You had to be there.
You had to be at the Mayo Performing Arts Center’s 30th opening night to savor Norm Lewis’ thoroughly captivating performance.
For me, Friday was a wonderful surprise — and a reminder of the surprises MPAC has been serving consistently, right in our backyard, for three decades.
Norm Lewis should not have been an eye-opener.
The man is everywhere : Broadway (its first African American Phantom in Phantom of the Opera; Les Misérables, The Little Mermaid), movies (Da 5 Bloods, The Good Mother), TV series (Daytime Divas, Scandal), PBS (Showboat, Norm Lewis: Who Am I?)
MPAC patched this cavernous hole in my radar screen, as it has done so many times before.
This stage opened my eyes and ears to Brandi Carlile. And to the showmanship of Peter (Herman) Noone, and the flair of Alanis Morissette.
Legends have taken curtain calls: Ringo Starr, Tony Bennett, Ray Charles, Judy Collins, Joan Baez, Willie Nelson, Justin Hayward; Elvis Costello; C,S and N from CSN&Y; and three quarters of the Monkees, to name a few.
Every September, season openers bring Broadway to South Street. If you see only one MPAC show each year, this is the one.
Kristin Chenoweth, Bernadette Peters, Linda Eder, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Sutton Foster, Mandy Gonzalez and Javier Muñoz, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Kelli O’Hara… they have dazzled, charmed, and entertained. Star power is awesome to behold, and these A-listers did not disappoint.
Which brings us back to Norm Lewis.
Gregarious, playful, upbeat, the 61-year-old Florida native insisted Friday was an evening in his living room, not a concert. He appeared to enjoy himself, treating his guests to vocals of extraordinary range and depth.
I must confess, too many covers of The Music of the Night from Phantom have relegated this classic to my fast-forward list.
But a hush gripped the 1,300-seat Morristown living room as Lewis, deftly backed by pianist Joseph Joubert, soared in lusty baritone majesty and landed in a whisper of longing and vulnerabilty. It brought chills. When the room recovered, Lewis’ guests rose as one to acknowledge his mastery.
He got the same reaction to Bring Him Home from Les Mis, proving that this Javert could have been a pretty convincing Jean Valjean, too.
The setlist included Stars, also from Les Mis; Barbra Streisand standards Don’t Rain on My Parade (Funny Girl) and Starting Here, Starting Now; Corner of the Sky (Pippin); and I’ve Gotta Be Me, the Sammy Davis Jr. hit originally sung on Broadway by Steve Lawrence in Golden Rainbow.
Lewis also sang Poor Unfortunate Souls from The Little Mermaid (Lewis appeared “half naked” as King Triton on Broadway); I Am Telling You, from Dreamgirls (Off-Broadway, fully clothed, with Jennifer Holliday); Waiting for Life, from Once on this Island; and, for his encore, Lucky to be Me (On the Town).
Bassist Dylan Shamat and drummer Perry Cavari rounded out the smart three-piece band. Lewis made sure the musicians got their due, and he thanked the stage crew by name, a nice gesture.
There were flashes of humor. Lewis laughed at himself for forgetting the opening of Try to Remember. Or was the joke on us? Either way, he recovered to deliver a poignant take on the show-stopper from The Fantastiks.
After instructing the crowd to sit up straight and take a deep breath, Lewis deadpanned: “Tell the world Norm Lewis had me on the edge of my seat and took my breath away!”
Recounting the honor he felt as Broadway’s first African American Phantom, Lewis pondered aloud for a moment before cracking: “It was a Black job.”
The sly reference to a controversial campaign comment by Donald Trump got a big laugh. “Please vote, please vote,” were Lewis’ last words on that subject.
Beaming teens from MPAC’s Performing Arts Company held their own onstage with Lewis on Ya Got Trouble from The Music Man and Seasons of Love from Rent. Fourteen-year old Kayla Colchamiro hit the stratosphere on the latter tune.
The next 30 years promise more highs, thanks to an expansion set to unfold in coming months, CEO Allison Larena said in opening remarks.
A five-story addition behind the theater will include more studios for educational programs, and greater storage to accommodate touring shows and lavish musicals like MPAC’s annual community productions, which have ranged from West Side Story to Beauty and the Beast.
Larena quoted the late, great New Jersey historian John Cunningham about the Kirov Orchestra’s pivotal September 1994 concert, at what was then known as the Community Theatre.
That event turbo-charged the turnaround of the crumbling 1937 movie house, rescued by grass-roots volunteers and local philanthropists.
Today, Larena said, MPAC presents more than 200 shows and generates $18 million for the area’s economy.
Proclaiming September “Mayo Performing Arts Center Month,” Mayor Tim Dougherty called MPAC a catalyst for a renaissance that has catapulted Morristown onto numerous “Best Of” rankings.
Which is where Norm Lewis’ 30th anniversary season opener surely belongs.
You had to be there.
