Levi Kreis

Levi Kreis (born November 4, 1973) is an American recording artist and Tony Award-winning actor from Oliver Springs, Tennessee.

Levi Kreis
Birth nameLevi Kreis
Born (1973-11-04) November 4, 1973
Oliver Springs, Tennessee
GenresSouthern Soul, Gospel, Pop
Occupation(s)Actor, Singer/Songwriter
InstrumentsVocals, piano,
Years active2005–present
LabelsVision 9 Records
WebsiteLeviKreis.com

Music career

His debut album One Of The Ones was released on November 17, 2005 accompanied by an appearance on a special Sirius/XM radio edition of NBC's The Apprentice. Four hopefuls were chosen from thousands of submissions. The two teams had a challenge to write, record, produce and package an artist for Sirius/XM's station XM Cafe. Levi Kreis and his team won the challenge, launching Levi's recording career worldwide. He followed his debut album with The Gospel According To Levi, confronting religion and its unhealthy views on sexuality, specifically as it relates to the LGBT community and conversion therapy (Levi did six years with Exodus International.) Levi's early music articulated the growing pains of young gay men and their relationships when it was still not a widely embraced topic of conversation. In 2009, Levi won the OutMusic Award for his song "Stained Glass Window", a song inspired by the Del Shores play Southern Baptist Sissies. In addition to Levi's early musical activism, his compositions have been featured on Days Of Our Lives, Young And The Restless, The Vampire Diaries, Sons of Anarchy, So You Think You Can Dance, Mob Wives, and films The War Room and Kiss The Bride. He has released nine albums to date. Kreis has settled into the southern soul genre and releases his new EP "Bad Habit" March 20, 2020

Acting career

As an actor, Levi was cast in the role of "Roger" in the national tour of RENT. He next starred in the award-winning independent film "Don't Let Go" starring Katharine Ross and Scott Wilson. He also played opposite Matthew McConaughey with the role of "Adam Meiks" in Bill Paxton's directorial debut Frailty.

Levi was part of the original cast of One Red Flower: Letters from ‘Nam,, a musical based on the book Dear American, Letters Home From Vietnam. The musical began to solidify its path to Broadway when 9-11 happened and impacted the fate of the show. The show depicted five guys in their one year tour of duty in Vietnam. The musical was written and directed by Emmy award winning director Paris Barclay.

The same producers of One Red Flower: Letters from ‘Nam, then contacted Levi for a new project, leading Levi to originate the role of Jerry Lee Lewis in Broadway's Million Dollar Quartet. On June 13, 2010, he received the Tony Award for "Best Featured Actor In A Musical" for the role.[1] He also won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Featured Actor In A Musical, along with a Drama League nomination. However, he had to leave the show on March 3, 2011, due to an injury.[2]

Other notable stage credits include the Tony nominated Broadway revival of Violet starring Sutton Foster, Smokey Joe’s Cafe at Arena Stage, and Pump Boys And Dinettes at The Village Theater (where both One Red Flower and Million Dollar Quartet began).

Levi is most invested in new theatrical works and has been a part of musicals-in-development such as Mozart, L'Opéra Rock and Get Jack.

Levi starred as Pastor Jimmy Ray Brewton in the film A Very Sordid Wedding (2017) and as Tom Cutler in the multi-award-winning film The Divide (2018).

Personal life

In the May 2010 edition of The Rage Monthly, a San Diego gay lifestyle magazine, Kreis answered questions from the author Bill Biss about coming out, saying:

I think it was the first of many moves toward me dispelling what I call the illusion of limitation. To think that opportunities become limited because of anything such as sexuality, age, race, etc, is to not have faith in the absolute support the universe has in our creative expression. It's like telling God that He is incapable! It's like telling me that there is something wrong with me. I can't subscribe to any of this anymore. I believe nature even teaches us that all life supports itself, and that very support is ours to the degree we believe it to be. I believe that God is all-supportative, all-good and there is no opposition to that. To live in this space, own whom you are and step into life with this level of authority and faith is how I hoped to live ever since I released that first CD and came out.[3]

Levi is a licensed spiritual practitioner through the Centers for Spiritual Living and launched a podcast called The Church Of Kreis in March 2020, focusing on the law of attraction and practical self-improvement.

Levi is married to classical-crossover artist Jason Antone.

Discography
  • "One of the Ones" (2005)
  • "The Gospel According To Levi" (2007)
  • "Bygones" (2008)
  • "Where I Belong" (2009)
  • "Live @ Joe's Pub" (2011)
  • "Imagine Paradise"(2013)
  • "Broadway at the Keys" (2017)
  • "Liberated" (2018)
  • "Home For The Holidays" (2018)
  • "Three Words" - Single (2019)
  • "Faith" - Single (2020)
  • "Bad Habit" (2020)

References
  1. "Who's Nominated?". Tony Awards. IBM Corp. Retrieved June 13, 2010.
  2. Hetrick, Adam (March 11, 2011). "Tony Award Winner Levi Kreis Exits Million Dollar Quartet Early Due to Injury". playbill.com. Archived from the original on March 14, 2011.
  3. Biss, Bill (May 3, 2010). "Levi Kreis is an Out Entertainer with Faith, Passion and Spirit". Rage Monthly. Archived from the original on July 8, 2016. Retrieved June 23, 2011.
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