Before Venice concert, Broadway star Norm Lewis talks ‘Phantom’ and ‘A Soldier’s Play’

Audiences have discovered Norm Lewis in different aspects of his career. Many know him from his extensive range of Broadway musical roles in such shows as “The Little Mermaid,” “Les Miserables,” “Sondheim on Sondheim” and “Miss Saigon,” or the live TV version of “Jesus Christ Superstar.” In 2018, he joined Laura Osnes for a Sarasota Orchestra Pops concert celebrating Broadway.

Others discovered him through TV and film roles, including “Law & Order,” “Chicago Med,” “The Blacklist” and, perhaps most prominently, as Senator Edison Davis on “Scandal.”

But he may have gotten the most attention for being the first Black actor to perform the title role in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera,” which is scheduled to close in April after a record-breaking 35-year run.

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Lewis, who grew up in Eatonville, outside Orlando, took a break from performing in the national tour of Charles Fuller’s “A Soldier’s Play” to talk about the concert he will perform at 7:30 p.m. Sunday for Venice Theatre at the Venice Performing Arts Center, 1 Indian Way, Venice. Tickets are $64. Call 941-488-1115 or got to venicetheatre.org for more details.

With such a diverse background, can you easily tell what people know you from?

“I would say in a lot of cases, being on tour now and being in rural areas, I’ll go into a Starbucks and someone will say, ‘I know you. I know you from somewhere.’ It’s usually from ‘Scandal’ or someone will say, ‘You played Javert and I saw you on PBS.' In the musical theater world, I am a little bit more known. People recognize me if they are part of that world or a student or someone who performs."

Most of your stage roles have been musicals. What has it been like doing a drama like ‘A Soldier’s Play?”

“This play is amazing. Most of the stage work has been musicals. I did ‘Chicken & Biscuits’ in 2021. (The play is now running at Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota). It didn’t last long but was a wonderful experience and this is only the second play ever as far as a professional. I never saw the play on stage. I only saw the movie (“A Soldier’s Story”) and it has been eye-opening diving deep into this play. Charles Fuller’s work, God rest his soul, is just brilliant. I call this the legacy tour.”

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With so much diversity in your background, how do you put together a concert like the one you’ll be doing in Venice?

“I definitely have to do Norm’s greatest hits. I have to do the ’Porgy and Besses’ and ‘Phantom’ and ‘Les Miz’ stuff, and then some surprises. I come up with other songs that have impacted me throughout my life, or songs I’ve newly discovered.”

Like what?

Well, ‘Be Aware,” which Burt Bacharach wrote. Not a lot of people know about it. Dionne Warwick recorded it and I think Barbra Streisand did. It’s a song about social consciousness and a nice tribute to someone who has made an indelible impression on the world.

What kind of impact did your casting in ‘Phantom’ have?

“First it was a dream. I had been coveting that role for about 20 years or so. I never saw him in person, but I did see him on tape, Robert Guillaume, who was the first Black Phantom, but he did it in Los Angeles and I stand on his shoulders. I wanted to do it on Broadway and when they gave me that opportunity, it fulfilled a dream. It generated a lot of attention but it was more than the attention. I met people from different backgrounds and countries and cultures, who now felt they could be part of that dream to play the Phantom or Christine. Since then, there have been two other Black Phantoms that did the national tour, and right now there is a Black Christine. There was an Asian Christine and a BIPOC Raoul, and someone of East Indian descent is playing one of the managers. Diversity has been widespread.”

And now the show is about to close…

“It’s definitely sad. I mean it had a 35-year run, so it had a great legacy and we’ll have to see what is next, what will be the longest-running show on Broadway after. It employed people for so many years and been a staple in musical theater world for so long, and now it’s time to move on.”

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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Q&A with Broadway star Norm Lewis about Phantom and Venice Concert