Tveit was a sophomore at Ithaca College in New York studying musical theatre in 2003 when he booked the role of Steve in the national tour of Rent. He also understudied the lead roles of Roger and Mark, and he'd go on to play Roger in a 2010 run of the show at the Hollywood Bowl. In 2012, thanks to all that experience, Tveit finally earned his college degree.

Hey, little darling! In 2005, Tveit headed out in the national tour of this musical in the role of Link Larkin, the heartthrob who captivates leading lady Tracy Turnblad. A year later, he made his Broadway debut as a replacement in the same role, showing off his pipes in the songs “It Takes Two” and “Without Love.” He played two stints in the role at the Neil Simon Theatre between 2006-08.

In January 2008 Tveit made his Off-Broadway debut with Second Stage Theater as Gabe, the idealized, haunting ghost of troubled Diana Goodman's son in the rock musical Next to Normal. Tveit earned his first Lucille Lortel Award nomination for the role, as well as a Helen Hayes Award and a Clarence Derwent Award for most promising newcomer. He reprised the role on Broadway in 2009.

Based on a 2004 movie of the same name, this satirical musical set at a Christian high school explores faith, identity, and acceptance. In the Playwrights Horizons run that began in May 2008, Tveit played Dean, a student whose coming out as gay leads to turns things upside down.

Tveit was “Dancing Through Life” in Wicked as carefree and captivating Fiyero, who matures through his love for the misunderstood Elphaba in the megahit musical prequel to The Wizard of Oz. He first played the part in a five-month stretch beginning in June 2008, and he returned to the role in early 2009.

Later, he put his own spin on the songs "Popular" and "Defying Gravity" for the musical's Out of Oz studio sessions.

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Leading the cast of this 2011 Broadway musical seen two years earlier in Seattle, Tveit starred as the real-life con artist Frank Abagnale Jr., who impersonates pilots, doctors, and lawyers while evading the FBI. The role runs on irresistible charm, and Tveit oozed it opposite Norbert Leo Butz (Broadway’s original Fiyero) as the agent chasing him.

Tveit played passionate revolutionary leader Enjolras in the 2012 film version of the beloved musical set in 19th-century France. He was in great company alongside fellow stars Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Oscar-winning Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, and Eddie Redmayne.

In November 2014, Tveit took his first shot at London's West End, making his debut as an “elegant and provocative” John Wilkes Booth, per The Standard, in a revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins at the Menier Chocolate Factory. The dark, satirical musical about the allure of infamy was directed by Jamie Lloyd (Sunset Boulevard, Waiting for Godot).

He's hopelessly devoted to nostalgia, leather, and slicked back 'dos. In Fox's 2016 live broadcast of the classic 1970s high school musical, Tveit starred as T-Bird Danny Zuko opposite Julianne Hough as new girl Sandy. He radiated cool confidence and heartfelt vulnerability in the role famously played by John Travolta in the 1978 film.

Tveit has delivered several standout performances at MCC Theater’s Miscast, an annual benefit gala where actors sing roles they’d never traditionally play. Highlights include the duets “Take Me or Leave Me” from Rent and "In His Eyes" from Jekyll & Hyde with Gavin Creel, “Mein Herr” from Cabaret, and a soulful take on “I Know Him So Well” from Chess (in which he stars in 2025) to honor Creel after his untimely death in 2024.

In 2017, Tveit returned to Barrington Stage Company, 10 years after starring in Calvin Berger at the venue in the Berkshires, and starred in Stephen Sondheim’s musical about love, commitment, and loneliness. He played Bobby, a 35-year-old single man reflecting on his relationships with his married friends. The Berkshire Fine Arts review hailed him as “a truly charismatic, charming, sexy and all around fabulous Bobby.”

In this 2019 jukebox musical based on the hit movie, Tveit starred as Christian, a penniless writer in 1890s Paris who falls for cabaret star Satine. Within the show packed with romance, tragedy, and pop hits, Tveit made a memorable — and internet-viral — impression with the aching Act 2 showstopper "El Tango de Roxanne."

“Tveit has never been better or in more glorious voice,” declared The Hollywood Reporter's critic. Tveit took home the 2020 Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical, and he's returned to the role twice since.

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In season one in 2021 of this musical comedy series that pays homage to Broadway’s Golden Age, Tveit played Danny Bailey, a carnival barker inspired by Carousel's Billy Bigelow. He returned in season 2, titled Schmicago! and inspired by '60s and '70s musicals, as Topher, a free-spirited hippie leader modeled after characters from Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar. He was schwonderful as each.

Tveit was back on Broadway from February to May 2024 in Sondheim's dark, operatic musical as the London barber who exacts fatal revenge after being wronged by a corrupt judge. His Sweeney Todd got a helping hand from the loopy pie baker Mrs. Lovett, played by Sutton Foster.

Tveit’s latest Broadway gig at the Imperial Theatre marks the first Broadway revival of Chess, which premiered at the same venue in 1988. Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening, Funny Girl) directs the pop- and opera-infused show about two chess champions — one American (Tveit), the other Soviet (Nicholas Christopher) — and a woman (Lea Michele) who's a key player in both their lives.

Listen below to Tveit’s performance of the hit song “One Night in Bangkok” before watching him perform it live.

Check back for information on Chess tickets on New York Theatre Guide.