Ruthie Ann Miles (born April 21, 1983) is an American actress, best known for her roles in

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

and on television.

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 ...

, she has played Christmas Eve in ''

Avenue Q ''Avenue Q'' is a musical comedy featuring puppets and human actors with music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx and book by Jeff Whitty. It won Best Musical, Book, and Score at the 2004 Tony Awards. The show's format is a parody of PBS' ...

'' and starred as

Imelda Marcos Imelda Romualdez Marcos (; born Imelda Remedios Visitacion Trinidad Romualdez; July 2, 1929) is a Filipino politician who served as the First Lady of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986, wielding significant political power during the dictator ...

in ''

Here Lies Love ''Here Lies Love'' is a concept album and rock musical made in collaboration between David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, about the life of the former First Lady of the Philippines Imelda Marcos along with the woman who raised her—Estrella Cumpas—a ...

'', winning a

Theatre World Award The Theatre World Award is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway theatre, Broadway or Off-Broadway. It was first awarded for the 1945� ...

and a

Lucille Lortel Award The Lucille Lortel Awards recognize excellence in New York Off-Broadway theatre. The Awards are named for Lucille Lortel, an actress and theater producer, and have been awarded since 1986. They are produced by the League of Off-Broadway Theatre ...

for the latter role. Miles performed the role of Lady Thiang in the 2015–2016

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

production of ''

The King and I ''The King and I'' is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the childre ...

'' on

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 Stree ...

, for which she won the 2015

Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical has been presented since 1950. The award was not given at the first three Tony Award ceremonies. Nominees were not announced publicly until 1956. Winners and nominees 1950s ...

. In 2016, she had a recurring television role on ''

The Americans ''The Americans'' is an American historical drama, period spy fiction, spy drama television series created by Joe Weisberg that aired on the FX (TV channel), FX television network for six seasons from January 30, 2013, to May 30, 2018. Weisberg ...

''. She returned to Broadway as Frieda/Betty in the 2017 revival of ''

Sunday in the Park with George ''Sunday in the Park with George'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It was inspired by the French pointillist painter Georges Seurat's painting ''A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatt ...

''. In 2018, after recovering from injuries from a car crash that killed her daughter and caused her to lose her unborn child, Miles returned to the stage, reprising her role in the West End production of ''The King and I''.

Early life and education

Miles was born in Arizona and raised by her Korean mother, Esther Wong, a music teacher, first in Korea and, from 2nd grade, in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

, Hawaii. "I had to work very quickly and very hard to break my accent," Miles has said.Zarum, Lara
"''The Americans'': Tony-Award-Winning Ruthie Ann Miles on Young-Hee, TV's Favorite Mary Kay Consultant"
''

Flavorwire ''Flavorwire'' is a New York City-based online culture magazine. The site includes original feature articles, interviews, reviews, as well as content recycled from other sources. ''Flavorwire'' describes themselves as "a network of culturally con ...

'', May 18, 2016 She attended

Kaimuki High School Kaimuki High School is a WASC-accredited four-year public high school located in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. Kaimuki High School falls under the jurisdiction of the Hawaii Department of Education. It is bordered by the Manoa-Palolo Drainag ...

, graduating in 2001,Ting, Yu Shing
Imelda to the Big Apple"

MidWeek ''MidWeek'' is a weekly United States tabloid shopper and advertisement periodical published in Honolulu, Hawaii and distributed throughout the Islands of Oahu and Kauai. It is owned by Black Press and is a sister publication of the ''Honolulu ...

, July 23, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2020 and then

Southern Oregon University Southern Oregon University (SOU) is a public university in Ashland, Oregon. It was founded in 1872 as the Ashland Academy, has been in its current location since 1926, and was known by nine other names before assuming its current name in 1997.Kre ...

before earning her bachelor's degree at

Palm Beach Atlantic University Palm Beach Atlantic University (PBA) is a private Christian university in West Palm Beach, Florida. The university's nine colleges focus on the liberal arts with a select collection of professional studies. In 2019, its undergraduate enrollme ...

in 2005. She received a Master of Music in Vocal Performance with an emphasis on music theatre at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development The New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development (commonly referred to as Steinhardt) is the secondary liberal arts and education school of New York University. It is one of the only schools in the world of i ...

.Kaufman, Joanne
"A Miles in Those Shoes: A Cultural Conversation With Ruthie Ann Miles"
''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' May 20, 2014. Retrieved June 1, 2015

Career

With the

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 ...

York Theatre York Theatre is an off-Broadway theatre company based in East Midtown Manhattan, New York City. In its 50th year, York Theatre is dedicated to the production of new musicals and concert productions of forgotten musicals from the past. Each seas ...

