Jaquel Spivey

Spivey grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina, raised by a single mother, before moving to New Jersey to live with his aunt.^[1] Spivey stated that he grew up "in a household of black women" whom he credited for instilling confidence in him and his identity as "very feminine, queer, and outspoken."^[5]

He graduated from Montclair High School in Montclair, New Jersey.^[2] He attended Point Park University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and received a degree in musical theatre in May 2021.^[1] At Point Park, he portrayed Louis in a production of Sunday in the Park with George.^[1]

After Larry Owens left A Strange Loop following its off-Broadway run, Spivey was cast as Usher in July 2021 when the show transferred to Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., for a seven-week tryout.^[1][6] The show then moved to New York City at the Lyceum Theatre, with Spivey making his Broadway debut with the opening of the production in April 2022.^[2][1] A Strange Loop earned 11 Tony Award nominations in 2022, including one for Best Actor in a Musical for Spivey's performance.^[2] Spivey, as the principal vocalist, and the rest of the cast received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Musical Theater Album.^[4] Spivey won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical,^[3] He was also nominated for a Distinguished Performance Award for the Drama League Awards,^[7] and won the Outer Critics Circle Awards Outstanding Actor in a Musical and was honored with a Theatre World Award.^[6] A Strange Loop closed on Broadway in January 2023.^[8]

In December 2022, Spivey was cast as Damian Hubbard in Mean Girls, a film adaptation of the Broadway show of the same name, which itself is based on the 2004 film Mean Girls.^[9]