Sometimes falling in love onstage can lead to an epic offstage romance — just ask Leslie Odom Jr. and Nicolette Robinson, who met during a production of Once on This Island.
“Les was responsible for helping me figure out all of my blocking,” the Affair actress told Broadway.com in October 2018, explaining that she was asked to join the production just weeks before opening night. “It was not a romantic thing at first. It was really just a human connection, like, ‘Wow, I need to be around this person all the time.’ We stayed in touch after the show and started dating pretty soon afterward.”
She continued: “We didn’t know if the first date was the first date, but it ended up being the first date. None of us were saying that it was a date, but then it for sure was a date when he kissed me at the end of the night.”
The couple’s passion for theater means that they’ve always been supportive of one another during the different phases of their careers. “Before Hamilton, we had to borrow money from my parents to make our rent in time. It’s just a crazy journey. It’s a tough business,” the Broadway vet explained. “When he did his first workshop for Hamilton, he just knew it was something he had to do everything he could to be a part of it. … This is something that we talk about all the time: if you love something enough, if you put your heart toward it and you really love it and digest it and surround yourself with it, you’ll get that thing that you love.”
A shared love of the stage also helped bring Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick together. The couple met in November 1991 after the Ferris Bueller’s Day Off star got involved with the Naked Angels Theater Company, which Parker’s brothers Pippin and Toby helped start. In 1996, they took their romance to the Great White Way and starred alongside one another in a production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.
“I’m so nervous acting opposite him,” the Sex and the City star told the Los Angeles Times ahead of the show’s debut. “I don’t know how we’re going to manage this without laughing hysterically at each other. We do not discuss it. I don’t even want to rehearse — I’m going to go on stage with a big blinder on my head — I don’t know what I’m thinking.”
She continued to gush about her now-husband: “He’s so bright, so handsome, I think he’s the most handsome man I’ve seen in my life. And he inspires me. I’m mad for him, totally.”
The pair went on to star in a revival of Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite, which opened in March 2022 after two years of delays due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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The twosome — who share children James, Marion and Tabitha — credit their theater background with helping their 20-plus year marriage last. “Matthew and I come from a different time and place,” Parker told Harper’s Bazaar in 2013. “When we were young people, all we ever wanted was to be good working actors. [My dream] was to work in theater, to be around those people whose work I was in total awe of. Nobody talked about being a celebrity.” She continued: "So, when our marriage came up in conversation, it wouldn’t occur to us that we were obligated to respond to allegations or gossip. You have to be a bit circumspect, but you also have to take up a position, and you have to stick to it." Gregory Pace/Shutterstock
McDonald — who has won more Tony Awards than any other actor — met Swenson when he understudied the male lead in the 2007 Broadway revival of 110 in the Shade. They welcomed daughter Sally in October 2016. The Good Fight star is also the mother of daughter Zoe from a previous marriage, while Swenson shares sons Bridger and Sawyer with ex-wife Amy Westerby. "He is such an incredible Father and it has been one of my greatest joys to watch him raise his children with such fun, patience, joy, kindness, and love," McDonald gushed about her husband via Instagram in June 2021. Evan Agostini/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
Though they met on the set of the 1995 Australian detective series Corelli, Jackman's impressive theater resume has made him and Furness staples in the Tonys audience. In 2012, she surprised her husband at the ceremony when she presented him with a special Tony Award for his humanitarian work. "Hugh has just finished principal photography on the movie version of Les Miserables," she joked at the time. "And let's face it, there's nothing more romantic after not seeing your husband for four months than to have our first night back together on a Broadway stage with 12 million people watching." The X-Men star, for his part, thanked Furness in his speech. "I love you with all my heart," he said. "And I know how much you hate public speaking, [so] this is the greatest thing you've ever done for me. It means the world to me." Evan Agostini/AP/Shutterstock
Before romance rumors began swirling about the couple in 2006, both Burtka and Harris had long careers in the theater. The professional chef's credits include 2001's The Play About the Baby and 2003's Gypsy, while the How I Met Your Mother star has performed in productions of Rent, Cabaret, Assassins and Hedwing and the Angry Inch, for which he won the 2014 Tony Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical. The duo welcomed twins Gideon and Harper in October 2010 and tied the knot in September 2014. Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock
Two years after the One Night in Miami star won the Tony for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for his performance as Aaron Burr in Hamilton, Robinson made her Broadway debut as Jenna in the musical adaptation of Waitress. At the time, she was the first mother to play the role of the pregnant pie maker, as she and Odom Jr. welcomed daughter Lucille in 2017. Their son, Able, was born in March 2021. David Fisher/Shutterstock
The Leftovers star has performed in seven of her husband's plays, beginning with Bug in 1993, and the couple tied the knot in September 2007. "We’re not a 'take turns' couple. The irresistible job is always the one we accommodate," Coon told Harper's Bazaar about balancing their respective careers in August 2021. "If one of us gets an offer that is like, 'This is really special,' we make room for it." She and the Pulitzer Prize winning playwright share two children: son Haskell, born in July 2018, and a daughter who was born in 2021. Evan Agostini/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
The Tony winner met her now-husband in January 2006 when they played Elphaba and Fiyero, respectively, in a national tour production of Wicked. They later reprised their roles on Broadway in October 2007 — the same month that they tied the knot in New York City. "It was interesting how we met, [and] I recognized [that] this man is really something special, but I'm not into the 'show-mance' type thing," Block recalled to Playbill in December 2007. "He was still on the road, and I was here in New York, and we really just made it work and put a lot of effort into it. Starting a relationship when it's long distance is not always the best, but it was immediately right." They welcomed daughter Vivienne in January 2015. Broadway World/Shutterstock
After meeting at a Starbucks in 2015, Doyle began dating his boyfriend after Clayton got his email address from a mutual friend. "The nice thing about us is that Max and I don't compete against one and other, and I think that's been an easy thing for us because we do very different things even within the industry," the Tony nominee told Rye Myers in June 2019. "It can be really difficult to date someone who's doing the EXACT same thing, or God forbid, going up for the same roles as you. ... We're able to be completely supportive and embrace each other's careers, which is helpful. I know how important a career is and I think he feels the same way." Courtesy Max Clayton/Instagram
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