Principal pops conductor Jack Everly led the National Arts Centre orchestra through “Broadway’s Leading Men Prelude” to kick off Big Broadway on Oct. 3.
The 61 musicians passed along the mashup melody — comprised of Broadway songs sung by leading men — through strings and woodwinds, backed with lively percussion helming the rhythm. Their waves of sound echoed through the NAC’s Southam Hall, as Everly kept tempo with every fluid flick of his baton.
Oct. 3 was the beginning of the end for Everly’s tenure as the orchestra’s principal pops conductor, with the Big Broadway event being his last show in the role.
Joining him on stage before his final bow? Broadway and West End alumnus Norm Lewis, in his first Ottawa performance.
Lewis’s Big Broadway played at the NAC from Oct. 3 to 5. The concert soared through musical hits both obscure and contemporary, all delivered with Lewis’s charming smile and velvety baritone.
Specks of white light painted the blue-lit stage to replicate the night sky for “Stars” from Les Misérables. Lewis’s powerful belts channeled Inspector Javert, a character he knows well, having performed the role on Broadway and West End.
If “Stars” was the potent ballad of determination shrewd with temper, “Ya Got Trouble” from The Music Man was the sunny contrast. Lewis sauntered across the stage and comfortably maintained the patter song-esque rhythm, encouraging the audience to sing along with the orchestra’s jaunty articulations.
Lewis sprinkled humorous life stories throughout his performance, including one about his Broadway revival of George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess — a role that earned him a Tony Award nomination. With laughs and a sheepish disposition, he told the audience of a New York Times article about the revival that prompted Stephen Sondheim to send a letter to the editor, expressing his dismay for the production and its changes from the original opera.
The NAC orchestra and Lewis’s rendition of Porgy and Bess’s “I Got Plenty O’Nuttin” mixed musical styles for an experience both faithful to the original and showing glimmers of a contemporary twist.
Lewis also mentioned the names of stage actors who recently passed. Tony Award-winner Gavin Creel, who died unexpectedly on Sept. 30, drew mournful sighs from the crowd. Lewis’s voice was laced with sorrow as he sang “People” from Funny Girl with unshaking control.
Lewis returned donning a sparkling black blazer and sang “Waiting for Life” from Once On This Island, a song of finding purpose which Lewis performed with vigorous grit. To groovy percussion, Lewis’s voice smoothed for Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On?”
The stage gleamed with turquoise lighting to resemble the sea colours for “Poor, Unfortunate Souls” from The Little Mermaid, with the orchestra piloting the thrilling tune to Lewis’s singing which reached a higher range than his usual baritone with minimal falters.
Entirely flawless and a standout of the night — if not for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s instantly recognizable style, then simply for the NAC orchestra’s commanding control of the juggernaut score — selections from Phantom of the Opera started the tail-end of the show with a haunting thrill to every ringing brass and booming percussion.
Lewis sang “Music of the Night” with rich, roiling intonation and phrasing. Conveying both fragility and yearning, he seamlessly slipped into the show’s titular role, which he played in 2014, becoming the first Black man to star as the lead on Broadway.
To close off the night, Lewis called back to Sondheim with a few soft lines from “Anyone Can Whistle.” The orchestra then crept into a sneaking crescendo for Lewis to belt the last verses of “Being Alive” from Company.
Sondheim’s achingly vulnerable lyricism paired with Lewis’s chilling vocals left a lingering sense of appreciation — appreciation for talents like Lewis’s, and appreciation for the diverse and eclectic sounds of Broadway.
Featured image by Curtis Perry/National Arts Centre.
