A aron Tveit was not your typical theater kid. At Middletown High School in New York’s Hudson Valley, he played varsity soccer, basketball, and golf. “I remember during freshman year someone said, ‘Are you going to audition for the school play?’ And I said, ‘Why would I do that?’ And then someone said, ‘I think a lot of girls do it.’”

An audition or two later, Tveit was cast as Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors, Tony in West Side Story, and in 2021, he won his first Tony for originating the role of Christian in Moulin Rouge! on Broadway. Along the way, he became a theater world favorite, originating the role of Gabe in the Off-Broadway production of the musical Next to Normal and playing Frank Abagnale Jr. in Catch Me If You Can, as well as Fiyero in Wicked.

This month, he’s back on Broadway in a refresh of Chess. The show, a curio from the Eighties, revolves around a tournament between a Russian grandmaster and Tveit's character, American Freddie Trumper, a John McEnroe of the chess world. The music is by ABBA’s Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, with the original book by EGOT winner Tim Rice (The Lion King). Tveit took a break from rehearsals to chat with us about making Freddie sympathetic, starting a family and playing Cafe Carlyle for the first time in 2024.

What music did your parents play in your house growing up? Are there songs from that time in your life that are like comfort food?

The Eagles and Paul Simon’s Graceland. I hear those songs, and I’m somehow transported to being 6 years old. My mom was a huge Whitney Houston fan. And my dad had a general contracting business. I started working for him on vacations around 6th grade, and there was always country music playing in his truck: Hank Williams Jr., Brooks & Dunn… And I listened to a lot of pop and R&B. You know, trying to sing Boyz II Men in my room.

And now you’re a dad — you were engaged to Erika Yang in 2023, had your daughter in 2024, and were married this past August. Is being on Broadway different now that you’re a family man?

When I was single, work maybe took up a little too much of my life. Now I feel that there’s a bit of an escape, a bit more balance. I still work as hard as I ever did preparing for a role or a performance, but I can hold things a little looser. I’m also more focused at work because I want to be able to walk in the door at the end of the day and see my daughter smiling.

Is your personal style Dad Style?

I’d say my style is “elevated casual.” Lots of organic fibers. Short jackets and chore coats. For Chess, though, we’ve been looking a lot at what Richard Gere wore in American Gigolo.

You’ve developed a side hustle performing one-man shows — first in 2013 at New York’s 54 Below and more recently at Cafe Carlyle and London’s Palladium. Your set lists are eclectic. They might range from Les Misérables to Jason Isbell with an Adele song thrown in. How do you choose what to perform?

I always try to tell a story with these shows. So, my first show at 54 Below was a bit of a musical autobiography. If I don’t have a reason to sing each song, it can come across as inauthentic, and it will feel like I’m bullshitting the audience.

Does the room impact the songlist?

The Cafe Carlyle is such a classic New York room that it made me think of old New York and all the performers that have made standards their own, so in the set there’s a Tony Bennett song (“I Wanna Be Around”) and a Sammy Davis Jr. song (“What Kind of Fool Am I”).

Tell me a little bit about the difference between originating a role like Christian in Moulin Rouge! versus taking on a role that people have preconceived notions about, like Danny Zuko in Fox’s Grease Live?

Originating a role is amazing because you get to be part of the creative process, developing the characters… and since Chess is a revival, I’ve been able to work with the writer, Danny Strong, and director Michael Mayer, going through the script and kicking around ideas. With a character like Danny Zuko, I know I’m never going to be John Travolta. But an old acting teacher of mine told me that when you’re playing one of the great roles in Shakespeare, you should watch how the great actors did their monologues. You’re going to take something away from that, but when you get up on stage, you’ll still be you.

How are you going to make Freddie, who on the surface is a pretty unsympathetic character, sympathetic?

I think the way you get the audience to root for a character like Freddie is to make the audience think, “If I were in that situation, I’d make the same choice.” It’s a similar challenge to when I played Sweeney Todd. Sure, he’s a guy going on a murderous streak and baking people into meat pies… but he’s also a guy who’s had his family taken from him, and he’s desperate to get them back.

Is there a role on Broadway you haven’t gotten to play and you’d really like to?

George [Seurat] in Sunday in the Park with George… And I played Enjolras in the movie version of Les Misérables, but I’m older and ready to play Valjean.