Meredith Aleigha Wells (they/she) is a Chicago-based actor, singer, dancer, and writer originally from Massachusetts. Most recently, Meredith made their Muny debut in Sister Act as Sister Mary Robert, garnering rave reviews and a BroadwayWorld Award nomination for Best Supporting Performer in a Musical. They are honored to have played Punky Who in How the Grinch Stole Christmas the Musical, marking the first performance by a wheelchair user on a Broadway National Tour. They also received nominations for The Walder Foundations’ inaugural Platform Awards and a 2023 3Arts Chicago Award.
Meredith studied music, theatre, and dance at the University of Massachusetts Amherst on scholarship. There, they spent four years training under Debra Vega, Dr. Jamie-Rose Guarrine, Judyie Albalali, Sheila Siragusa, Noah Ilya-Alexis Tuleja, and Paul Dennis. In their senior year, Meredith took on an ambitious graduate-level capstone project; writing, performing, and producing their original one-person musical, Dysfunctioning Just Fine.
Upon graduating, Meredith toured Dysfunctioning Just Fine across the northeast, culminating in a run at the My True Colors Festival, where they received the Purple Skies Playwright Award.
A versatile multidisciplinary artist, Meredith has performed regionally in productions at Seattle Rep, Rec Room Arts, Music Theatre Works, Beck Center, Mercury Theatre Company, Blank Canvas Theatre, and Cleveland Public Theatre. They have also made appearances at New York Theatre Workshop, Spring to Dance St. Louis, OHIODance Festival, Boston Symphony Hall, Ailey Citigroup Theatre, CounterBalance, The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and the Luminous Festival; China’s first-ever disability-led arts festival in Beijing.
Meredith believes becoming disabled reinvigorated their practice and forces them to reflect daily on why they chose a life in the arts. In 2016, Meredith created their Youtube channel, where they continue spread disability and lgbtqia+ awareness through sharing their experience as a queer disabled artist. They dedicate their work to the underdogs; the strong, resilient humans who are breaking down stereotypes and exceeding expectations every day.
Meredith is currently originating the role of Artemis in the world premiere of Through the Sunken Lands at the Kennedy Center.
Meet Scout:
Scout is a professional animal actor, model, and most importantly, Meredith’s medical alert dog. Born in Columbus Ohio, Scout began training with Meredith at 8 weeks old, completing Zak George’s 30 Day Perfect Pup curriculum. After learning the puppy basics, he and Meredith began training with their beloved trainer Cyndy from Michigan Service Dogs. With Cyndy, they learned how to execute tasks such as syncope alert and response, deep pressure therapy, gluten detection, and more. An avid traveler and fan of naps, Scout loves to snooze on planes and in dressing rooms. Besides working, his favorite things include long walks, watermelon, and swimming. While Scout and Meredith are happy to work on projects on their own, their dream is to star in a production of Legally Blonde as Bruiser and Elle Woods together!
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