It鈥檚 fitting that Kecia Lewis has had her most successful theater season while playing a mentor.
The Broadway veteran 鈥� now celebrating 40 years in the business 鈥� portrays the formidable piano teacher Miss Liza Jane in 鈥淗ell鈥檚 Kitchen鈥� who inspires the show鈥檚 young heroine to embrace music.
鈥淪it. Learn,鈥� she says to her new teenage pupil, a role loosely based on Alicia Keys. The youngster looks at the older one at the piano and says: 鈥淚 see in her, for the first time in my life, I think, what I might someday be: powerful. Regal. A queen.鈥�
Lewis is like that cool, no-nonsense wise head who radiates skill, warmth and professionalism, helping rising star Maleah Joi Moon make her Broadway debut in the main role.
鈥淪he鈥檚 an earthy and royal woman and she brings a sense of powerful groundedness to every room she walks in,鈥� Moon says. 鈥淚 knew from our first conversation that I wanted to learn as much as I could from her.鈥�
Lewis is having a special spring. Her musical has garnered 13 Tony Award nominations and she has earned her first Tony nod. She has already won awards from the Outer Critics and Lucille Lortel.
鈥淭his is all I鈥檝e ever wanted to do since I was a child. This is the only thing that I鈥檓 truly trained in,鈥� she says. 鈥淚鈥檇 be faking it in any other profession. I love what I do. It doesn鈥檛 feel like work to me.鈥�
Lewis made her Broadway debut at 18 in the original company of 鈥淒reamgirls鈥� in the mid-1980s and went on to 鈥淭he Gospel at Colonus鈥� with Morgan Freeman, 鈥淏ig River,鈥� 鈥淎in鈥檛 Misbehavin鈥欌�� and 鈥淥nce on This Island.鈥�
The world of the theater almost lost her. She left 鈥淥nce on This Island鈥� early to do a TV pilot that didn鈥檛 pan out and was heartbroken. For six years, she taught fifth and sixth grades, worked at a magazine and at a shelter for young women who were pregnant and homeless.
Her love of performing gnawed at her until she decided to return to auditions in 1991. She knew she was rusty, so she auditioned for things she knew she鈥檇 never book, like a role in 鈥淭he Sound of Music鈥� at the Santa Barbara Civic Light Opera.
鈥淚 thought, no one will ever cast me in 鈥楾he Sound of Music.鈥� And I got it. I was cast as the Mother Abbess. And that got me started,鈥� she says.
The Ventura County Star critic was impressed: 鈥淎s the Mother Abbess, Lewis blows open the lobby doors with her 鈥楥limb Every Mountain.鈥� Intermission comes just in time: Her booming finish to the song would be a hard act to follow.鈥�
That role led to a string of Rodgers and Hammerstein shows 鈥� 鈥淪outh Pacific鈥� and 鈥淭he King and I鈥� 鈥� and interesting parts. 鈥淎nd then I was clear, 鈥極K, you were supposed to go back,鈥欌�� she says.
Since her returns, Lewis鈥� roles have included Broadway 鈥� 鈥淭he Drowsy Chaperone,鈥� 鈥淐hicago,鈥� 鈥淟eap of Faith,鈥� 鈥淐inderella鈥� and 鈥淐hildren of a Lesser God鈥� 鈥� and off-Broadway in 鈥淢other Courage,鈥� 鈥淭he Skin of Our Teeth鈥� and 鈥淢arie and Rosetta.鈥� Her TV parts include 鈥淭he Blacklist,鈥� 鈥淢adam Secretary,鈥� 鈥淩oyal Pains鈥� and 鈥淏lue Bloods.鈥�
鈥淚 feel like I have a whole encyclopedia I could write about 40 years in this business,鈥� she says.
Michael Greif, the director of 鈥淗ell鈥檚 Kitchen,鈥� knew Lewis from their days working on 鈥淏ig River鈥� and thought she鈥檇 be perfect for Miss Liza Jane.
鈥淜ecia is a great teacher on and offstage,鈥� Greif says. 鈥淪he brings her considerable experience, wisdom and generosity to every encounter with Maleah and to our incredible ensemble, many of whom are making their Broadway debuts.鈥�
Lewis initially read the script not knowing that Keys鈥� songs would be used or that the teen at its center shared connections to the Grammy winner.
The show is set in Manhattan Plaza, an apartment complex in the Hell鈥檚 Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan where Keys grew up and which offers affordable housing for people in the arts. It has a multipurpose space with a piano 鈥� the Ellington Room 鈥� where, in the musical, the heroine discovers Miss Liza Jane, an amalgamation of Keys鈥� mentors.
Lewis knows both the complex and the room well. She went to high school nearby, and one of her closest friends lived in Manhattan Plaza. She even sang at a memorial for her friend鈥檚 dad in the Ellington Room.
Keys personally worked with Lewis on her two big songs 鈥� 鈥淧erfect Way to Die鈥� and 鈥淎uthor of Forever,鈥� both already released 鈥� and the team paid for piano lessons so she could look the part.
On a deeper level, Lewis also connected to the musical鈥檚 coming-of-age story of a young woman with a single mom negotiating the tough streets of New York.
鈥淚 was a single parent of a son. My son is 20 now and in New York. So I understood on a very personal level a lot of what was being said and what was trying to be conveyed. She allowed me to bring all of that along with what she gave me and just let me fly on my own.鈥�
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Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press
