MARK KENNEDY
AP Drama Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Jessie Mueller has nabbed a beautiful trophy — the best lead actress in a musical Tony Award.

The singer and actress won Sunday for playing the title character in “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical,” the show about the songwriter behind such hits as “It’s Too Late” and “You’ve Got a Friend.”

Mueller beat out Mary Bridget Davies from “A Night With Janis Joplin,” Sutton Foster in “Violet,” Idina Menzel from “If/Then” and Kelli O’Hara in “The Bridges of Madison County.”

Mueller, who previously starred in “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever” with Harry Connick Jr. and replaced O’Hara in “Nice Work If You Can Get It,” is the third of four children raised by actors in Chicago. All of her siblings are in the business.

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