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. Crumble in the Netflix comedy series Daybreak. Early life and career Rodriguez grew up in Orange County, California. She began taking dance lessons at the age of 13, after being involved with cheerleading in middle school. After traveling to New York and seeing eight Broadway shows, she realized performers had to sing and act as well as dance, so once she returned home Rodriguez began taking singing and acting lessons. She was a cast member of the Christian television show Colby's Clubhouse from 1995 to 2000. She attended Orange County High School of the Arts where she played many lead roles including Marian in The Music Man, as well as the lead role in Gidget: The Musical, a musical co-written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, that starred Orange County High School of the Arts students during its (ultimately unsuccessful) tryouts in 2000. She attended New York University for a few years, but began working soon after enrolling. Rodriguez said of her education, "[A]lthough I would have loved to finish I did not get that opportunity because I started working. So…no degree in musical theater, but so far an okay career." Career Rodriguez made her Broadway debut in the short-lived 2005 jukebox musical Good Vibrations. She later became a replacement for the role of Bebe in the Broadway revival of A Chorus Line in 2007. She has played numerous ensemble and understudy parts in the Broadway productions of Spring Awakening and In the Heights, as well as a regional production of The Boy Friend directed by Julie Andrews. She made her feature film debut in the role of Krysta in the 2010 film The Virginity Hit. Beginning performances in fall 2009, Rodriguez originated the role of Wednesday Addams in the world premiere Chicago try-out run of the new Broadway-bound musical The Addams Family, based on the cartoons of Charles Addams. From March 2010, the show received its planned debut at New York's Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. After playing the role for over a year and lending her voice to the show's original cast recording, Rodriguez left the musical on March 8, 2011, and was replaced by Rachel Potter.