Ted Louis Levy (born April 25, 1960) is an American tap dancer, singer, choreographer, and director. He is widely celebrated as one of America’s premier tap dance artists.

Early life

Levy was born in 1960 in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. His mother, Dolly, was a chorus dancer at the

Club DeLisa The Club DeLisa, also written Delisa or De Lisa, was an African-American nightclub and music venue in Chicago, Illinois. Located at 5521 South State Street (State Street and Garfield Avenue, on the South Side), it was possibly the most prestigious ...

on the South Side. From 1980 to 1984, Levy served in the United States Navy.

Career & Awards

In 1985, Levy began his performing career in the Chicago production of ''Shoot Me While I'm Happy'' at the

Victory Gardens Theater Victory Gardens Theater is a theater company in Chicago, Illinois dedicated to the development and production of new plays and playwrights. The theater company was founded in 1974 when eight Chicago artists, Cecil O'Neal, Warren Casey, Stuart Go ...

. In 1989, he debuted on Broadway in the musical ''Black and Blue''. In 1988, Levy was a member of the Kuumba Theatre Ensemble whose performance in ''Precious Memories: Strolling 47th Street'' on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

won a Chicago Emmy Award for outstanding performance. Levy’s production of ''Ted Levy and Friends'' in 1992 confirmed "the rebirth of tap dancing as an art form", according to a review in

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

. Levy’s performing “friends” included

Gregory Hines Gregory Oliver Hines (February 14, 1946 – August 9, 2003) was an American dancer, actor, choreographer, and singer. He is one of the most celebrated tap dancers of all time. As an actor, he is best known for '' Wolfen'' (1981), '' The Cotton C ...

Savion Glover Savion Glover (born November 19, 1973) is an American tap dancer, actor, and choreographer. Early life The youngest of three sons, Glover was born to a white father, who left the family before he was born, and a black mother. Glover's great grand ...

, and

Jimmy Slyde James Titus Godbolt (October 2, 1927 – May 16, 2008), known professionally as Jimmy Slyde and also as the "King of Slides", was an American tap dancer known for his innovative tap style mixed with jazz. Slyde was a popular rhythm tap dancer i ...

, among others. Jelly’s Last Jam, choreographed by

Hope Clarke Hope Clarke (born March 23, 1941) is an American actress, dancer, vocalist, choreographer, and director. Clarke performed as principal dancer with the Katherine Dunham Company and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, 1960s; actress on stage, ...

and with tap choreography by

and Levy, earned the trio

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

and

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...

nominations in 1992 and an

Outer Critics Circle Award The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. They are presented by the Outer Critics Circle (OCC), the official organization of New York theater writers for out-of-town newspa ...

win in 1993. In 1994, Levy directed

’s ''Dancing Under the Stars'' at the

New York Shakespeare Festival Shakespeare in the Park (or Free Shakespeare in the Park) is a theatrical program that stages productions of Shakespearean plays at the Delacorte Theater, an open-air theater in New York City's Central Park. The theater and the productions are ...

Delacorte Theater The Delacorte Theater is a 1,800-seat open-air theater in Central Park, in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is home to the Public Theater's free Shakespeare in the Park productions. Over five million people have attended more than 15 ...

. This led to his direction of the 1995 workshop production of Glover in ''Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk'', which moved to Broadway in 1996. Levy was nominated for an

NAACP Image Award The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to ...

in 2000 for his role in ''Rollin' On The T.O.B.A.'' In 2001, Levy appeared in the movie ''Bojangles'' with

, and returned to Broadway as Papa Jack in

Susan Stroman Susan P. Stroman (born October 17, 1954) is an American theatre director, choreographer, film director and performer. Her notable theater productions include '' The Producers'', '' Crazy for You'', ''Contact'', and '' The Scottsboro Boys''. She i ...

Harry Connick Jr. Joseph Harry Fowler Connick Jr. (born September 11, 1967) is an American singer, pianist, composer, actor, and television host. He has sold over 28million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top60 best-selling male artists in the Uni ...

’s ''Thou Shalt Not''. For a Supporting Actor role in ''

Hot Mikado : ''Hot Mikado'' is a musical comedy, based on Gilbert and Sullivan's 1885 comic opera '' The Mikado'', adapted by David H. Bell (book and lyrics) and Rob Bowman (orchestrations and arrangements). After researching the 1939 Broadway musical, ' ...

'', Levy won a

Helen Hayes Award The Helen Hayes Awards are theater awards recognizing excellence in professional theater in the Washington, D.C. area since 1983. The awards are named in tribute of Helen Hayes, who is also known as the "First Lady of American Theatre." They ar ...

in 2003 and was nominated for

Jeff Award The Joseph Jefferson Award, more commonly known informally as the Jeff Award, is given for theatre arts produced in the Chicago area. Founded in 1968, the awards are named in tribute to actor Joseph Jefferson, a 19th-century American theater star ...

s in 2003 and 2011. Levy was nominated for an additional Jeff Award for Supporting Actor in 2012 for his role in '' My One and Only''. In 2015, Levy appeared in the film documentary, ''Tap World'', directed by

Dean Hargrove Dean Hargrove (born July 27, 1938 in Iola, Kansas) is an American television producer, writer, and director. His background includes graduating the St. John's Military School, Wichita State University, and attending the UCLA Film School as a gradu ...

. Levy received dual 2018 Big Easy Award nominations for a revival of

Jelly's Last Jam ''Jelly's Last Jam'' is a musical with a book by George C. Wolfe, lyrics by Susan Birkenhead, and music by Jelly Roll Morton and Luther Henderson. Based on the life and career of Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe, known as Jelly Roll Morton and general ...

in New Orleans: "Choreography" (with Traci Tolmaire) and "Best Lead Actor in a Musical". In 2018, in addition to performing, Levy is developing a new production, ''The Last Swingin’ Black Jew''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levy, Ted Louis Living people 1960 births American tap dancers