Ben Levi Ross
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Benjamin Levi Ross (born January 15, 1998) is an American stage actor and singer. He is best known for his work in the
Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...
winning musical ''
Dear Evan Hansen ''Dear Evan Hansen'' is a stage musical with music and lyrics by Pasek and Paul, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and a book by Steven Levenson. The musical follows Evan Hansen, a high school senior with social anxiety, "who invents an important rol ...
,'' where he was
Evan Evan is a Welsh language, Welsh masculine given name, derived from ''Iefan'', a Welsh form of the name John (name), John. Similar names that share this origin include Euan, Ivan (name), Ivan, Ian, and Juan. "John" itself is derived from the ancie ...
on Broadway and in the national tour.


Early life and education

Ross was born to a Jewish family on January 15, 1998, and grew up in
Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
. He attended
Santa Monica High School Santa Monica High School, officially abbreviated to Samohi or SMHS, is a public high school in Santa Monica, California. Founded in 1891, it changed location several times in its early years before settling into its present campus at 601 Pico Bo ...
, where he was active in his school's theater program. In 2016, he was named a Presidential Scholar of the Arts as part of the 2016 U.S.
Presidential Scholars Program The United States Presidential Scholars Program is a program of the United States Department of Education. It is described as "one of the nation's highest honors for high school students" in the United States of America. The program was establ ...
. He was also a grand prize finalist for the 2016 Music Center Spotlight awards. Following high school, he attended
Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...
for a year and a half.


Career

At an audition for the play ''The Low Road'' at New York's Public Theater, Ross was noticed by ''Dear Evan Hansen'' director
Michael Greif Michael Greif (born ca. 1960 in Brooklyn, New YorkWelsh, Anne Marie, "New York and family call Michael Greif home", ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'', October 10, 1999, p.E-1) is an American stage director. He has won three Obie Awards and received ...
, who told Ross that he would be great as an understudy in the cast of ''Dear Evan Hansen''. Soon after, he joined ''Dear Evan Hansen''s cast, and made his Broadway debut as the character Jared. Ross then spent ten months understudying for the roles of Evan, Connor, and Jared. In 2018, he left the Broadway company and joined the first national tour of the show in the titular role. He left the production on September 15, 2019. From January 29 to February 3, 2020, Ross starred as Henry in the
Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...
's production of ''
Next to Normal ''Next to Normal'' is a 2008 American rock musical with book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey and music by Tom Kitt. The story centers on a mother who struggles with worsening bipolar disorder and the effects that managing her illness has on her fam ...
''. In 2021, Ross appeared in the film '' Tick, Tick... Boom!'' as Freddy. From March to May 2022, he returned to the Broadway production of ''Dear Evan Hansen'' in the title role of Evan Hansen for a limited engagement. In the summer of 2024, Ross starred as Nick Carraway in
Florence Welch Florence Leontine Mary Welch
(born 28 ...
's '' Gatsby: An American Myth'' at the
American Repertory Theatre The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) is a professional not-for-profit theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1979 by Robert Brustein, the A.R.T. is known for its commitment to new American plays and music–theater explorations; to ne ...
. Later that year in the fall, he portrayed Mother's Younger Brother in the
New York City Center New York City Center (previously known as the Mecca Temple, City Center of Music and Drama, and the New York City Center 55th Street Theater) is a performing arts center at 131 West 55th Street (Manhattan), 55th Street between Sixth Avenue, Six ...
's
Encores! Encores! is a Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre, Tony-honored concert series dedicated to reviving United States, American Musical theatre, musicals, usually with their original orchestrations. Presented by New York City Center since 1994, E ...
production of ''Ragtime'' opposite
Joshua Henry Joshua Anthony Charlton Henry (born September 2, 1984) is a Canadian-American actor and singer of stage and screen. He is best known for starring as Billy Bigelow in the third Broadway revival of ''Carousel'' and as Haywood Patterson in Kand ...
,
Caissie Levy Caissie Levy (born April 15, 1981) is a Canadian-American actress and singer, mainly known for her work in musical theatre on Broadway and in the West End. Her early Broadway credits included Penny Pingleton in ''Hairspray'' and Sheila in ''Hai ...
and
Colin Donnell Colin Donnell (born October 9, 1982) is an American actor and singer known as Tommy Merlyn on ''Arrow'', Scotty Lockhart on '' The Affair'', Dr. Connor Rhodes on ''Chicago Med'' (2015–19), and Billy Crocker in '' Anything Goes''. He also star ...
. He joined the cast of the CBS drama ''Elsbeth'' in season two, in a recurring role as title character Elsbeth Tascioni's son Teddy. He's set to reprise his ''Ragtime'' role beginning in September 2025 at the
Vivian Beaumont Theatre The Vivian Beaumont Theater is a Broadway theater in the Lincoln Center complex at 150 West 65th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Operated by the nonprofit Lincoln Center Theater (LCT), the Beaumont i ...
in a Broadway revival set to run through January 2026.


Personal life

Ross is gay and
non-binary Non-binary or genderqueer Gender identity, gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gende ...
, using ''they/them'' and ''he/him'' pronouns.


Filmography


Theater credits


Awards and nominations


See also

*
LGBT culture in New York City New York City has been described as the gay village, gay capital of the world and the central node of the LGBTQ+ political sociology, sociopolitical ecosystem, and is home to one of the world's largest and most prominent LGBTQ+ populations. Br ...
*
List of LGBT people from New York City New York City has been described as the gay village, gay capital of the world and the central node of the LGBTQ+ political sociology, sociopolitical ecosystem. It is home to one of the world's largest and most prominent LGBTQ populations. LGBTQ ...
*
NYC Pride March The NYC Pride March is an annual event celebrating the LGBT culture in New York City, LGBTQ community in New York City#Sexual orientation and gender identity, New York City. The largest pride parade and the List of largest LGBT events, larges ...


Notes


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Ben Levi 1998 births 21st-century American actors 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American LGBTQ people Actors from Santa Monica, California American gay actors American male musical theatre actors American non-binary actors Gay Jews Jewish American male actors LGBTQ people from California Living people Non-binary gay people Santa Monica High School alumni Musicians from Santa Monica, California