NEW YORK — It's no wonder Kesia Lewis had her most successful theater season playing a mentor.
The Broadway veteran, now in his 40th year of acting, plays Miss Liza Jane, the formidable piano teacher who encourages the young heroine to embrace music in “Hell's Kitchen.''
“Sit down and study,” she says to her new teenage student, a role loosely based on Alicia Keys, who looks at her older student at the piano and says, . Consider that someday I might become a powerful queen. ”
Lewis is the kind of cool, serious, wise head who radiates skill, warmth, and professionalism, helping rising star Marea Joy Moon make her Broadway debut in the lead role.
“She's a simple, royal woman who brings a powerful sense of grounding to every room she walks in,” Moon says. “From her first conversation, she wanted to learn as much as she could from her.”
Lewis is having a special spring. Her musicals have earned her 13 Tony Award nominations, and this is her first Tony Award nomination. She has already received awards from Outer Critics and Lucille Lortel magazines.
“This is all I've ever wanted to do since I was a kid. This is the only thing I was really trained to do,” she says. “I would do the same thing in any other profession. I love what I do. It doesn't feel like work to me.”
Lewis made her Broadway debut in the mid-1980s at the age of 18 with the original troupe Dreamgirls, and has appeared with Morgan Freeman in The Gospel of the Coronas, Big River, Ain't Misbehaving, Once Upon a Time. He appeared on “On” etc. This island. ”
The world of theater almost lost her. She left her “Once on This Island” role early to star in a TV pilot, but it didn't work out and she was heartbroken. For six years, she taught fifth and sixth grade and worked at a magazine company and a shelter for pregnant and homeless young women.
Her love for acting consumed her until she decided to return to auditioning in 1991. She knew she was rusty, so she auditioned for things she knew she would never book, such as her role in “The Sound of Music” at the Santa Barbara Theater. I did. civic light opera.
“I thought no one was going to cast me in 'The Sound of Music.' And then, you know, I got cast as Mother Abeth. That's how I got started.” she says.
A critic from the Ventura County Star was impressed: “As Mother Abbess, Lewis blew the lobby doors off with 'Climb Every Mountain.' The break comes at just the right time, and when she finishes the song with a bang, it's hard to follow.”
This role led to Rodgers and Hammerstein's series of shows “South Pacific'' and “The King and I,'' which made for some interesting work. “And I definitely thought, 'Okay, you should have come back,'” she says.
Since her return, Lewis' roles have included “The Drowsy Chaperone,” “Chicago,” “Leap of Faith,” “Cinderella,” and “Children of a Lesser God” on Broadway, and off-Broadway in “Mother Courage.” I'm appearing. Her television appearances include “The Blacklist,'' “Madam Secretary,'' “Royal Pains'' and “Blue Bloods.''
“After 40 years in this industry, I feel like I could write an encyclopedia,” she says.
“Hell's Kitchen'' director Michael Greif knew Lewis from her days on “Big River'' and thought she would be a perfect fit for Miss Liza Jane.
“Keshia is a great teacher both on stage and off,” Grief says. “She brings her wealth of experience, wisdom and generosity to every encounter with Marea and to her incredible ensembles, many of whom are making their Broadway debut.”
Lewis initially read the script without knowing that Keys' songs would be used or that the central teenager had ties to the Grammy Award winner.
The show is set in Manhattan Plaza, an apartment complex in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood, where Keyes grew up, that provides affordable housing for arts professionals. There is a multi-purpose space called the Ellington Room with a piano, and in the musical the heroine discovers Miss Liza Jane, a group of Keyes leaders.
Luis knows both the facility and the rooms very well. She attended a nearby high school and one of her closest friends lived in Manhattan Plaza. She also sang at her friend's father's memorial service in the Ellington Room.
Keys had personally worked with Lewis on two of her biggest songs, “Perfect Way to Die” and “Author of Forever” (both of which have already been released), and the team was confident that she would play the role. I paid for piano lessons to perform.
On a deeper level, Lewis also connected to the musical's coming-of-age story of a young woman with a single mother negotiating the tough streets of New York.
“I was a single mother with a son. My son is now 20 years old and in New York. So on a very personal level, I'm trying to figure out what's being said and what I'm trying to convey. She brought all of that with me and what she gave me so I could fly on my own.”
___
Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits
