Tony Winner Jessie Mueller's Upcoming Carnegie Hall Debut Is All About the Kids

On April 18, Tony winner Jessie Mueller will make her Carnegie Hall debut in Take the Stage With Broadway Stars, an interactive family concert. But although it’s her first time playing the iconic venue, Mueller is no stranger to the idea of a Carnegie premiere; she depicted Carole King’s in Beautiful for over a year.

“It’s funny. The first day I walked on the stage at Carnegie,” Mueller recently told Broadway.com, “I was thinking about that very moment in the show.” Of course, her debut is different from the songwriter she played. This weekend’s crowd will have more youngsters.

“It’s exposing kids to all the jobs that are available in this world,” Mueller explained. “It lets them see the inner workings of how a show comes to be.” Mueller commended the effort to provide a new kind of arts programming, and recalled her own childhood in a family of performers: “I knew the arts were out there, but I didn’t have the opportunity to explore that when I was younger.” The threat of budget cuts to arts education is fresh in her mind.

This concert aims to change that for a new generation with the help of several Broadway alums, including Mueller’s sister Abby (currently in Kinky Boots.) And the Muellers won’t be the only ones making their Carnegie Hall debut. “There might be a chance for some kids to get on stage with us. How cool is that? You get to actually perform at Carnegie Hall.”

Mueller looks forward to some downtime following the concert—at least until she heads to Massachusetts to headline the premiere of Waitress at the American Repertory Theater.