Lindsay Pearce

Lindsay Heather Pearce (born April 30, 1991) is an American actress and singer. Pearce is best known for her role as Elphaba in the Broadway production of Wicked. She is also known for being one of the runners-up on The Glee Project, which gave her a guest starring role on the TV show Glee.

Early life
Pearce was born in Modesto, California and is an adopted child. She is the daughter of Carol Pearce née Clark. She is the sister of former professional soccer player Heath Pearce.

She has starred in amateur shows since the age of thirteen. For the first six months of her life she was deaf, and appreciates her ear for music because of this. Pearce has also been in theatre since the age of six.

She attended Modesto Junior College in Modesto, California, where she studied theater.

The Glee Project
In early 2011, Pearce auditioned for The Glee Project, a singing/acting reality show where the winner would receive a seven-episode arc on the third season of Glee. Throughout the show, her identity became "the theater girl", mostly because the producers and other participants of the show felt like she was always enacting, instead of trying to show her true feelings, even when asked. She reached the show's finale, but did not win the competition; however, the producers gave her and the other runner-up, Alex Newell, each a two-episode arc on Glee.

Glee
In the third-season premiere of Glee, Pearce was introduced as Harmony, an ambitious and talented singer who awes characters Kurt and Rachel when they watch her and her group sing a mash-up of "Anything Goes" from the musical Anything Goes and "Anything You Can Do" from the musical Annie Get Your Gun. This first episode featuring her character aired September 20, 2011. Her debut was widely acclaimed by critics such as TVLine Michael Slezak, who said Harmony was "brilliantly brought to life" by Pearce, and Emily VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club, who wrote that she "may be the best new character ever". The mash-up was released as a single for digital download after the episode aired. She appeared for a second time in the eighth episode, "Hold On to Sixteen", in which Harmony was the lead singer of a different group, the Unitards, a rival show choir competing against the show's main glee club, New Directions. In the episode, she sings "Buenos Aires" from the musical Evita, which was also released as a single. Pearce was complimented for her rendition by Billboard Rae Votta, who said she was a "fantastic singer". Harmony tells Kurt that she is a sophomore, leaving open the possibility that she could return to the show in future seasons.

The "Anything Goes" / "Anything You Can Do" mash-up was widely acclaimed. Respers France named Pearce's performance the best moment of the episode, and found that the character positively reminded her of "Glee of old". The song was also a favorite of Lee's, who wrote that the intensity of the actress was perfectly matched to the character's disposition. West, Slezak and Benigno gave the performance an "A"; the former called it an "outstanding rendition" which "felt like it belonged on a big stage or in a big-screen musical", and the latter two praised her vocal talent, which Benigno deemed unequalled on Glee. Futterman and Bell found Harmony a credible rival to Rachel vocally, and eagerly anticipated future competition between them. Urban called Pearce's performance merely "serviceable". Though she felt her acting was a weak point, she compared her favorably to season two guest star Charice and praised her vocals.

Other
Pearce appeared in an episode of Drop Dead Diva on October 20, 2013, on Lifetime channel. She played the role of a television star who was trying to prevent an illicit topless photo of her from going public.

Theatre
The day after The Glee Project finale aired, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Pearce had been cast to star as Snow White in El Portal Theatre's production of the musical A Snow White Christmas. Marina Sirtis co-starred as the Wicked Queen, and Neil Patrick Harris in the onscreen role of the Magic Mirror. The Lythgoe Family Productions show ran from November 30, 2011 through December 18, 2011. Bobbie Whiteman of Variety wrote that Pearce as "a very sassy Snow belts out Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way' in true Broadway fashion", and that "her voice blends beautifully with Bergen's", the show's prince. TheaterMania Jonas Schwartz called the production "rather endearing, thanks mostly to The Glee Project Lindsay Pearce in the title role". He added, "Pearce has a wonderful presence, an earthy charm, and her belting voice is used to fine effect on Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way' and Katy Perry's 'Fireworks'."

She next starred in the role of Cathy in Jason Robert Brown's musical The Last Five Years at the Brauntex Theatre in New Braunfels, Texas. There were three performances, on January 6 and 7, 2012. Deborah Martin of the San Antonio Express-News wrote of Pearce and co-star Alex Trevino that they "give charismatic, vocally assured performances, fully capturing the relationship and their characters' inner lives. Highlights include Pearce's pain-drenched 'Still Hurting', tender 'I'm Part of That' and witty 'Audition Sequence. She also noted that "when they actively share the stage, Pearce and Trevino show off great chemistry".

Ten days later, Pearce had been cast as Wendla Bergman, the female lead in the musical Spring Awakening, which was presented in Los Angeles by Over the Moon Productions. The show opened on March 16, 2012, and ended its run on April 22, 2012.

She then starred in the 2013 Los Angeles revival of the Damon Intrabartolo–Jon Hartmere pop opera Bare. Beginning on September 5, Pearce took on the lead role of Ivy for a limited three week engagement, and subsequently won BroadwayWorld LA's "Best Leading Actress in a Musical" award.

Since 2013 Pearce has also appeared in various roles in the For the Record series, in both For the Record: Baz Luhrmann and For the Record: Tarantino.

On April 9, 2015, it was announced that Pearce would be playing a role in the immersive glory|struck production of American Idiot. It was later announced that she would play Whatshername. Performances began on May 15 and the show closed on June 7.

On February 25, 2020, Pearce made her Broadway debut as Elphaba, the lead role in the musical Wicked. On September 14, 2021, she reopened Wicked on Broadway as Elphaba after the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown. After playing her final show on May 22, 2022, Pearce joined the first national tour of the musical Mean Girls as Janis Sarkisian.