He has appeared on Broadway and in London's West End, film, television, recordings and regional theatre.

[3] Lewis was the second African-American actor after Robert Guillaume to perform in the title role in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera and the first one to do so in the Broadway production.

[6][7][8] Some other major theatrical productions that he has been involved in include Porgy and Bess, The Little Mermaid, Miss Saigon, and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

[14] In 2005, Lewis starred in the Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park revival of a musical version of Two Gentlemen of Verona.

Lewis again reprised the role opposite Hugh Panaro as Valjean in The Muny, St. Louis production from July 15–21, 2013.

This American Repertory Theater production was "re-imagined by Suzan-Lori Parks and Diedre Murray as a musical for contemporary audiences.

In 2012, Lewis joined the cast of the ABC political thriller television series Scandal, in the role of Senator Edison Davis.

[29][30] He is an investor in the company Lolly Clothing, which was created by his good friend and fellow Broadway actor Chad Kimball.

The concert was directed by John Doyle and also featured Bernadette Peters, Jeremy Jordan, and Cyrille Aimée.

Being succeeded by actor James Barbour, Lewis remarked that he had been a fan of the musical for many years and felt that obtaining the part finally had been akin to winning the lottery.

[36] In 2016, Lewis reprised his role of King Triton for a live Hollywood Bowl concert production of The Little Mermaid.

[38] Lewis portrayed Caiaphas in the live televised concert production of Jesus Christ Superstar on April 1, 2018, Easter Sunday.

In February 2019, Lewis played Harold Hill in the Kennedy Center production of The Music Man.