Andrew Michael Mientus (born November 10, 1986) is an American actor. He is best known for starring in the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

musicals '' Spring Awakening'', ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' (, ) is a 19th-century French literature, French Epic (genre), epic historical fiction, historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published on 31 March 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. '' ...

'', and ''

Wicked Wicked may refer to: Books * ''Wicked'' (Maguire novel), a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire that inspired the musical of the same name * ''Wicked'', a 1997 novel series collaboration between Australian children's authors Paul Jennings and Morris ...

'', and on television in the NBC musical drama '' Smash'' and as Hartley Rathaway / Pied Piper in the CW series ''

The Flash The Flash is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date, cover-dated Jan ...

''.

Early life

Mientus was born in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, son of Jean Marie ( Gleeson) and Robert J. Mientus. He is of Polish, Italian, and Irish descent. Before starting his career in theatre, Mientus was a fan of the musical '' Spring Awakening.'' After seeing the show at the

Atlantic Theatre Company The Atlantic Theater Company is an Off-Broadway non-profit theater company based in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1985 by playwright David Mamet, actor William H. Macy, and a group of acting students, the compan ...

, he created a Facebook group for his friends and himself to discuss the show on. However, Mientus began to notice strangers (fellow fans) were joining the group, and soon one of the producers from ''Spring Awakening'' contacted Mientus and asked him to make his group the official show Facebook page, which Mientus could moderate. He agreed, and was later recommended by the same producer to audition for the touring company of ''Spring Awakening''. He left the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

after his junior year to be in the show, and never returned to graduate.

Career

Theater

Mientus has toured with the first national touring company of '' Spring Awakening'' as Hanschen and in the 2010/11 international tour of ''Academy'' and appeared in the 2012

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

revival of '' Carrie: The Musical''. He made his Broadway debut in the 2014 revival of ''

'' as

Marius Pontmercy Marius Pontmercy () is a fictional character, one of the protagonists of Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel ''Les Misérables''. He is a young student, and the suitor of Cosette. Believing Cosette lost to him, and determined to die, he joins the revoluti ...

. In February 2015, he was cast as journalist Brett Craig in

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety ...

, for a one-night-only concert presentation at the Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall. After finishing his run of ''

'' in early 2015 and being succeeded by Chris McCarrell, Mientus moved to Los Angeles with fiancé Michael Arden, where he appeared in the show '' Bent'' at the

Mark Taper Forum The Mark Taper Forum is a 739-seat thrust stage at the Los Angeles Music Center designed by Welton Becket and Associates on the Bunker Hill section of downtown Los Angeles. Named for real estate developer Mark Taper, the Forum, the neighborin ...

. He also reprised his role as Hänschen in the Deaf West production of '' Spring Awakening,'' directed by Arden. The production then transferred to Broadway, and closed on January 24, 2016. In April and May 2018, Mientus starred in the production of ''

The Who's Tommy ''The Who's Tommy'' is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Pete Townshend and a book by Townshend and Des McAnuff. It is based on the 1969 rock opera '' Tommy'' by The Who. Productions The musical opened at La Jolla Playhouse in San Di ...

'' at the

Denver Center for the Performing Arts The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) is an organization in Denver, Colorado which provides a showcase for live theatre, a nurturing ground for new plays, a preferred stop on the Broadway touring circuit, acting classes for the communi ...

as the title role. In an interview, Mientus stated that the

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

score was among the music he grew up with rather than musical theater music, so he was very comfortable with the material vocally.

Television

In 2013, Mientus was cast in season two of the musical drama television series Smash as series regular Kyle Bishop. Following the cancellation of ''Smash'', Mientus and co-stars Jeremy Jordan and

Krysta Rodriguez Krysta Anne Rodriguez is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles as Ana Vargas in the NBC series '' Smash'', Summer Henderson in the NBC series '' Trial & Error'', Maxine Griffin in the ABC series '' Quantico'' and Ms. C ...

joined the cast of '' Hit List'', the real-world staging of the fictional

rock musical A rock musical is a musical theatre work with rock music. The genre of rock musical may overlap somewhat with album musicals, concept albums and song cycles, as they sometimes tell a story through the rock music, and some album musicals and concep ...

created for season two of ''Smash''. The show ran for three performances on December 8–9 at 54 Below. In 2014, Mientus appeared in several episodes of the

ABC Family American cable television, cable and satellite television network Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through four different owners and six different name changes dur ...

series ''

Chasing Life ''Chasing Life'' is an American drama television series that aired on ABC Family from June 10, 2014, to September 28, 2015. The series is adapted from the Televisa Spanish-language Mexican television series ''Terminales''. Ordered for 13 episode ...

'' as Jackson. That same year, he was cast in a recurring role on the CW series ''

'' as the

Pied Piper The Pied Piper of Hamelin (, also known as the Pan Piper or the Rat-Catcher of Hamelin) is the title character of a legend from the town of Hamelin (Hameln), Lower Saxony, Germany. The legend dates back to the Middle Ages. The earliest refere ...

(Hartley Rathaway), having previously auditioned for the lead role of

Barry Allen Bartholomew Henry "Barry" Allen is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is the second character known as the Flash, following Flash (Jay Garrick), Jay Garrick. The character first appeared in ''Showcase (comic ...

