THE FRIDAY SIX: Q&As with Your Favorite Broadway Stars- A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER's Jeff Kready

Welcome to THE FRIDAY SIX: Q&As with your favorite Broadway stars. Want to know what hooked them to a career in the theater? Their dream roles? Their Broadway crushes? Read on!

In this week's edition, we caught up with Jeff Kready who is starring in A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder- currently playing at the Walter Kerr Theatre.

What is the first Broadway show you ever saw?

My first trip to New York from Kansas was with my Dad during my freshman year of high school, and I got to see four shows. The first was ...FORUM starring Whoopi. I'll never forget that opening number when the curtain did a bounce and the whole set changed. It was magic. I sat in awe for two and a half hours and hoped the show would never end.

What is your most unique pre-show ritual?

The one thing I have to do before GENT'S GUIDE is say my court room lines three times fast. It's a sequence that goes very quickly in our show, and one day during tech it was my turn to go and I just looked out at the house and said, "I'm afraid I've forgotten my name." I hope very much to never have that happen in performance, thus, three times fast before every show.

What is your most memorable "the show must go on" moment?

There's a number in Billy Elliot called "Express Yourself," where, in the Broadway production, six giant dancing dresses came to life and tap danced. Those of us who were inside were strapped in pretty tight and operated these giant puppets with very little visibility. We were top heavy, and with tap shoes on a sometimes slick stage, if you slipped and fell, there was very little you could do. Like a turtle on its back. In rehearsal we just stopped the number and someone came on from the wings to lift the dress up and resume. We got better at figuring out how to right ourselves, but not until months into the run. One night shortly after opening, I'll never forget starting the number and watching over the course of the first 16 bars of the tap break as two of my fellow dresses went down hard. Unfortunately, it was every dress for herself- like a war movie I was thinking to myself, "JUST LEAVE THEM, NOTHING CAN BE DONE FOR THEM NOW, THEY'D WANT YOU TO KEEP GOING." And so we did the number that day with two of the six of us rolling around, flailing quite awkwardly, on the floor. Ah, the magic of Broadway.

What is the one role you want to play before you die?

'Chris' in MISS SAIGON. That was another show I saw on my first trip to NYC, and when it was over and the crowd was leaving, I remember being so overwhelmed I asked Dad if we could just sit for a while. I think we were the last patrons to exit the house. I have wanted to play 'Chris' ever since.

Who is your Broadway crush?

Nikki Renée Daniels. She is incredible. She can sing anything- any style from strait up classical to belt-your-face-off pop. And she's wicked hot. I've had a crush on her for years, long before we got married in 2009.

Where can people stalk you online?

jeffkready.com and @jk_ready