Norm Lewis

‘Believe in Something, and Believe in Yourself’

Matthew Murphy

Tby Gaye Jeffers The Saturday afternoon keynote had the feel of a family reunion, marking both the return of an in-person SETC Convention and the return of

Norm Lewis (he/him), a 2013 convention keynote speaker and the 2022 winner of SETC’s Distinguished Career Award. Fresh from a March 4 show at Carnegie Hall, “One Night Only: An Evening with

Norm Lewis,” the Tony, Emmy, Grammy and Screen

Actors Guild (SAG) Award nominee drew a large audience at the convention in Memphis, TN. Lewis entered the ballroom with a cup of coffee in one hand and a welcoming dose of positivity in the other. Longtime friend Pat Gagliano, chair of the Department of Arts and Communications at

Newberry College, introduced Lewis with playful banter and genuine glee. We could feel their friendship – even from behind our masks. Celebrated for Broadway appearances in The

Gershwins’ Porgy & Bess, The Little Mermaid, Les

Misérables, Chicago, The Wild Party, Miss Saigon, The

Who’s Tommy, The Phantom of the Opera and Chicken & Biscuits, Lewis made history as the first African

American Phantom on Broadway. Lewis was busy during the COVID-19 pause, continuing his acting career in television and film. Working with director Spike Lee in the 2020 film Da 5 Bloods, Lewis added to his list of film and television credits, which include Pose, Women of the Movement, Scandal and

Law & Order. In support of Black Lives Matter, Lewis joined other African American theatre artists in founding

Black Theatre United in June 2020 to implement change in equity, diversity and inclusion. Black

Theatre United is a call to action and activism. The group created a manifesto for Broadway theatres, the

New Deal, that focuses on policies to effect change in empowerment, justice, accessibility and belonging for the theatrical industry. Lewis marked the reopening of Broadway theatres in 2021 with his portrayal of the Rev. Reginald Mabry in Chicken & Biscuits. He is slated to begin the national tour of Roundabout Theatre Company’s Tony Awardwinning production of A Soldier’s Play in the role of

Captain Richard Davenport in December 2022. Welcoming questions from the audience, Gagliano moderated a conversation that was insightful, inspiring and introspective. Both in the keynote conversation and in an email interview with Southern Theatre,

Friedman-Abeles ©The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

Lewis openly shared his thoughts on acting, advocacy and self-respect – and promoted the importance of living a creative life with joy and action. Below are highlights of those conversations. u What has changed the most for you

since your last visit to SETC in 2013?

Besides becoming older, I’ve been blessed to do more work in the TV and film world. u In the big picture, do you think we are

seeing a change in terms of actors being able to more fluidly shift from musical theatre to plays, to TV and to film?

Yes, I think that casting directors, producers and directors are finally understanding that you can’t put performers in a box. There are so many people that have skills that can translate from one genre to the next (TV, film, stage and music). u Chicken & Biscuits was a groundbreaking

production (one of eight plays by Black playwrights scheduled on Broadway in the same season). It was your first time to perform in a Broadway play – not a musical.

Yes, I was asked by the writer, Douglas Lyons, if I would be a part of his play and after reading the material, it was a no-brainer for me. It is so beautifully written and unfortunately didn’t have the backing that it needed to be fully realized. The show will have a life, though, on tour and regionally.

Norm Lewis (second from right) portrays the Rev. Reginald Mabry in Chicken & Biscuits by Douglas Lyons on Broadway in fall 2021.

Opposite page:

Norm Lewis is the Phantom and Sierra Boggess is Christine in The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. Lewis became the first African American to portray the Phantom on Broadway when he assumed the role in 2014.

u Did this change your creative

process?

As far as my “creative process,” it was the same as if I were in a musical. I always rely on the text for answers. I do my research on some of the key elements of the characters, like what do they do for a living, where are they originally from, things like that. But for the most part, the answers that I need for character development and intention of scenes lie within the text, and I also feed off of my fellow actors. u Did you pull from your personal

background for the play?

Literally, my preparation for Reverend Mabry was just imitating and emulating my grandfather and also the pastor that I grew up with. I have a very rich history within the church. u Chicken & Biscuits has been

called a “quiet revolution.” What did it mean to you?

Well, people had a preconceived idea of what the show was about, based on the title, and it being an all/mostly Black cast. There are archetypes and stereotypes that people expect or expected. This show had some of those aspects, but then you were taken on a journey you didn‘t know you were going on. So many people of different backgrounds and cultures came up to us after the show and said, “OMG, I related to this story so much,” or “I have someone in my family that acts just like that,” on and on and on, more relatable stories. u Can you share your path as a

performer? How did you begin?

I didn’t know I could sing. I sang in choir in high school and in church, and that was kind of like a rite of passage. A lot of you probably have heard this story before, but my dad was chairman of the deacon board. My grandfather was a preacher, so I kind of followed what my friends did, and I went up there and made a joyful noise at the age of nine. It wasn’t so joyful, but that was the start of my singing, and then I moved on. I played tennis growing up. In the 11th grade, my dream was to be a professional tennis player. But I was decent, not great. … When I had to have another elective to graduate, I chose to join the choir. And that was where my “aha” moment happened. I started hearing songs from the Broadway world and the classical world, and it was like, “I got to do this, I got to do this.” u What does community mean to

you in 2022?

