Kelly Ripa Reveals Why She Missed Son Joaquin Consuelos' First Preview in Broadway's “Death of a Salesman”

Dave QuinnMon, March 9, 2026 at 7:45 PM UTC

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Kelly Ripa on 'Live with Kelly and Mark' on Monday, March 9Credit: ABC -

Kelly Ripa didn't attend her son Joaquin Consuelos’s first Broadway preview at his request, as he preferred she attend opening night

Mark Consuelos did go to the preview, bringing Joaquin dinner and surprising him after the show

Joaquin stars in Death of a Salesman, which opens April 9, while Mark is preparing for his own Broadway debut in Fallen Angels

Kelly Ripa had a good reason for missing her son Joaquin Consuelos’ Broadway debut.

During the Monday, March 9 episode of Live with Kelly and Mark, the talk show host explained that her younger son — who began previews in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman over the weekend — actually asked her not to attend the first performance.

"I was not permitted to come," Ripa, 55, recalled. "I said to him, 'I want to come to first preview.' And he said, 'Mom, no.' "

According to Ripa, Joaquin, 23, encouraged her to wait until opening night instead.

“He said, ‘It’s previews. Just wait ’til opening night,’ ” she continued — her husband and Live co-host Mark Consuelos noting that previews are the time to "get the kinks out" of a play's run. “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.”

Joaquin Consuelos, Kelly Ripa and Mark ConsuelosCredit: Kelly Ripa/Instagram

Ripa ultimately decided to leave New York. After all, Mark, 54, is busy with rehearsals himself, for his own Broadway show (a revival of Noël Coward's Fallen Angels, starring Oscar-nominee Rose Byrne and Tony Award-winner Kelli O’Hara).

"I was like, ‘Well, since I can’t go to first preview, I’m going to get out of town,’ ” Ripa said. “There’s no reason to stick around. You’re in rehearsal and he’s in previews. What is my point here? So I’m going to get out of town.”

That would have all been fine, if Mark didn't end up going himself without Ripa.

He got the idea while talked to his Fallen Angels costars, who told him, "'You have to go on the first night. There's only one first time.' "

"Which is what I was saying!" Ripa shouted.

Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos on 'Live with Kelly and Mark' on Monday, March 9Credit: ABC

In Mark's defense, Joaquin had told his day "'You can come whenever you want'" — something Kelly said was likely because they both "Broadway bros."

Mark also snuck in, buying a ticket last minute. He had set up a plan to meeting Joaquin after the show, to throw him off the track

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"I said, 'Alright man, how about I meet you afterwards and we'll go out? It's your first time, we'll go out and I'll take you out for a drink or something? We'll have a good time,' " Mark remembered telling Joaquin. "And he said, 'Cool, can you bring me my dinner?' ... So I've got a ticket but now I've got this dinner with me in, I came to the theater with this little cooler pack, with a doggie bag."

Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos on 'Live with Kelly and Mark' on Monday, March 9Credit: ABC

Despite the unconventional arrival, the proud father said he was captivated by the performance. "He’s amazing," Mark said. "He did such a good job.”

Watching his son take the stage was deeply moving, Mark said. “I did not blink,” he said of the three-hour play, which stars Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf. “I was watching him with a smile on my face.”

“And cried,” he continued, noting that audience members around him were also emotional during the performance. "As he was taking his first curtain [call bow], the lady next to me said, "Mazel tov, your son was amazing!' "

Joaquin even signed Mark's Playbill afterwards. "That's his autograph?" Kelly asked, as Mark showed off the John Hancock. "We gotta work on that."

Mark Consuelos shows off his son Joaquin's signature on a 'Playbill' for Broadway's 'Death of Salesman' on 'Live with Kelly and Mark' on Monday, March 9Credit: ABC

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Ripa said on Live that she plans to see Joaquin in Death of a Salesman this week. "I can't wait," she said, noting Joaquin had given her the go-ahead. "He told me it's fine and that I may come, so I am going and I don't want to hear it!"

“It’s an amazing play,” Mark added. "If you're in New York, please go see this play."

Death of a Salesman opens April 9 at the Winter Garden Theatre in New York City. Closing date is currently set for June 14.

Directed by Tony winner Joe Mantello, the play always stars Christopher Abbott, Ben Ahlers, K. Todd Freeman, Jonathan Cake, John Drea, Michael Benjamin Washington, Tasha Lawrence, Jake Silbermann, Jake Termine, Karl Green and Jack Falahe among its cast.

Meanwhile Mark, who will also be making his Broadway debut this season, begins previews in Fallen Angels on on Friday, March 27. The play — directed by Scott Ellis and also starring Tracee Chimo, Christopher Fitzgerald and Aasif Mandvi — officially opens on Sunday, April 19 and runs through Sunday, June 7.

Tickets for Fallen Angels and Death of a Salesman are now on sale.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”