On Broadway, with most exhibits shuttered, Monday is often the day actors and crews relaxation and recharge.
Or, when you’re Lindsay Michelle Mendez and John Alex Brinson, it’s the day you get married.
Ms. Mendez at the moment stars as Mary Flynn within the musical “Merrily We Roll Alongside,” so the marriage was deliberate not simply round her schedule, however that of the officiant and ring bearer’s, too — Ms. Mendez’s castmates Jonathan Groff and Daniel Radcliffe.
Ms. Mendez and Mr. Brinson, who can be an actor and goes by J. Alex Brinson, first met in 2019 whereas engaged on the CBS courtroom procedural “All Rise.” Ms. Mendez performed the courtroom reporter and Mr. Brinson the bailiff. Within the very first episode, Mr. Brinson’s character jumped as much as shield Ms. Mendez and their different castmates throughout a dramatic scene.
“My hero from day one,” Ms. Mendez stated. “Even in storytelling kind.”
Binge extra Vows columns right here and learn all our wedding ceremony, relationship and divorce protection right here.
At first, the pair had been simply pals; each had been married to different folks on the time. Three years and lots of episodes of “All Rise” later, within the spring of 2022, they took one step nearer to changing into one thing extra when Ms. Mendez, who had divorced, requested Mr. Brinson to maneuver in along with her … as a roommate.
“He was dwelling in a resort and filming and needed to drop his laundry at a random place,” stated Ms. Mendez, who has a daughter named Lucy, now 3, from her earlier marriage. “I stated, ‘you recognize, I’ve a 1-year-old at my home and a pullout couch. I don’t know if that will be attention-grabbing to anybody, however you’re welcome to remain when you want a spot.’”
She didn’t assume Mr. Brinson would take her up on the provide. However after calling his therapist, he stunned her by saying sure.
“My therapist was like, ‘Nicely, that is in all probability a foul concept,’” Mr. Brinson, 38, stated. He was going by means of a divorce on the time. “However she stated, ‘You may at all times simply attempt it for every week, and if it doesn’t work out, return to the resort.’” He joined Ms. Mendez, 41, and Lucy of their two-bedroom condominium within the Toluca Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Whereas inviting a co-worker to dwell on her sofa might need appeared unusual to some, Ms. Mendez didn’t see it that approach.
“It simply felt pure. I’m Mexican, that’s what we do,” she stated. “We invite folks to remain.”
From his view on the sofa, Mr. Brinson was moved watching Ms. Mendez look after Lucy. “She was on her personal and she or he was doing all of it whereas filming,” he stated. “It was so spectacular.” Mr. Brinson stated he has at all times needed to be a father.
One other factor that impressed him: her Tony Award, displayed casually on a piano within the condominium. Ms. Mendez gained the award in 2018 for greatest featured actress in a musical for “Carousel.” She was not too long ago nominated in the identical class for her function in “Merrily”; Mr. Radcliffe was additionally nominated for greatest featured actor in a musical, and Mr. Groff for greatest main actor in a musical.
Early on, the 2 bonded over widespread passions. Mr. Brinson, who additionally produces music, shared a few of his work with Ms. Mendez. In return, she performed him some tracks from her 2013 jazz album “This Time” and songs from “Carousel.”
“Then I discovered the ‘Depraved’ clip of her on the morning present singing ‘The Wizard and I,’” Mr. Brinson stated. (Ms. Mendez beforehand performed Elphaba in “Depraved” on Broadway and carried out it in 2013 on the “In the present day” present.) He thought she was “unbelievable.”
On Father’s Day that yr, about two months into dwelling collectively, Mr. Brinson accompanied Ms. Mendez to a celebration at her sister’s home in Downey, Calif. “I made him a plate of meals, and he was so moved by me making him a plate,” Ms. Mendez stated. “He sat and talked with my household, and we simply had a extremely nice time.”
On the drive dwelling, Mr. Brinson realized he had fallen in love. He nervous that telling the reality may wreck their friendship, however determined to take the danger anyway.
“I stated, ‘I must make a confession,” Mr. Brinson recalled saying. “‘I believe I really like you, however the emotions may move.’”