. Mientus made history with this role by playing the first openly gay supervillain ever. In 2017 he was cast as a series regular opposite

Leven Rambin Leven Alice Rambin (born May 17, 1990) is an American actress. She is known for playing look-alike half-sisters Lily Montgomery and Ava Benton on ''All My Children'', and for her recurring roles on ''Grey's Anatomy'' and '' Gone'', as well as '' ...

Danny Pino Daniel Gonzalo Pino (born April 15, 1974) is an American actor who starred as Detective Scotty Valens on the CBS series '' Cold Case'' from 2003 to 2010, and as NYPD Detective Nick Amaro in the long-running NBC crime drama '' Law & Order: S ...

and

Chris Noth Christopher David Noth ( ; born November 13, 1954) is an American actor. He is known for his television roles as NYPD Detective Mike Logan on ''Law & Order'' (1990–1995), Big on ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004), and Peter Florrick on ''The ...

in '' Gone'', a 12-episode procedural drama series for NBCUniversal International Studios, Germany's RTL and France's TF1, based on

Chelsea Cain Chelsea Snow Cain (born February 5, 1972) is an American writer of novels and columns. Biography Cain was born February 5, 1972, in Iowa City, Iowa, to Mary Cain and Larry Schmidt.''Dharma Girl'' (1996) Cain spent her early childhood on a hipp ...

's novel ''One Kick''. Mientus' character James Finley is a skilled hacker, who was kicked out of his home as a teenager when his family discovered he was gay. While living on the street he was abducted and later rescued by FBI Agent Frank Novak played by Chris Noth. In 2021 Mientus was cast in ''Grendel'', an eight-episode

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series based on

Matt Wagner Matt Wagner (born October 9, 1961) is an American comics artist and writer who is best known as the creator of the series ''Mage (comics), Mage'' and ''Grendel (comics), Grendel''. Early life, family and education Matt Wagner's childhood was spe ...

Dark Horse A dark horse is a previously lesser-known person, team or thing that emerges to prominence in a situation, especially in a competition involving multiple rivals, that is unlikely to succeed but has a fighting chance, unlike the underdog who is exp ...

comic books. Mientus will play the role of Larry Stohler with Abubakr Ali as the lead, Grendel/Hunter Rose. The series air date is scheduled late 2022 to early 2023.

Writing

Mientus worked on a musical of his own with the Brooklyn-based band Teen Commandments (members Van Hughes, Nick LaGrasta, and Brett Moses). Songs from ''Burn All Night'' were performed for the first time at Feinstein's/54 Below in the

Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, or Midtown West on real estate listings, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, ...

neighborhood of

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan, serving as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Building, the ...

in August 2016. The official premiere of the musical directed by Jenny Koons and choreographed by Sam Pinkleton was on August 18, 2017, at the

American Repertory Theater The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) is a professional not-for-profit theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1979 by Robert Brustein, the A.R.T. is known for its commitment to new American plays and music–theater explorations; to ne ...

in Cambridge, Massachusetts. On March 9, 2018

Amulet Books Abrams, formerly Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (HNA), is an American publisher of art and illustrated books, children's books, and stationery. The enterprise is a subsidiary of the French publisher Média-Participations. Run by president and CEO Mary ...

, an imprint of Abrams, announced that Mientus has written a middle-grade fiction series called ''The Backstagers'', based on the comics series of the same name. The first installment, ''The Backstagers and the Ghost Light'', was published on September 25, 2018. On September 20, 2022, he released the queer young-adult paranormal novel ''Fraternity''.

Personal life

Mientus has a rare neurological disorder called HNPP (Hereditary Neuropathy with Pressure Palsies). During his freshman ballet class at the University of Michigan, his foot went numb and he had to pull out of the class for the remainder of the year. He was then put in a stage tech class, where he met fellow actor

Darren Criss Darren Everett Criss (born February 5, 1987) is an American actor, singer, and songwriter. He rose to fame starring on the television series ''Glee (TV series), Glee'' (2010–2015) and received a Primetime Emmy Awards, Primetime Emmy Award and ...

. Mientus is openly bisexual. He married actor and director Michael Arden on August 18, 2016, at

Babington House Babington House is a Grade II* listed manor house, located in the village of Babington, between Radstock and Frome, in the county of Somerset, England. Converted to a private members club and hotel by Nick Jones, it is currently owned by S ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, England. He and Arden planned proposals to each other the same day (June 23, 2014), without the other knowing. They have been together since November 14, 2010. The two first met on October 26, 2006, during the opening night party of the Broadway show '' The Times They Are-a-Changin''', in which Arden was a performer. '' ''

Theatre

Filmography

Bibliography

* ''The Backstagers'' series (published by

) * ''The Backstagers and the Ghost Light'' (September 2018) * ''The Backstagers the Theater of the Ancients'' (March 2019) * ''The Backstagers and the Final Blackout'' (September 2019) * ''Fraternity'' book (published by

) (September 2022)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mientus, Andy 1986 births Living people American male stage actors American male television actors American people of Italian descent American people of Irish descent American people of Polish descent Bisexual male musicians Bisexual singers American bisexual male actors American bisexual musicians American LGBTQ singers LGBTQ people from Pennsylvania Male actors from Pennsylvania University of Michigan alumni 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people