2007–2010: Acting roles and Broadway debut Brown made her acting debut in the national tour of the hit
Broadway musical
Rent (2007), where she was cast as Mimi. Brown's theatrical productions outside of Broadway include the regional productions of
Little Shop of Horrors (2008),
High School Musical (2008) and
Calvin Berger (2010). She also appeared in the Off-Broadway show
Falling for Eve (2010). Brown made her Broadway debut as a replacement for various characters in the musical revival
Hair (2009).
2011–2018: Continued Broadway roles She originated the role of Ornella Sturdevant on stage in the Broadway musical
Leap of Faith (2012), adaptation of the
1992 film comedy of the same name starring
Steve Martin. David Rooney of
The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "Brown bring powerhouse pipes and get to test them often". The following year she originated the role of Josephine Bloom in the Broadway musical
Big Fish (2013), an adaptation of the
2004 film of the same name. Theatre critic Elizabeth Vincentelli of
The New York Post opined that "Sadly...Krystal Joy Brown [is] given little to do beside stand steadfastly by [her] spouse". On January 24, 2014, Brown returned to Broadway taking over the role of
Diana Ross for
Valisia LeKae in the Broadway
jukebox musical Motown: The Musical. During this time Brown made her first television appearance in the series
Castle, as a character named Sasha, in the 2011 episode titled "Pretty Dead". During this time Brown has taken roles on television acting in guest parts on the
Hulu original TV series
Deadbeat (2016) for the episode "AbraCadaver" and in the
NBC legal series
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2016). Brown was the voice of
Netossa in animated
Netflix series
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power from 2018 to 2020.
2019–present: Breakthrough and acclaim In 2019, Brown guest starred in the
Sydney to the Max episode "How the Syd Stole Christmas" portraying Sydney Reynolds' late mother Dr. Alisha Reynolds in a flashback to four years ago. In 2020-2022, Brown began a recurring role in the
CBS series
The Equalizer (2021) opposite
Queen Latifah. Brown recurs on season two of
Power Book III: Raising Kanan (2022). On December 10, 2019, she joined the cast of
Lin Manuel Miranda's Broadway musical
Hamilton portraying
Eliza Hamilton. Kyle Smith of
National Review praised her performance writing, "The Schuyler sisters provide the most beautiful voices in the production, with Krystal Joy Brown offering a poignant Eliza". In 2022, she played Gussie Carnegie, a Broadway diva married to self-centered writer Frank Shepard, played by
Jonathan Groff in the off-Broadway revival of the
Stephen Sondheim musical
Merrily We Roll Along at the
New York Theatre Workshop. For her performance she was nominated for a
Lucille Lortel Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She reprised the role on Broadway in 2023.
Jesse Green of
The New York Times described Brown as giving a "fetching performance, charming if not credible". She said of the role, "This opportunity to represent and be the first Black Gussie is huge and it feels powerful". To get into Gussie’s character, she was inspired by
Eartha Kitt,
Diahann Carroll,
Dorothy Dandridge and
Diana Ross. Brown provides the voice of
Barbara Gordon in the animated series
Batman: Caped Crusader. ==Filmography==