An Intimate Night with Levi Kreis

 

Ft. Lauderdale, FL -- Venetian Arts Society and RBC Wealth Management present "An Intimate Evening with Levi Kreis" a benefit performance for ArtsUnited. The TONY Award® winning Actor/Singer will appear in concert on Saturday, October 27 at 8 p.m. at the Sunshine Cathedral, 1480 SW 9th Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33315. 

 

Levi won the 2010 TONY Award® for Best Featured Actor in a Musical when his experience as a recording artist, actor, and pianist combined to originate the role of Jerry Lee Lewis in Broadway’s TONY nominated musical “Million Dollar Quartet.”

 

Executive Director of the Venetian Arts Society (VAS), William Riddle, said that Levi Kreis is a singer-songwriter and actor whose mesmerizing live performances are often described as Harry Connick Jr. meets Hugh Jackman. “His piano is an appendage that requires no effort.” Riddle said. “His southern humor will charm you and his vulnerability will move you. Years of exuberant reviews have dubbed Kreis the consummate performer and he “learned from the best!”

 

Venetian Arts Society is thrilled to be partnering with ArtsUnited for a benefit to their non-profit organization.  ArtsUnited focuses on showcasing the art of the LGBTQ community in all genres of the arts, including visual art, music, theatre, film and fashion.    

 

Levi Kreis is an artist well-versed in musical theater, pop and country singing styles. An East Tennessee native, Levi spent his youth learning everything he knows from Little Miss Dynamite, Brenda Lee. Traveling on her tour bus and studying her genius on stage and off, Kreis adopted Lee’s strong work ethic and classy reputation. But it was Brenda’s ability to have an audience in the palm of her hand that Kreis sought to make his own. By all accounts, Kreis succeeded. To this day Brenda Lee confesses, “I taught him everything he knows!”

 

His southern humor will charm you. His vulnerability will move you. Years of exuberant reviews have dubbed Kreis the consummate performer. His charismatic live performances are his number one. His musicianship is effortless. 

 

Like many of his musical heroes, Kreis appealed to the pop genre before settling in to what he knows best, country music.  His recent album, “Liberated,” sounds transitional for him.  His signature piano/vocal sound is now wrapped with the warmth of a pedal steel and mandolin, perfectly complimenting the tear in Levi’s voice. The album features a cover of Ronnie Milsap’s “Stranger In My House” along with “Nobody In His Right Mind Would’ve Left Her,” a #1 country hit for George Strait.  The rest of the album is original material penned by Kreis, all confessional in nature and all rather personal about his divorce.

 

Kreis said that writing the songs was therapeutic. “I’m not liberated from the past, but I’ve learned that willingness is all it takes for a jaded heart to crack open.”  Kickstarter backers and long-time fans receiving advanced copies of “Liberated” are unanimous in their opinion that this new body of work is Levi’s best work to date.

 

For all his recent acclaim, Kreis may be best known for the Broadway role which earned him the 2010 TONY Award® for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. Performing as Jerry Lee Lewis in “Million Dollar Quartet,”Kreis’ charisma and comedic timing electrified his audiences. Other notable acting credits include Broadway’s TONY nominated revival of “Violet,” the national tour of “Rent,” “Smokey Joe’s Café,” “Pump Boys & Dinettes,” and the films, “Frailty,” “Don’t Let Go,” “Slip Tumble and Slide,” “A Very Sordid Wedding,” and “The Divide.”

 

"An Intimate Evening with Levi Kreis" performance on Saturday, October 27 will begin at 8 p.m. Tickets are $35, general admission and is $50 which includes a meet and greet with Levi after the performance. This performance is made possible in part through the generous support of Venetian Arts Society, RBC Wealth Management, Nova Southeastern University, John Knox Village, Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitor's Bureau (Hello Sunny), Your Office, HotSpots Media Group and Mark'sList!