, Miles appeared as Leah in '' Two by Two'' and Red Urchin in ''

The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd ''The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd'' is a musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley. The musical is best known for introducing the standards "A Wonderful Day Like Today", "Who Can I Turn T ...

''.Miles, Ruthie Ann
Resume
Ruthie Ann Miles. Retrieved June 1, 2015 She played Christmas Eve and other characters in ''

'' off-Broadway for two years beginning in 2011. For her starring role as

in ''

'', in 2013

The Public Theatre The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: An American L ...

, she won a

and a

. Miles has appeared in national tours of ''

Sweeney Todd Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as the villain of the penny dreadful serial ''The String of Pearls'' (1846–47). The original tale became a feature of 19th-century melodrama and London urban legend, legend. A barber fr ...

'' (as

Adolfo Pirelli Mr. Adolfo Pirelli (''Signor Adolfo Pirelli'' in Italian), also known as Daniel O'Higgins or Davy Collins, is a fictional character from Stephen Sondheim's musical '' Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street''."Theater; A 'Sweeney Todd' of ...

) and ''

Annie Annie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Annie (actress) (born 1975), Indian actress * Annie (singer) (born 1977), Norwegian singer The ...

''. She has played numerous roles in regional theatre and appeared as a doctor in the film '' I Am Michael''."Ruthie Ann Miles"
Playbill Vault. Retrieved June 1, 2015 Miles received positive reviews for her role as Lady Thiang in the 2015

revival of ''

'', with

Ben Brantley Benjamin D. Brantley (born October 26, 1954) is an American theater critic, journalist, editor, publisher and writer. He served as the chief theater critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1996 to 2017, and as co-chief theater critic from 2017 to ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' writing that she "turns 'Something Wonderful' into an exquisite expression of romantic realism that could be the show's anthem."Brantley, Ben
"Review: ''The King and I'', Back on Broadway"
''

'', April 16, 2015 Another critic called her "the one featured performer in a play or musical, on or off-Broadway, who I thought was giving the best performance this season ... erLady Thiang is more empathetic than in other productions I have seen. ... People who see this ''King and I'' will think about Lady Thiang. They will think about what she knows, what she feels." For this role, she won the

and the

Outer Critics Circle Award The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. They are presented by the Outer Critics Circle (OCC), the official organization of New York theater writers for out-of-town newspa ...

for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical. In 2016, Miles appeared in a recurring role in the television series ''

'', playing Young-Hee Seong, a Korean immigrant and

Mary Kay Mary Kay Inc. is an American privately owned multi-level marketing company. According to '' Direct Selling News'', Mary Kay was the sixth largest network marketing company in the world in 2018, with a wholesale volume of US$3.25 billion.

consultant whose husband is of interest to the

KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...

. She returned to Broadway in 2017 as Frieda/Betty in the revival of ''

''. In February 2018, Miles played Svetlana in a

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

concert production of the musical ''

Chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

''.Hetrick, Adam
"Chess, Starring Raúl Esparza, Ramin Karimloo, Ruthie Ann Miles, and Karen Olivo, Begins at the Kennedy Center"
''Playbill'', February 14, 2018 In August 2018, Miles joined the West End production of ''The King and I'', reprising her Broadway role.Quinn, Dave
"Ruthie Ann Miles 'Sang Like an Angel' in Stage Return After Daughter's Death and Losing Unborn Baby"
''

People A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...

'', August 4, 2018 Since 2019, Miles has played the featured role of Sherri Kansky in the television series '' All Rise''. She is set to return to Broadway in February 2023 as the Beggar Woman in ''Sweeney Todd''.

Personal life

She is married to Jonathan Blumenstein. On March 5, 2018, Miles was injured, and the couple's five-year-old daughter Abigail Blumenstein was killed, while crossing a street in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York, after they and other pedestrians were struck by a car that was driven through a red light. Miles was 7 months pregnant with her second child at the time of the incident. On May 11, 2018, Miles and Blumenstein lost their unborn child. Miles returned to the stage in August 2018. Miles gave birth to a daughter in April 2020 named Hope Elizabeth."All Rise Actress Ruthie Ann Miles and husband Jonathan Blumenstein Announce Birth of Daughter Hope Elizabeth"
Celebmojo.com, May 9, 2020. Retrieved May 9, 2020

Work

Theatre

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Miles, Ruthie Ann 1983 births American musical theatre actresses American mezzo-sopranos Actresses from Arizona Living people New York University alumni Singers from Arizona Tony Award winners 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers American actresses of Korean descent Actresses from Honolulu Palm Beach Atlantic University alumni Theatre World Award winners