Jeff Kready

Jeff Kready is an American stage performer born in Parsons, Kansas, who was raised in Topeka, Kansas. He graduated from Washburn Rural High School in 2000 and went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in Voice Performance and Vocal Music Education from Washburn University in 2004. His Broadway career has spanned from 2006 to 2025.

Kready made his Broadway debut in the 2006 revival of Les Misérables, which opened on November 9, 2006, at the Broadhurst Theatre and ran through January 6, 2008. He performed the roles of Babet and Fauchelevent and served as an understudy for Jean Valjean, becoming the youngest actor to portray that role on Broadway until Kyle Jean-Baptiste performed it at age 21 in 2015. Following that production, Kready appeared in the Roundabout Theater Company's 2008 Broadway revival of Sunday in the Park with George as an understudy.

Later in 2008, Kready joined the original Broadway company of Billy Elliot: The Musical, which opened at the Imperial Theatre on November 13 of that year, performing as a member of the ensemble. From May to August 2010, while Will Chase was on hiatus, Kready assumed the role of Tony. He subsequently left the production to originate the role of Tony on the second National Tour, which began in November 2010. In November 2013, Kready joined the original Broadway company of A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder as an ensemble member and understudy, and in 2014 he took over the lead role of Monty Navarro from Bryce Pinkham.

Kready served as the standby for the leading role of Michael Dorsey in the 2019 Broadway musical comedy Tootsie, which opened at the Marquis Theatre on April 23, 2019. He was also a member of the ensemble in the third Broadway revival of Company, during which he filled in for Christopher Fitzgerald in the role of David for an extended run. In May 2024, he joined the cast of The Great Gatsby on Broadway, understudying Jeremy Jordan in the title role. That same year, in November 2024, he appeared as Henry Ford in the City Center revival of Ragtime.

Beyond his principal Broadway engagements, Kready participated in the New York City Center 2023 revival of Oliver! as an ensemble member. In 2025, he was cast as The Phantom in an Off-Broadway immersive revival of The Phantom of the Opera at 218 West 57th Street, a role he continued into early 2026. In February 2026, he was announced as the replacement for Jak Malone in the role of Hester Leggatt and Others in the Broadway production of Operation Mincemeat.

Kready's regional and Off-Broadway work includes the world premiere of Tokio Confidential for the Atlantic Theater Company, in which he played Ernest opposite Jill Paice, and the world premiere of In This House at Two River Theater Company in Red Bank, New Jersey. He starred as Enoch Snow in a 2012 production of Carousel, earning a Connecticut Critics Circle nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Musical. Additional regional credits include Holiday Inn at Paper Mill Playhouse in the role of Ted Hanover, Brigadoon at Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera in the role of Tommy Albright, Thoroughly Modern Millie in the role of Jimmy co-produced by the Maltz Jupiter Theater and Paper Mill Playhouse, and David Sedaris' The Santaland Diaries at Hartford's TheaterWorks. He also starred as Sky Masterson in a production of Guys and Dolls at the Benedum Center, playing opposite Nikki Renée Daniels, who portrayed Sarah Brown and is his wife in real life.

On television, Kready guest starred in season three, episode six of the Emmy-nominated HBO series Boardwalk Empire and held a recurring co-star role in the CBS crime drama Elementary. Additional television credits include The Good Fight and The Code, both CBS productions. He was featured as Bert Healey in Annie Live!, a musical television special that aired on NBC on December 2, 2021. Kready also performed voiceover work in a UMPQUA Bank television commercial campaign, served as a vocalist in the South Park 25th Season orchestra trailers, and sang on Nikki Renée Daniels' debut album, Home.