“That’s what he stated,” Ms. Mendez stated, laughing. She was “shocked,” including they’d not too long ago been hyping one another up about getting again into relationship different folks.
They’d plans for dinner at a sushi spot in Studio Metropolis that night, however opted to take a while to debate Mr. Brinson’s revelation first.
The 2 went for a stroll round their neighborhood to course of their emotions and discuss what beginning a romantic relationship would imply. They mentioned their funds and targets for the longer term. Ms. Mendez informed Mr. Brinson that her daughter was her prime precedence. In the event that they had been ever to get married, she would need an “ironclad prenup.”
Later that very same evening, they shared their first kiss.
“We already actually knew one another,” Ms. Mendez stated. “It felt proper.”
They stored the connection a secret from the remainder of their present’s forged, making an attempt to maintain their distance whereas between scenes. The technique failed, and it didn’t take lengthy for an additional actor on the present, the Tony Award-winner Ruthie Ann Miles, to name their bluff.
After the present wrapped in August 2022 (the ultimate episode aired, after three seasons, in November 2023), Mr. Brinson and Ms. Mendez had been headed to New York the place Ms. Mendez was scheduled to start engaged on “Merrily” at New York Theater Workshop. Earlier than that started, they took a cruise to Italy with Playbill Journey, the place Ms. Mendez was a featured performer.
“I used to be capable of see how New York and the theater group obtained her on the boat,” Mr. Brinson stated. He was struck by her kindness with followers. It was additionally the primary time he heard Ms. Mendez carry out dwell.
“That was it,” he stated. “It was over.”
Ms. Mendez grew up in Norwalk, Calif., and attended Orange County Excessive Faculty of the Arts with a concentrate on musical theater. Mr. Brinson, who grew up in West Philadelphia, obtained a bachelor’s of fantastic arts from the Juilliard Faculty. Along with appearing, he’s at the moment additionally working in actual property.
Initially, Mr. Brinson thought he may suggest to Ms. Mendez at New York Theater Workshop in October of 2022. He “delicate pitched” the thought to Ms. Mendez, he stated, who shut it down rapidly.
“I do know I share my life in a public approach loads, however I didn’t wish to have that sort of second with different folks watching,” Ms. Mendez stated. “I needed to have that second for myself, for us.”
Mr. Brinson recalled the dialog slightly extra bluntly. “‘In case you suggest to me within the theater with my forged, I’m going to kill you,’” he remembered Ms. Mendez saying.
As an alternative, he opted for a extra non-public setting, popping the query throughout a dinner on the seaside in Cabo, Mexico, the place the couple vacationed earlier than the present opened.
Their wedding ceremony was equally non-public, with 40 company in attendance on April 22 at Central Park’s Bethesda Terrace. “Principally native, New York pals,” Ms. Mendez stated. Afterward, the group celebrated with a non-public dinner on the Lambs Membership, a restaurant in Midtown Manhattan.
Ms. Mendez stated her castmates Mr. Groff, who was beforehand ordained by the Common Life Church, and Mr. Radcliffe had performed an vital function in her relationship journey with Mr. Brinson. “They’ve grow to be our actually, actually shut pals in actual life,” she stated. “It simply felt applicable for Jon to marry us and for Dan to be our ring bearer.”
Lucy served because the flower lady and “took that job actually significantly,” Ms. Mendez stated. Along with their vows to one another, Mr. Brinson and Ms. Mendez additionally exchanged vows with the toddler, committing to hearken to and love her as they started their new life as a household.
A household that can quickly be rising. Ms. Mendez and Mr. Brinson predict a child within the fall.
On This Day
When April 22, 2024
The place Central Park’s Bethesda Terrace
Comfortable Recollections The couple selected Central Park as a result of they usually spend time there with Lucy.
A number of Occasions a Minister Mr. Groff has officiated different weddings, together with the nuptials of his former “Hamilton” castmate Phillipa Soo and the actor Steven Pasquale.
A Theatrical Affair Ms. Mendez’s brother, Michael Mendez, who’s at the moment acting on Broadway in “Water for Elephants,” sang “Experience or Die” by Infinity Music throughout the ceremony. The “Depraved” composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz was additionally in attendance, as was Ruthie Ann Miles, the “All Rise” castmate who first suspected their relationship.
