Carly Hughes

Broadway phenom Carly Hughes skyrocketed to major fame when she was cast as the lead player in the 2014 revival of "Pippin." In reality, however, Hughes had been paying her dues as a performer for years. Born in St. Louis, Missouri but raised in Columbia, Maryland, Hughes graduated from high school a year early so that she could enroll in the musical theater program at Penn State. After graduating, she began landing roles on stage, slowly but steadily earning parts in increasingly prominent productions. She starred as the title role in a 2006 regional production of "Dessa Rose" in California, and the following year, she made the move to Broadway when she was given the chance to appear as an understudy replacement for the roles of Rona Lisa and Marcy in "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee." Later that year, Hughes won a spot in the chorus of the Broadway production of "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!," which she followed with another ensemble role in "Ragtime." By this time, Hughes' Broadway roles were coming back to back, with each play bringing greater notoriety. She appeared in the wildly popular "The Book of Mormon" in 2011, followed by "Ghost The Musical" in 2012, then followed by the role of Lucille in "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical." But of course, Hughes truly reached star status with her leading role in "Pippin." Not only did her performance win her intense popularity among fans and accolades among critics, but the role demanded more from her than any part she'd played in the past, with the circus-themed production forcing her to perform actual aerial trapeze work. When she took on the equally scintillating role of Velma Kelly in "Chicago" in 2015, fans were attending performances specifically to see Hughes. By the time her run with that show ended, Hughes had performed in eight Broadway musicals in a row. Ready for a break from the eight-performances-a-week schedule and interested in a change of pace, Hughes then branched into television and took on the role of Angela on the hit comedy series "American Housewife" (ABC, 2016-).