Ben Levi Ross Talks First Tonys Nomination, ‘Ragtime’

Just a few hours after “Ragtime” claimed 5 Drama League awards final Friday, Ben Levi Ross was again in his dressing room on the Lincoln Center Theater, and on the point of proceed doing the work that has established the musical as an awards season frontrunner.

“I just keep saying to myself, ‘Even though you’re tired, take everything in, take every second in, keep your eyes open, look around,’” says Ross. “Because this is rare, and this doesn’t happen all the time.’”

In reality, it is the 28-year-old actor’s being nominated (and eligible) for a Tony award. In current weeks, he received Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for his featured efficiency within the musical.

May have confirmed to be significantly busy for the “Ragtime” forged, who proceed to take the stage for eight performances every week. The afternoon earlier than the Drama League Awards, which collectively honors the Broadway and off-Broadway communities in New YorkRoss attended a Tonys “meet the nominees” luncheon alongside a number of of his costars, together with present leads Joshua HenryCaissie Levy and Brandon Uranowitz. The manufacturing acquired 11 Tony nominations general.

Long after the rave important evaluations and celebratory nature of opening night time final fall, “Ragtime” is continuous to attract enthusiastic sold-out audiences eight instances every week. Months of performances later, the Tony nominations arrived as a reminder of the manufacturing’s earliest days.

“It gives you a moment to remember what it was like when we were first starting out — the magic that I felt in the rehearsal room,” says Ross, who additionally starred within the off-Broadway manufacturing of “Ragtime” at New York City Center in late 2024. “It’s really rare that you get to be in a show with these many performances that are being recognized — not only by their fellow actors, but recognized by the community at large in this way.”

Ross stars within the musical as Mother’s Younger Brother, a rich younger man who turns into radicalized over the course of the present, and finds new route for his life by way of political activism. The musical, set within the early 1900s, initially debuted on Broadway in 1998. Just shy of 30 years later, the musical feels extra well timed than ever for its depiction of racism, classism, politics and the immigrant expertise in America.

“The success of this revival of ‘Ragtime’ should tell producers that you can have a successful show that is nuanced, that is deep, complex, that faces the ugly truths in our society — and that when all of those things come together correctly, it can be a commercial hit,” says Ross. “Those things don’t have to live on the fringes of the theater.”

The forged is ramping up rehearsals for his or her efficiency at this 12 months’s Tonys ceremony, which options reside excerpts from one of the best musical nominees. As a young person, Ross was “obsessed” with the unique Broadway firm’s Tonys efficiency of the present’s prologue — which he describes as “musical theater at its highest form” — however is tight-lipped about whether or not they’ll provide up their very own efficiency this 12 months.

“Because we’ve had five performance nominations, you can be pretty certain that all five of us will be highlighted in some way with our performance,” he provides.

Technically, this is not his first manufacturing of “Ragtime.” While he was a freshman within the drama program at Carnegie Mellon, he was forged in a fast cameo position for the college’s mainstage manufacturing. “But I was doing schoolwork backstage the entire time. I wasn’t really aware of the bulk of the show,” he says. “So when I went into City Center, it was pretty fresh.”

He left faculty earlier than commencement and made his Broadway debut as an organization understudy for “Dear Evan Hansen,” earlier than starring within the titular position for the present’s nationwide tour, and later the Broadway manufacturing. In 2024, Ross originated one of many lead roles within the off-Broadway musical “The Connector,” which earned him his first Drama Desk nomination.

Heading into the rest of his scheduled run with “Ragtime,” Ross is dedicated to discovering new methods to maintain his efficiency feeling truthful and recent, whereas sustaining the emotional depth that the present requires from every actor onstage. And to remain current and take within the second.

“Sometimes, you just have to put your head down and do the work just to get through the week, and other times you can feel it a little bit more deeply,” he says. “Sometimes you get a reminder that this is not going to last forever, so you better open your frigging eyes.”