‘Live’: Why Kelly Ripa Missed Son Joaquin’s First Broadway Performance

Joaquin Consuelos has officially made his Broadway debut, and Kelly Ripa wasn’t there to see it.

Ripa and Mark Consuelos‘ youngest son stars in the revival of Death of a Salesman, which performed its first preview on Friday, March 6. At the top of Live With Kelly and Mark‘s Monday, March 9, episode, Ripa revealed the surprising reason she was not at the show.

“I said to him, ‘I want to come to first preview.’ And he said, ‘Mom, no.’ And I was like, ‘Why?’ And he’s like, ‘It’s previews. Just wait ‘til opening night,’” Ripa explained. “And I was like, ‘I don’t want to wait ‘til opening night. I’d like to see a preview and then go to opening night.’ But I respected his wishes.”

Given Joaquin’s request, Ripa decided to get out of town for the weekend. Mark stayed in New York City, as he is currently in rehearsals for his own Broadway debut in the play Fallen Angels, which also begins previews this month. Unlike Ripa, Mark was not prohibited by Joaquin from seeing Death of a Salesman‘s first performance.

“I was having dinner with him, and we were just talking. And I said, ‘When do you want me to come?’ And he goes, ‘You can come whenever you want,’” Mark told Live viewers.

Though he was uncertain at first, Mark was convinced by his Fallen Angels castmates to watch Joaquin’s first show. “They’re like, ‘You have to go on the first night. There’s only one first time,’” he stated, to which Ripa retorted, “Which is what I was saying!”

Courtesy of Mark Consuelos/Instagram

Mark, however, did not tell Joaquin he was going to the show. As a result, Joaquin asked Mark to deliver his dinner to the theater. “I got a ticket, but now I’ve got this dinner with me,” Mark quipped. “I came to the theater with this little cooler pack.”

On Live, Mark showed off his Death of a Salesman Playbill, which he had Joaquin sign. “That’s his autograph? We gotta work on that,” Ripa joked.

Mark went on to gush about Joaquin’s performance, stating, “If you’re in New York, please go see this play. He’s amazing. He did such a good job. You know, it’s a three-hour play with an intermission. I did not blink. I was just, like, watching him. There was a smile on my face.”

He added, “The people on either side of me were crying. … And as he was taking his first curtain [call], the lady next to me, she goes, ‘Mazel tov! Your son was amazing.’”

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Ripa noted that Mark and several of their friends sang Joaquin’s praises via text. She wrapped up the discussion by sharing that Joaquin gave her approval to see the show this week.

Joaquin graduated from the University of Michigan’s School of Drama in May 2025. He is the youngest of Ripa and Mark’s three children, including son Michael and daughter Lola.

Death of a Salesman officially opens on Broadway on Thursday, April 9. Mark will star alongside Rose Byrne and Kelli O’Hara in Fallen Angels, which opens on Sunday, April 19.

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