By Marilyn Lester***It’s been a while since actor-singer extraordinaire Norm Lewis has appeared at 54 Below, and in recent years those turns have been around the Christmas/Holiday season. So with this triumphant return, aptly named Summertime, Lewis gave us the razzle-dazzle ’em in the best possible way (and he did sing that Kander 
and Ebb tune from Chicago midway through the show). Having just turned 61, as he disclosed, Lewis has a wealth of material to draw from in a career that Broadway-wise, began with an ensemble role in The Who’s Tommy in 1993—and then proceeded to rocket forward.
A consummate showman, Lewis’ presentation was a master class in many aspects of performing, particularly in audience engagement. Entering from the back of the room with “Don’t Rain on My Parade” (Jule Styne, Bob Merrill), he made his way to the stage meeting and greeting. And what made this entrance all the more spectacular is that not only is the number (written for Barbra Streisand and now arranged for a baritone) not easy to sing, Lewis made it seem completely easy and effortless.
Should anyone doubt the range and flexibility of his rich voice, he then flawlessly delivered another “diva” song, the Gershwin’s semi-operatic “Summertime” (Lewis played Porgy to Audra McDonald’s Bess in a 2012 mounting of Porgy and Bess). And later re-entered diva-land with “And I Am Telling You” (Henry Krieger, Tom Eyen) from Dreamgirls. By this time, two songs in, at his bidding, we were firmly hanging out, not in a cabaret venue but in Norm’s living room. While such an invitation might seem disingenuous from some, Lewis’ sincerity is real. Warm, energetic and sparkling with charisma, he wants us all to have fun, and he delivered on the promise.
Much of the success of his ability to entertain comes from a well-chosen set list and a truly interesting narrative, as when he set up seeing Pippin in college and being enthralled, hence “Corner of the Sky” (Stephen Schwartz). And herein lies a critic’s confession: once in a while, with some acts there’s an impulse to think, please stop talking and just sing. Far, far from that circumstance, the raconteur in Lewis is sublime. There was humor, as in when he donned a powdered wig and entered into the Hamilton Zone with “Right Hand 
Man/One Last Time” (Lin-Manuel Miranda). Having been offered the role of George Washington in the show (no audition necessary), he ultimately never played him; to this day, he, nor we, know why. For a very long time in theater history, Robert Preston and his role of Harold Hill in Meredith Wilson’s The Music Man had become one; for old-timers, that notion may still linger. But Lewis played the role at the Kennedy Center and in his delivery of the rap-adjacent “Trouble,” it was, Mr. Preston, please step aside.
Be it actors who sing or singers who act, those two skills inform each other; Lewis is thus a tremendous interpreter of lyric. Paying homage to the original El Gallo in The Fantasticks, the great Jerry Orbach, and a role he himself played in 2004, he offered a heartfelt “Try to Remember” (Harvey Schmidt, Tom Jones). From Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, Lewis, with prop razor in hand, sang a terrifying “My Friends.”
Each night of Summertime had a special guest. This presentation offered Olivia Hardy, whom Lewis first met as an aspiring 14-year old. 
A decade and a little over now, she sang, from The Wiz, a spirited “Be a Lion” (Charlie Smalls). Scouted by Richard Jay-Alexander, the canny director of the show, twins Matthew and John Drinkwater guested and presented a perfectly sly “You’re Nothing Without Me” (Cy Coleman, David Zippel).
Lewis made Broadway history in 2014 as the first Black Phantom in Phantom of the Opera. His “The Music of the Night” (Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Hart, Richard Stilgoe), in a special light, was atmospheric and majestic. With an homage to the late talent, Blossom Dearie, Lewis topped an inspiring and magical show encoring with a beautiful, soft ballad version of “Lucky to Be Me” (Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, Adolph Green).
At the piano was one of Broadway’s most talented music directors and pianists, Joseph Joubert. His complex, lush arrangements, which often reached orchestral proportions, exquisitely played, never overtook Lewis’ vocals, instead providing perfect support for every song. Adding to the splendid musical backing were Dylan Shamat (bass) and Perry Cavari (drums).
Photos by Maryann Lopinto
