Ben Levi Ross
Benjamin Levi Ross (born January 15, 1998) is an American stage actor and singer. He is best known for his work in the Tony Award winning musical "Dear Evan Hansen," where he played Evan, Connor and Jared (understudy) on Broadway and Evan in the national tour. Early life and education. Ross was born to a Jewish family on January 15, 1998, and grew up in Santa Monica, California. He attended Santa Monica High School, where he was active in his school's theater program. In 2016, he was named a Presidential Scholar of the Arts as part  of the 2016 U.S. Presidential Scholars Program. He was also a grand prize finalist for the 2016 Music Center Spotlight awards. Following high school, he attended Carnegie Mellon University for a year and a half. Career. At an audition for the play "The Low Road" at New York's Public Theater, Ross was noticed by "Dear Evan Hansen" director Michael Greif, who told Ross that he would be great as an understudy in the cast of "Dear Evan Hansen". Soon after, he joined "Dear Evan Hansen"s cast, and made his Broadway debut as the character Jared. Ross then spent ten  months understudying for the roles of Evan, Connor, and Jared. In 2018, he left the Broadway company and joined the first national tour of the show in the titular role. He left the production on September 15, 2019. From January 29 to February 3, 2020, Ross starred as Henry in the Kennedy Center's production of "Next to Normal". In 2021, Ross appeared in the film "Tick, Tick... Boom!" as Freddy. Personal life. Ross is openly gay and non-binary, using they/them and he/him pronouns. He has been in a relationship with Taylor Trensch, another former "Dear Evan  Hansen" actor, since December 2017.