Jeff Kready
Joining us On The Couch this week is Jeff Kready, the endlessly versatile performer currently lighting up Broadway in Operation Mincemeat as Hester Leggatt & Others straight off a stint as one of the six Phantoms in Masquerade. A Kansas native with a sharp sense of humor and a deep well of empathy (read: girl dad), Jeff is the kind of actor who thrives on making audiences feel something unexpected. A reminder for everyone reading: it’s pronounced “Kray-dee,” not “Kree-dee”. Read our full interview below.
What do you consider to be your best asset?
Empathy, both as a person and as an actor. As a person it generally gives me patience with people I disagree with (even slow walkers on NY sidewalks) and as an actor it’s served me well in playing characters who aren’t the good guy.
What was your proudest moment?
Watching my daughter play Matilda in a children’s production of the show. Not because I want her to be a performer, but because she was astoundingly good and it was something I had nothing to do with. Watching your offspring succeed at anything is an incredible high.
What is your favorite drink?
Coffee, first thing in the morning. Don’t put anything in it and make it scald my mouth.
What is your favorite food?
There’s a “Mexican” restaurant back home in Kansas called Taco Villa; it has very little to do with culturally accurate Mexican cuisine, but it tastes like my childhood.
What is your favorite condiment?
Cheese.
What is your current obsession?
This is boring but it’s been fitness for a while. I just feel better mentally when I’m at my best physically. Which is hard with all the cheese.
If you could give up one of your vices, what would it be?
Don’t be nosy. (But see above, re: condiment.)
What is the one professional accomplishment you long for most?
That I get to be just well-known enough that people know how to pronounce my last name. It’s “Kray-dee” like Brady, not “Kree-dee” like greedy.
What is the one thing you waste too much money on?
Kids shoes.
What is the one activity you waste too much time doing?
NYT games app- every morning I play Wordle, Connections, Strands, and do both the mini and midi crosswords. It’s too much.
What do you consider to be the single greatest threat to your health?
A sedentary lifestyle. Fortunately one thing I’m not in Operation Mincemeat, is sedentary.
What’s the single best trait you inherited or learned from your parents?
I get my empathic nature from them. I also learned how to care for others from my mom and methodic preparation from my dad.
What’s the single worst trait you inherited or learned from your parents?
Stubbornness.
What in the world most thrills you?
That moment on stage when you can feel you’ve made an impact on an audience. Making people feel something, especially something unexpected. It is my favorite thing in the world.
What current trend in popular culture most irritates you?
People being unable to put their phone down. I hate seeing people on their phones in the audience when I’m performing. It’s so disheartening. I was at a museum this week and witnessed an entire flock of teenagers sitting in the middle of the museum, not talking to each other, all of them just scrolling. It was wildly depressing.
What was the most embarrassing moment you’ve ever experienced on the job?
The first time I performed for Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber. We were doing a dress rehearsal of Masquerade, and my tux pants were being worked on, so for this run I was wearing everything else; my tux shirt and jacket, bowtie, cape, dress socks and black boots, but they told me to use whatever personal pants I was wearing that day. It was about 90 degrees outside so I was wearing (short) bright blue gym shorts. No one told me he was going to be in the audience, so I walked out there in my Phantom mask and shorts and saw his eyes widen to take in what he was seeing. He had a good, hearty, laugh. It was embarrassing. But I’ll never forget singing Music of the Night for ALW in shorts.
What is your favorite place in the world?
Beside the fireplace in my grandparents house on Christmas morning. They aren’t here anymore, so it’s just a place I day dream about sometimes.
What is the most important trait you seek in a romantic partner?
That her name is Nikki Renée Daniels. I’ve only dated or been married to people with that name for the past 19 years.
Do you prefer the company of dogs or cats?
We just gave our girls two kittens for Christmas so I’m a cat person now. I was only ever a dog person before, but having kids and a dog living in Manhattan seems impossible, so we went cats. Three months in an I’m fully team cat.
What would have to happen to make today the best day of your life?
If either of my daughters came home from school and said, “Daddy, I LOVE doing <blank>. I want to know everything about it. I want to do it when I grow up.” I feel so fortunate to do the thing that I love for a living. It’s work that I want to do, even if they didn’t pay me (shh don’t tell). I want my daughters to find their own passions.
What is your personal motto?
I’ve always thought of the Kansas state motto as my own; Ad astra per aspera. “To the stars through difficulties.”