Meet Regina Le Vert

Today we’d like to introduce you to Regina Le Vert.

Hi Regina, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’m a native Angeleno who started life with a twin sister and six fingers on each hand. I was a seriously shy, quiet, bookworm-y kid-my favorite spot growing up was the huge apricot tree in our backyard where I’d climb up and read and reread fables, fairy tales and YA books. I’m not sure where the shyness came from, but it was acute-I remember teachers talking to my parents about how reserved I was and not being able to sleep the night before if I had to give an oral report in elementary school the next day. In spite of all that, I loved school and my life was fully focused on acing my academics until I took a class called “Intro to Oral Interpretation” as a college freshman at Cal State Fullerton. My maternal grandmother, who lived with my mom, dad, two sisters and I since we were babies had recently passed away and I was processing that huge loss. Our assignment was to find a poem that resonated with us and to present it to the class. I chose John Donne’s Death Be Not Proud as a tribute to Granny. After I presented the poem, the professor who later became my mentor, Dr. James Young, asked to talk with me after class. He asked me if I’d ever considered acting, and I said a resounding no! He said he saw something in me and really encouraged me to explore it while making sure to let me know that there are no guarantees of success.

I fell in love. My acting classes gave me a sense of freedom and belonging that I’d never felt before outside of my home. I was able to connect with others in a safe and nurturing environment, and as I began to dive into character development, started asking myself the same personal questions I asked my characters: what was important to me and why, what I wanted and how to go about getting it. I declared theater as a second major and never looked back.

I’d been in church choirs and dance classes growing up, but never with a performance career in mind-that came in handy when I got more serious about it and picked up more dance classes and started working with a voice teacher. The love of singing is definitely in my blood…the late Gerald and Sean Le Vert of the soul group Le Vert, and their father Eddie Le Vert of the Grammy Hall of Fame R&B group, the O’Jays, are family who’ve inspired me. I started getting cast in college musicals and plays and in local shows as well.

The first big highlight of my career came when I was cast in Jelly’s Last Jam at the Mark Taper Forum, directed by the brilliant George C. Wolfe. That show still stands as one of the most incredible times I’d ever had onstage-and a show poster featuring me and three other principals is hanging on the wall of the Ahmanson right now, which is a pretty thrilling thing for a former shy kid! I auditioned for a cruise ship gig after doing that show and discovered how much I loved traveling. I got the chance to see and experience most of the world because I could sing and dance, and I’m so grateful for that. I learned firsthand that all us folks on this blue planet are truly more alike than we are different.

I lived and worked in Japan for two years, and while singing and dancing in many tours and productions in Europe, Asia, Australia and the United States, I faced my Thallasophobia (just learned that word today) and became a certified scuba diver, I’ve also zip-lined in the Costa Rican rainforest, sung in the Sydney Opera House, eaten scorpion in Singapore, kayaked with a school of dolphins in Hawaii, and shot grade 4 rapids in New Zealand.

After all my traveling, I decided to move back home in January 2018 to join the cast of Disneyland’s Frozen: Live at the Hyperion, and after getting through the pandemic, returned to join Disney’s history-making first all-black cast in the award-winning Tale of the Lion King show which is currently playing.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
My road started out pretty smoothly…I was a college student and fortunate enough to have a very supportive family. Jelly’s Last Jam was my first Equity show, and when I booked it, I was working in an advertising agency as a media buyer. My boss there offered me a promotion that was more money than I’d ever earned before-but he told me that I’d have to give up performing to do it. I went to my dad for advice-he’s a brilliant guy-a retired aerospace engineer and pilot who worked on Apollo 11 and our space shuttles (and received a Silver Snoopy!) who grew up in Alabama with 15 siblings at a time when you could see a black man hanging from a tree like it was nothing and as a kid, he did. He encouraged me to follow my heart and I took that advice. I’ve faced the ups and downs of not working, questioning whether I made the right choice to pursue this crazy life, and fought with feelings of self-doubt and inadequacy. The saying “compare and despair” is one that has helped me maintain my equilibrium while I continue to live my life and find joy and meaning in my every day.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m known for being a great storyteller and I’ve got some crazy ones! I’m a very curious person who is drawn to the outlandish and the unusual-that combo can get a person in trouble sometimes, but it you can survive the circumstance, there’s always an epic story to be had! I’m an actor and singer who is totally inspired and lifted up by the connection that can be created with a complete stranger in an audience. I am driven by that because when that happens, we are both fully present in that particular moment and we get to authentically share our humanity-what a profound thing!

I was taking a company bow with the cast of Frozen once when I looked out into the audience and saw this beautiful little black girl intently staring at me. Elsa and Anna are the big stars, but she totally ignored them to engage with me and I know why she did because I did the same thing when I was her age. That was when I saw The Wiz for the first time, and when I saw people who looked like me doing magical things onstage, the knowledge that I could be up there too felt like a lightning bolt wrapped in a promise. When I left the stage after that bow, I had to stop in the wings and let this out the giant sob that had been building in me from the moment I locked eyes with that little girl. That was a full-circle moment, and it was my turn to illustrate the possibility for that little girl. It was such an honor, and I’m very proud of that.

Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
I’ve traveled to over 60 countries and have visited every continent except for Antartica-such a gift!

I’m so proud of my family-my dad started out life dirt poor in a family of 18 and became a member of the Air Force, an aerospace hydraulics engineer in our space program, Silver Snoopy recipient, math tutor, highly skilled golfer, pilot, carpenter, electrician, mechanic, artist, musician and maker of some mean collard greens!

My mom started life in Belize, went to boarding school in New Orleans where she considered becoming a nun and became a brilliant pianist, the best mom and chose a second career as an RN-and my sisters are killing it in their respective careers. In addition to the O’Jays and Le Vert, my cousin Caris is tearing it up with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

I have a self-titled album out that is available on iTunes, Spotify and Amazon

Contact Info:

• Website: www.reginalevert.com
• Instagram: reginalevert
• Facebook: Regina LeVert