If you think of a musical—any musical—Aaron Tveit has probably been center stage. He won a Tony for playing Christian in the stage adaptation of Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge!; he’s been Fiyero in Wicked, Frank Abagnale Jr. in Catch Me if You Can, and Sweeney Todd in, well, Sweeney Todd. To non-thespians, he’s perhaps best known as student revolutionary Enroljas (“Red—the blood of angry men!”) in the film adaptation of Les Misérables. Who better, then, to help revive Chess—a play that flopped in its 1988 Broadway debut—into a record breaker at the Imperial Theatre, in New York City, earning more than $2 million every week since opening last month. To celebrate, Tveit shares his key components to the good life. —Carolina de Armas
Airline: Delta. Every time. Always.
Airport: Honestly, La Guardia Airport—by far the easiest to navigate to and from Manhattan. Civilized.
Alibi: The truth.
App: This isn’t a plug, but chess.com!
Birthday: Ten years old. Playing flag football outside as late as possible.
Breakfast: Three eggs over medium, sourdough toast with avocado, and lots of salt.
Child: Sweet Child O’ Mine!
Cocktail: Mezcal mule. Mmmm. At sunset at a beach bar.
Cocktail appetizer: Castelvetrano olives.
Couple: Harry and Sally.
Date: 11/12.
Drive: Pacific Coast Highway in Oregon.
Enemy: I try my best to have none.
Escape: A great novel. Or a perfect iced Americano. Or 6:00 A.M. on a summer day on the first tee of a golf course.
Excuse: Since I have a child now, I always have one!
Flaw: People-pleasing.
Friend: Very fortunate to have a number of old, old friends. We can’t make new old ones.
Good-bye: A very difficult song I sang once in a musical (Catch Me if You Can).
Hideaway: Our apartment.
Hotel: Rosewood Kona Village—or any Rosewood.
Indulgence: See above.
Last Meal: A perfectly cooked rib eye with a heaping side of buttery mashed potatoes.
Movie: In a dark theater, with a tub of popcorn and a Coke Zero.
Novel: The Stormlight Archive series, by Brandon Sanderson.
Pair of shoes: Yes, please.
Pet: My main bud who changed my life, Miles.
Piece of advice: “Don’t be afraid to succeed.”
Restaurant: L’Artusi.
Singer: John Farnham—if I could only sound like that for a day.
Storm: Watching from the front porch as it rolls by on a hot summer evening.
Television series: Fargo.
Vacation: The sun. A beach. Good food. My wife.
Wake-up time: Ideally, 11:00 A.M. In reality, it’s 7:30 A.M.
Work of art: Something that can move you with a look, a listen, in an instant.
Aaron’s Essentials
