Talk about showmance—couple Alex Joseph Grayson and Miki Abraham are getting married. The catch is, they’re each immersed in the chaos of opening a Broadway show. Grayson plays Jim Conley in the Broadway revival of Parade, which opened March 16. And Abraham is making her Broadway debut in Shucked as a swing and a cover for the character of Lulu, which opened April 4. They have set a wedding date for April 8, just days after their respective curtain calls. In short, it’s a lot.
The pair met in the rehearsal room for the 2019 U.S. tour of the Broadway musical Once on This Island, where they both covered the role of Papa Ge—a character who has been played by actors of varying gender identities in the revival. “We both [performed] on tour,” says Abraham. “So we both have photos of us as Papa Ge. When does that happen?”
When the pandemic hit, Abraham says their relationship was something stable in a world of uncertainty— so much so that she unexpectedly proposed to Grayson. “It was a moment of love and spontaneity in the kitchen of our apartment, where I turned to him and realized we had to idea what was happening with the world, and I just knew I wanted to be with him forever.”
Adds Grayson: “We stayed together and quarantined. I feel like that’s the true test of a relationship, and it’s worked out. Here we are on the other side of that.”
As the theatre community began returning to live performances, Grayson and Abraham continued to find themselves collaborating as performers. “We’ve actually played two of the same roles twice, which I think is crazy,” marvels Abraham. “And then we’re finding ourselves opening two new shows on Broadway at the same time.”
The two have been juggling rehearsals, previews, and wedding planning—which they admit is mentally taxing. “My brain is slowly frying away because I’m a swing, so I have five roles that I need to learn while I’m also planning a wedding,” Abraham says with a laugh.
“A wedding is a theatrical production,” says Grayson. “I’m not a stage manager, I don’t have any experience being a director. So this is very outside of my comfort zone. We’re both opening new Broadway shows, and that doesn’t leave a lot of energy and time to really focus on this production.”
But they're making it work. With Shucked and Parade on different rehearsal schedules during the pair’s engagement, Grayson and Abraham don’t even have the same day off until their wedding week, so planning has to be fit in wherever they can find time: “Sometimes we’ll have ‘wedding meetings’ at, like, 8 AM, because we have to be at rehearsal at 10,” Abraham says.
Despite the scheduling craziness, the couple’s joy radiates when they talk about their relationship. It is clear they have found a rare connection, and a mutual understanding. “Sometimes when you date people that are outside of the industry, they don't understand the long hours, or the scheduling, or maybe the fact that you're too tired to do anything on your day off," Abraham says.
Grayson chimes in, “They don’t understand stage kissing!”
“But we get it,” Abraham continues. “I think it's really cool that we are at this moment, working at the same level in the same industry, four blocks away from each other.”
As they prepare for an action-packed spring, the pair is filled with excitement to match the stress. All things considered, Grayson emphasizes that their love has kept them grounded. “At the root of it, we love each other,” he says. “We know we’re getting married.” After weeks of juggling rehearsals, openings, and planning, the couple deserves some celebration. Their reception will be a party to remember, complete with their closest friends, taco catering, and in true performer fashion, karaoke to close out the night.
Abraham and Grayson say they have been through it all as a couple in the industry: touring, long distance, unemployment, one working while the other is not, and finally, performing on Broadway at the same time. Even in such an unpredictable field, they consider it fate that they kept crossing paths time and time again.
“I feel like it’s the universe,” Abraham says. “What a wild experience to keep having these once in a lifetime situations with the same person. It’s moments like that where I’m just like, ‘Wow, OK, we picked good.’”
See Miki Abraham and Alex Joseph Grayson's pre-wedding Playbill photoshoot! Congratulations to the happy couple.
Miki Abraham and Alex Joseph Grayson
Miki Abraham and Alex Joseph Grayson
Miki Abraham and Alex Joseph Grayson
Miki Abraham and Alex Joseph Grayson
