Tag: Norm Lewis

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Highlights From Broadway Backwards 2015

Broadway Backwards is the annual celebration where gays and lesbians see their stories told through the great songs of musical theatre, sung by their favorite Broadway performers.

The 2015 edition of the event, held March 9, raised a record $466,717 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center.

The sold-out show included 20 audience-pleasing numbers and multiple standing ovations for Tituss Burgess, Lena Hall, Florence Henderson, Norm Lewis, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Lillias White and more Broadway favorites, as well as a special appearance by 2014 Kennedy Center Honoree Lily Tomlin.

You can watch highlights of this year’s fantastic evening below.

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Norm Lewis is the next “Phantom” in Broadway’s PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

Excellent news that the fab Norm Lewis will be taking over the role of “the Phantom” in Broadway’s long running mega-hit PHANTOM OF THE OPERA.

The Tony Award nominee for PORGY AND BESS will be the first African-American to assume the role on Broadway (although Robert Guillaume sang the Phantom in the Los Angeles production in 1990).

And even more, his “Christine” will be Sierra Boggess who starred with Norm in the Broadway production of “The Little Mermaid.”

Sierra played “Christine” in the Las Vegas incarnation of the show and then went on to create the role in the sequel “Love Never Dies” in London.

From the New York Times:

“Having worked with Norm since the 90s, when he played John in ‘Miss Saigon’ on Broadway, and then Javert on Broadway in ‘Les Misérables’ in 2006,” Cameron Mackintosh, one of the show’s producers, said in a statement, “I couldn’t be more thrilled that he is now joining ‘Phantom,’ matched with Sierra – one of the finest Christines ever. It’s hard to imagine a more exciting pairing.”

Norm and Sierra begin performances on Broadway on May 12th.

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2012 Tony Awards Preview featuring Judith Light, Norm Lewis, Chris Gattelli and more

Listen to internet radio with CandiXRandy on Blog Talk Radio

Tune in to The Candi & Randy Show as we welcome some of this year’s celebrated Tony Award nominees as they discuss the process, success and joys of being a part of the 2011-2012 Broadway theatrical season.

We celebrate the best of Broadway this year by inviting Tony nominated directors, choreographers, actors and composers to talk about their work, nominations and their thoughts on the current Broadway season.

Our guests include Judith Light (Other Desert Cities), Kathleen Marshall (Nice Work If You Can Get It), Norm Lewis (The Gershwin’s Porgy & Bess), Chris Gattelli (Newsies), and Wayne Barker (Peter and the Starcatcher).

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Saturday Sun song: Norm Lewis – Go The Distance

Candi and I just interviewed my friend the fab, handsome, charming Norm Lewis who has been deservedly nominated for every award possible this season on Broadway for his performance as “Porgy” in The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess.  (By the way, today is his birthday!)

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love Norm.  I’m thinking good thoughts for him as the Drama Desk Awards are tomorrow and the Tony Awards are next Sunday.  As those of us who know him are aware, he’s really one of the great gifts on Broadway today.

Wanted to hear him sing a bit, so I chose this.  This song is from his solo CD This Is The Life.
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Promo video for new Broadway “Porgy and Bess”

The Gershwins’ PORGY AND BESS officially opened on Thursday, January 12th, 2012 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre (226 West 46th Street).

The cast is led by four-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald as ‘Bess,’ Drama Desk nominee Norm Lewis as ‘Porgy’ and two-time Tony nominee David Alan Grier as ‘Sporting Life.’

Audra is brilliant in everything she does – rave reviews all over the place.

And I always love me some Norm Lewis. Go see the show on Broadway.

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NY Times Review For ‘Porgy And Bess’ On Broadway

Poster for the 2012 revival of Porgy and Bess on Broadway
Poster for the 2012 revival of Porgy and Bess on Broadway
(photo via Flickr/rvc845 – CC License)

From the New York Times:

“The hurricane that’s said to be headed for Catfish Row has yet to arrive early in the second act of The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, which opened on Thursday night in a new, slimmed-down reincarnation at the Richard Rodgers Theater.

“The climate so far might be described as mostly cloudy and mild, as might this version of the show. But suddenly an elemental force takes possession of the stage, and its tremors course through the audience.”

“That’s the storm raging within a woman who’s tearing herself to pieces before our eyes, fighting with her infernal attraction to a man she knows she should be fleeing. For devastating theatrical impact, it’s hard to imagine any hurricane matching the tempest that is the extraordinary Audra McDonald’s Bess at the moment she is reunited with her former lover, Crown, played by Phillip Boykin. And no matter what they’re calling it these days — a musical, I believe — Porgy and Bess has suddenly risen to its natural heights as towering, emotion-saturated opera.”

“Mr. Norm Lewis, a Broadway veteran (“Sondheim by Sondheim,” “The Little Mermaid”), combines modesty and dignity as the crippled Porgy. His singing voice is supple and smooth, and his “I Got Plenty of Nothing” is rendered with a charming nonchalance.”

Read the entire review at NY Times.

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Porgy and Bess heading to Broadway

A revamped version of George Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess,” starring Audra McDonald, Norm Lewis and David Alan Grier, will go to Broadway soon after it completes its run, previously announced, at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Mass.

Producers announced on Wednesday that the show — which plays down its roots as an opera and features a reworked book by the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks and new arrangements by Diedre Murray — will open at the Richard Rodgers Theater on Jan. 12, with previews beginning on Dec. 17.

Diane Paulus, the artistic director at the A.R.T., will direct “Porgy and Bess.” Kicking off the company’s season, the show is slated to run from Aug. 17 to Oct. 2, with an opening night on Aug. 31.

The casting of Ms. McDonald as Bess, Mr. Lewis (“Sondheim on Sondheim”) as Porgy, Mr. Grier (“Race”) as Sportin’ Life, and Joshua Henry (“The Scottsboro Boys”) as Jake made clear this was unlikely to be just a short regional run. And the producers, Jeffrey Richards and Jerry Frankel, expressed optimism about Broadway after workshops and a developmental performance for investors in May.

Read more at NYtimes.com