Norm Lewis

Broadway and Beyond

54 Below, NYC, June 14, 2026

Reviewed by Alix Cohen

Norm Lewis is a fine actor. He also has a protean vocal instrument. Even together, these wouldn’t adequately reflect a performance ruled by an unabashed desire to connect. Lewis leaned out, locked eyes, took hands; tonight he danced with two women. This appealing artist could teach engagement.

Unlike most performers, he also welcomed audience participation. On a good night, this means an occasional call-out, clapping in time, or finishing a verse. On a night during which he’s less centered, it leads to multiple conversations.

Lewis launched into “Dancing in the Street” (Marvin Gaye/William Stevenson/Ivy Jo Hunter) from the bar as he capered his way through the club; he was a harbinger of cheer. “Come Dance with Me” (Jimmy Van Heusen/Sammy Cahn) added a warm, rakish element. A mid-tempo swing for “I Could’ve Danced All Night” (Alan Jay Lerner/Frederick Loewe) was happy without emerging romantic.

“I got into musical theater late in life from Eatonville, Florida” preceded an extended parentheses on that state with audience members who come from or have relatives living there. Lewis seemed to be marking time.

One of the artist’s early exposures to a musical was the Lesley Ann Warren television version of Cinderella. He said, “I wanted to be the prince,” which was believable and rather sweet. With “Ten Minutes Ago” (Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein II), he seemed suddenly bashful and excited. “I may never come down to earth again,” sang the audience, spontaneously filling in.

Guest Dez Deron, currently appearing in Broadway’s Maybe Happy Ending, offered Burt Bacharach/Hal David’s “Alfie.” He has an attractive, well-controlled voice, but like many theater actors venturing into cabaret, he never looked at the audience. (This young man could learn from his host.) There was no depth to the lyric, no pathos.

Lewis returned to the stage and said, “Y’all there’s a lot happening now—emotionally, politically, socially. I wake up pretty much every day kinda anxious. This 1960s song resonates.” “What’s Goin’ On?” (Gaye/Renaldo ‘Obie’ Benson/Al Cleveland) arrived with somber attention. His eyebrows moved to a point. Lewis paced as he repeated the tag line. He was pastorly. “I got a little emotional there, sorry.” What?! But that’s precisely what we wanted, what we anticipated from you! Bring it on!

“If I Ruled the World” (Cyril Ornadel/Leslie Bricusse) was unusually moving. As with “What’s Going On,” it sounded personal. “Stars” (Claude-Michel Schönberg/Alain Boublil—original French lyrics; English lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer; from Les Misérables) was an invocation: “Mine is the way of the Lord/Those who follow the path of the righteous/Shall have their reward.” We felt for him.

Citing crooners he admires, Lewis performed an intoxicating, fragile rendition of “A House Is Not a Home.” (Bacharach/David). He turned on a stool, but for the first time this evening, internalized. Perhaps because the rest of the show and his signature style was kinship, instead of alienating us, it engendered sympathy.

“The Music of the Night” (Andrew Lloyd Webber/Charles Hart from The Phantom of the Opera)—partly whispered, partly soared to an unexpected tenor—evoked pain as much as seduction. Long notes sounded like mourning carried on the wind. “The Greatest Love of All” (Michael Masser/Linda Creed) was soulful and heartfelt.

Lewis was backed by MD/pianist Alvin Hough with Dylan Shamat on bass and Perry Cavari on drums. The show was directed by Richard Jay-Alexander.