Her return to Broadway came with the 2009 revival of *Hair*, in which she took over the roles of Mother and Buddhadalirama as a replacement, followed by the 2010 musical *Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown*, where she was a swing and understudy and performed the role of Lucia[1](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/rachel-bay-jones-486880). The turning point was the 2013 revival of *Pippin*, in which she originated the role of Catherine and sang Stephen Schwartz's "Ordinary Woman"[1](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/rachel-bay-jones-486880) • [5](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/rachel-bay-jones-in-evan-hansenyou-wake-up-some-mornings-and-your-chest-hurts/2017/07/20/fa1bbbd2-63f5-11e7-a6c7-f769fa1d5691_story.html). She has described Catherine, often treated as a conventional love interest, as a part she and the company built into something new, helped by the fact that she had lived enough life to be older than the typical ingénue[7](https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/BWW-Interviews-Rachel-Bay-Jones-PIPPINs-Catherine-On-Being-Unconventional-20130329).
## Dear Evan Hansen and awards
In 2014 Jones took part in a cold table read of an untitled musical by the songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the book writer Steven Levenson, and director Michael Greif; the show opened at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., in 2015 as *Dear Evan Hansen*[6](https://provincetownindependent.org/arts-minds/2019/12/25/rachel-bay-jones-is-a-broadway-baby/). She created the role of Heidi Hansen, the overstretched single mother of the anxious title character (played by [Ben Platt](https://www.edgepedia.org/ben-platt)), and carried it from Arena Stage to the [Off-Broadway](https://www.edgepedia.org/off-broadway) production at Second Stage Theatre and then to Broadway in December 2016[1](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/rachel-bay-jones-486880).
For the Off-Broadway production she won a Lucille Lortel Award, and on Broadway she received the 2017 Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical, sharing in the musical's honors alongside Platt[4](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Rachel-Bay-Jones/) • [1](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/rachel-bay-jones-486880). She was nominated for a Drama Desk Award in 2016 and for the Drama League Distinguished Performance Award in 2017[1](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/rachel-bay-jones-486880) • [4](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Rachel-Bay-Jones/), and she shared the 2018 Grammy Award given to the *Dear Evan Hansen* original cast recording[2](https://www.broadway.com/buzz/stars/rachel-bay-jones/profile/). Her penultimate number in the show, the solo "So Big/So Small," in which Heidi tells her son about the breakup of her marriage, became one of the production's most talked-about moments[5](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/rachel-bay-jones-in-evan-hansenyou-wake-up-some-mornings-and-your-chest-hurts/2017/07/20/fa1bbbd2-63f5-11e7-a6c7-f769fa1d5691_story.html). She played the role on Broadway through August 2018[1](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/rachel-bay-jones-486880).
## Screen work and recent theater
Jones's television credits include *Modern Family*, *Grey's Anatomy*, *Law & Order: Special Victims Unit*, *God Friended Me*, *The Family*, and *Louie*[6](https://provincetownindependent.org/arts-minds/2019/12/25/rachel-bay-jones-is-a-broadway-baby/) • [2](https://www.broadway.com/buzz/stars/rachel-bay-jones/profile/). She joined *The Good Doctor* as Salen Morrison in 2021 and played Audrey McAllister on *Young Sheldon*, a role she continued in the spinoff *[Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage](https://www.edgepedia.org/georgie-and-mandys-first-marriage)*[4](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Rachel-Bay-Jones/). Her films include *[Ben Is Back](https://www.edgepedia.org/ben-is-back)* (2018) with [Julia Roberts](https://www.edgepedia.org/julia-roberts), *Critical Thinking* (2020), and *Bob Trevino Likes It* (2024)[6](https://provincetownindependent.org/arts-minds/2019/12/25/rachel-bay-jones-is-a-broadway-baby/) • [4](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Rachel-Bay-Jones/).
On stage she played Diana in *Next to Normal* for the Kennedy Center's Broadway Center Stage series in 2020[8](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/rachel-bay-jones-next-normal-kennedy-center-washington-dc-69964/), appeared Off-Broadway in *First Daughter Suite* at [The Public Theater](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-public-theater) and in *Hello Again* at Transport Group (a Drama Desk nomination)[2](https://www.broadway.com/buzz/stars/rachel-bay-jones/profile/), and in 2023 originated the role of Marianne in *Here We Are*, Stephen Sondheim's final musical, at The Shed[4](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Rachel-Bay-Jones/).
She is the mother of a daughter, Miranda, and the partner of the actor Benim Foster[2](https://www.broadway.com/buzz/stars/rachel-bay-jones/profile/). She has spoken about the difficulty of sustaining an acting career as a single mother, saying there were years she did not work and that theater remained the thing she returned to[6](https://provincetownindependent.org/arts-minds/2019/12/25/rachel-bay-jones-is-a-broadway-baby/).
## References
1. [Rachel Bay Jones – Broadway Cast & Staff, IBDB](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/rachel-bay-jones-486880)
2. [Rachel Bay Jones Biography, Broadway.com Star File](https://www.broadway.com/buzz/stars/rachel-bay-jones/profile/)
3. [Rachel Bay Jones – Actress, Singer, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/rachel-bay-jones/)
4. [Rachel Bay Jones – Credits, Bio and News, BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Rachel-Bay-Jones/)
5. [Rachel Bay Jones in 'Evan Hansen': 'You wake up some mornings, and your chest hurts', The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/rachel-bay-jones-in-evan-hansenyou-wake-up-some-mornings-and-your-chest-hurts/2017/07/20/fa1bbbd2-63f5-11e7-a6c7-f769fa1d5691_story.html)
6. [Rachel Bay Jones Is a Broadway Baby, The Provincetown Independent](https://provincetownindependent.org/arts-minds/2019/12/25/rachel-bay-jones-is-a-broadway-baby/)
7. [BWW Interviews: Rachel Bay Jones, PIPPIN's Catherine, On Being Unconventional, BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/BWW-Interviews-Rachel-Bay-Jones-PIPPINs-Catherine-On-Being-Unconventional-20130329)
8. [How the Kennedy Center Became the Go-to Destination for Broadway Talent, Backstage](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/rachel-bay-jones-next-normal-kennedy-center-washington-dc-69964/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Theater and dance › Theater traditions by region › Theater of the Americas › Broadway theatre*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license