You might recognize queer and nonbinary musician Betty Who from hosting Amazon’s The One That Got Away or from a 2013 queer flash mob proposal video set to her song “Somebody Loves You.” But Who is also an actor. On September 5, they made their debut on Broadway as Persephone in the Tony Award-winning musical Hadestown.
“I’m completely thrilled to be spending the rest of this year on Broadway starring as Persephone in Hadestown,” says Who. “Live theater is the spark that lit a raging fire inside me when I was a kid, so to have this full circle moment in this show that I absolutely adore is just mind boggling to me. I feel incredibly lucky.”
Joining the cast of Hadestown is just one of Who’s accomplishments this year, as she also performed at the White House in June. “I was incredibly honored to perform for President Biden and First Lady Dr. Biden at the official White House Pride Celebration this year,” Who says. “I danced my butt off on the South Lawn singing songs I wrote about acceptance and love and joy. It was totally surreal.”
Over the course of her career, Who has released four studio albums and several EPs, all of which contain anthemic bops of self-acceptance and love. “I proudly call myself a queerleader (queer cheerleader) because I believe our real job onstage is to send joy through every inch of our bodies and shoot it out to our audience,” says Who. “It can be so empowering to see an imperfect/flawed human in front of you loving themselves unconditionally.”
She adds, “I hope to inspire people to be more gracious with themselves and those around them, providing the soundtrack to engagements, heartbreak, self-discovery — all that comes with being human.” @bettywho
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