Ivy Lynn

Ivy Lynn (played by Megan Hilty) is a seasoned veteran of Broadway, having performed in the ensemble of numerous hit shows. She is absolutely thrilled to have the chance to work on a new project with longtime friends and collaborators Julia Houston and Tom Levitt, based on the life of screen legend Marilyn Monroe. Ivy is worried she got the role of Marilyn Monroe because of her relationship with the director. Her friends tell her to stop thinking about it and enjoy the experience of a lifetime. However, Ivy gets replaced by movie star Rebecca Duval and is supposed to come back after Rebecca leaves, but Karen gets cast instead (by boyfriend, Derek Wills.) However, Karen quits the show to be in Hit List and Ivy is given the role again after her recent show Liaisons the Musical closes. Despite initial doubts about her ability to star in a Broadway show, Ivy's performance as Marilyn Monroe is critically praised, receiving standing ovation after standing ovation. She receives a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance, as well as a nomination for Best Actress in a Featured Role for her performance as Cecile de Volanges in Liaisons. Lynn, an insecure schemer who tends to quickly retreat to the negative—Ivy’s behavior may be crueler than Karen’s, but Hilty imbues Ivy with a streak of fragility to go along with her brassy, bossy personality. Ivy's a major talent who is majorly insecure and majorly competent, while Karen seems to have a more minor version of both qualities. Ivy’s performingwhen she’s being such a bitch — checking herself in the mirror, scanning her audience, doling out the inclusive giggle as carefully as the icy put-down or occasional temper tantrum — and the fact that she’s so good at playing the diva seems more a credit to her craft than a knock on her true personality. When Ivy takes the chorus girl shot at Karen it's because she's offended by Karen's undermining. Karen doesn't think she's doing anything of the sort; she would likely say she was just trying to be self-deprecating to make things less awkward. But because of Ivy's greater charisma it becomes almost impossible, for me anyway, not to see it from Ivy's perspective. She sees something darker and more ruthless in Karen than Karen is yet willing to see in herself.