Betsy Wolfe Takes On the Mess of Life in Joy: A New True Musical

This summer Betsy Wolfe has stepped into the role of businesswoman and inventor Joy Mangano, the woman who gave the world the Miracle Mop. “You know,” Wolfe told Tamsen Fadal on The Broadway Show, “I've been jokingly saying, ‘Mop girl summer. Get ready for it.’” But, Wolfe hastens to add, Joy: A New True Musical, now in previews at the Laura Pels Theatre, is much more than a musical about a self-wringing cleaning implement. “What I think will really surprise people is that this is a story about three generations of women. The story of family is what is at its core.”

Wolfe, who was five months pregnant when she participated in the second reading for the show, was stunned by how deeply Mangano’s story rhymes with her own. “She's a self-made entrepreneur,” Wolfe said. “She had the messiest life and out of nothing, she made something super extraordinary. It's just an extraordinary story of a woman who figures out how to make her life incredible. And therefore making her family's life incredible.”

Wolfe went on, “This story is going to mean a lot for people of all different ages. Whether you're going through a midlife pivot, whether you're a new mom, whether you're young and you're trying to figure out what your career is. It really just kind of spans generations.”

In the video below, Wolfe says more about her long association with the show, the messiness of motherhood and meeting Mangano in person.