From ‘Dreamgirls’ To ‘Hell’s Kitchen’—Tony Award Winner Kecia Lewis On 41 Years Of Shaping Broadway [Exclusive] - Page 2
“This is a continual unfortunate struggle that just when I think that we’ve made some progress…unfortunately, in a lot of ways, we are not seen as important enough, just from our existence, let alone what we contribute,” Lewis said. “It’s almost like we should be grateful that we have an opportunity to contribute with no recognition of the humanity.”
She also spoke to the weight that comes with walking a fine line between showing up and doing the work she’s so passionate about, but in the same breath, having to defend the right to be there, and shine.
“It can be exhausting,” said Lewis. “We live in a country where our history informs our treatment as people of color, and so it can be very exhausting. I don’t know if I would say I’m still fighting in the same way as I’m advocating for myself and others, loudly, and picking and choosing my battles. Because if you fight every single thing that comes down the pipe, that comes towards us, you would be somewhere in a rubber room. So you have to pick and choose. I have to pick and choose for my own sanity and mental health.”
Lewis added, “I raised a son as a single parent from the time my son was eight, he and his dad and I split when he was eight. And so I’ve also had the experience of raising a brown child in New York City, a brown male child, and so that has informed my advocacy in a whole other kind of way. And I just feel that if I do my work and maintain my dignity and demand the respect as it presents itself as needing to be demanded, because there are some people that you can’t reach, and you have to use your discernment to decide. Can I reach this person? Is there a possibility? And then if I can’t, I don’t have any more energy left to waste on people who are not listening or don’t even want to listen.”
Through it all, Lewis, who recently celebrated a milestone birthday, turning 60 years old on June 30, says that there’s still work to do and stories to tell through characters explicitly designed with her in mind.
When asked what’s currently feeding her spirit, the answer was simple—“It’s my relationship with God,” said Lewis.
“I’ve been blessed to choose roles that speak to who I want to be in the world. I want to be that mother figure. I want to be that Auntie. I want to be that mentor,” she concluded. “I want to be that shoulder that you can cry on. I want to be the one that will kick you in your behind if you need a kick in your behind, you know, whatever it is that Black women, very often, almost always, have been and done, that’s kind of what’s happened for me. I’m very proud of that, I’m very appreciative that it’s looked upon as important to the canon of Black theater.”
The Broadway production of Hell’s Kitchen opened on April 20, 2024, at the Shubert Theatre in New York City, and is still available to catch.
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