Grayson Levee

Microphone in hand, sophomore Grayson Levee records his voice for his next song. Levee has put together seven different orchestral covers, his longest longest piece is a “Star Wars” tribute titled “The Force” lasting 7 minutes and 15 seconds. “During the school week, I don’t compose very much due to homework and other after school activities, but I would say I spend two to three hours each weekend working on composing mainly orchestral pieces, although sometimes I enjoy simplicity, so I write a piano piece,” Levee said.

Silence fills the PAC, followed by anticipation. The first few notes echo behind closed curtains, steadily getting faster and faster. The curtains slowly open revealing the master behind the melody, sophomore Grayson Levee center stage, piano at his fingertips. Performing at CPT’s talent show last April with his rendition of “Rush E,” Levee makes it undoubtedly clear that the spotlight is all his.

From theater to PNG, and even music composition, Levee has a knack for performing in front of an audience. Theater student by day, composer by night, Levee said he has composed five full original orchestral pieces with two more in the works over the span of two years. He said his longest piece is a “Star Wars” tribute titled “The Force” lasting 7 minutes and 15 seconds.

“Composing music is something that I love to do and can spend hours on a day,” Levee said. “During the school week, I don’t compose very much due to homework and other after school activities, but I would say I spend two to three hours each weekend working on composing mainly orchestral pieces, although sometimes I enjoy simplicity, so I write a piano piece.”

Broadcast teacher Anthony Garcia said Levee came to the Cedar Park Tonight tryouts last spring as a quiet kid who said he wanted to play piano. They didn’t have a piano, but encouraged Levee to go home and record himself and send in the video to be considered for a spot on the show. 

“He sent us a video that night and it was really impressive,” Garcia said. “So we definitely were happy to have him as part of the show.”

On April 27, Levee performed onstage in the PAC with his cover of “Rush E” on piano. 

“It was definitely pretty nerve wracking,” Levee said. “Fortunately, I did have some stage experience prior, so I’ve never really been nervous in front of an audience. But playing that piece specifically, you know, I never really perfected it. There were still so many things that I was nervous about and that I could mess up at any moment. Luckily, I pulled through and was able to get a pretty decent performance.” 

Levee’s stage experience comes from a long four years of experience in theater, starting his first two with only a couple of shows. He said he wasn’t always that interested in the theater department until he took his first steps towards the big stage in sixth grade.

“My mom was a theater person and she did a bunch of shows and I’d seen them, though I never really had any interest in it until I took a theater class for half a semester,” Levee said. “And I really just I loved being able to, you know, not even be on stage, but just be able to express, you know, the art.” 

Levee’s first few steps in the theater department came in advanced theatre in seventh and eighth grade. 

“I was the lead role in Newsies my eighth grade year, which was very, very fun and I’m glad I got the experience,” Levee said. “I haven’t done any shows this year or last year, but I will be doing ‘Grease’ this spring. We haven’t really started talking or even thinking about ‘Grease’ yet, but when we do, looking at different stage performances of the show will be my go to.”

Although Levee hasn’t been seen on the big stage just yet, he has indeed made a couple appearances in PNG. PNG, or “penguin national guard”, is a small student run improv group that Levee is involved in. So far, he’s been involved in two live showings of PNG in the black box.

“I just joined PNG this school year,” Levee said. “But I’m very excited for our future shows, and to be able to collaborate with some amazing people.”

Levee said he already has big plans for the future with theatre and CPT, as well as music, which he posts on his Instagram, @graysonplayskeys from time to time. Garcia said is looking forward to his next performance.

“I think everybody would love to have him back,” Garcia said. “He did a great job and I think having him bring his talents back and see if he can one up himself will be cool and then see who else might want to be getting involved to show what their own talents will be.”