Community is looking out for one another, supporting one another, rallying around one another, and I feel the theatrical community does that very well. We all know how hard it is to do what we do eight times a week for little money. You can make a living in this industry, but you can’t become rich. But I feel the passion and the drive to do great work connects us in a way that is unexplainable. You just know and feel it. (Continued on Page 12)

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Noah Taylor

Norm Lewis (left) is interviewed by his former Lake City Community College classmate Pat Gagliano during his keynote at the 2022 SETC Convention in Memphis, TN.

NORM LEWIS: Bio and Career Highlights

EDUCATION:

Associate Degree, Lake City Community College (now Florida Gateway College), Lake City, FL

SELECTED BROADWAY CREDITS:

The Phantom of the Opera (Phantom); The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess (Porgy); Les Misérables (Javert); The Little Mermaid (King Triton); Once on This Island (Agwe); Chicago (Billy Flynn); Miss Saigon (John); Side Show (Jake); The Wild Party (Eddie); Chicken & Biscuits (Reginald Mabry); The Who’s Tommy (Specialist); A New Brain (Roger Delli-Bovi); Dessa Rose (Nathan); Amour (Painter); Show Boat (Joe)

FILM CREDITS:

Da 5 Bloods (Eddie); Magnum Opus (Charlie Lutwidge); Sex and the City 2 (Reginald); Christmas in Tune (Duke); Winter’s Tale (Custodian); Preaching to the Choir (Reverend Tucker)

SELECTED TELEVISION CREDITS:

Women of the Movement (Roy Wilkins); Scandal (Senator Edison Davis); Jesus Christ Superstar (Caiaphas); Pose (Pastor Vernon Jackson); Law & Order (Henry King); Blue Bloods (James Campbell); She’s Gotta Have It (Don Swan); Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Rumbleshanks); Mrs. America (Ron Dellums); The Blacklist (J.P. Laskin); Gotham (Deputy Mayor Harrison Kane); Chicago Med (Bobby); Bull (Medical Examiner Henson); Hustling (Senator Bailey); All My Children (Keith McLean)

AWARD NOMINATIONS:

The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, nominated for: Tony Award, Best Actor in a Musical; Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Actor in a Musical; Drama League Award, Distinguished Performance; Outer Critics Circle Award, Outstanding Actor in a Musical; Grammy Award, Best Musical Theatre Album

Show Boat, nominated for: Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical

Jesus Christ Superstar, nominated for: Grammy Award, Best Musical Theatre Album

More Info: normlewis.com

(Continued from Page 10)

u What was the impetus for the

creation of Black Theatre United?

Black Theatre United (BTU) came out of a need to express ourselves with all of the killings that were happening in 2020. COVID made all of us stop. Then you saw killing after killing of Black people on television, and especially after George Floyd was brutally murdered right in front of our eyes, we knew we had to say something. LaChanze and Audra McDonald called a Zoom meeting with some of the “veterans” of this industry, and we talked for hours about our feelings. Also, a lot of the younger performers were reaching out to us, asking, “What is happening? We need to say something!” Hearing this and understanding that we needed to express ourselves, BTU was formed in order to make change. Not only on stage, but behind the scenes. Stagehands, administration, casting, marketing, creatives, etc. There needs to be more diversity and equity and inclusion. We didn’t want to just have social media memes or quotes. We wanted to be a part of making legislative, administrative, executive and educational changes. And that is all a part of BTU’s mission.

Just think of this: Before this organization started, there was only one sound engineer [on Broadway] that was Black and was a female. One. And then backstage, I can count the number of shows I’ve been in and have seen one or two guys backstage who [were] African American. So, we wanted to just kind of get that conversation going. We brought people together … and we came up with what we call the New Deal. u What is the “New Deal”? The New Deal is a culmination of conversations that were had at a summit that BTU sponsored last year. We had several committees that spoke with theatre owners, producers, union leaders and creatives and, with the help of a diversity professional, we created language that mostly everyone agreed upon to move forward with creating a more inclusive environment within the industry. Things that are normally taken for granted were brought to the table and discussed, and an agreement was made to hold each one of us accountable. Now, was everything agreed upon by everybody? No, but the conversation is being had and will continue. And that is the most important thing. The conversation is being had, where before it wasn’t. u What goals/shifts do you hope

will build a more inclusive America where all stories can be told and all voices heard?

I feel the main goal is to reach the children. Helping them to understand what equity and inclusion means at an early age. Respecting different cultures and learning from them, and supporting others who are different than they are. But at the same time helping them realize that, in the end, we are all the same. I think that by doing that early on, it will help make it a normal thing.

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University of North Carolina at Charlotte

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Michael J. Lutch

Norm Lewis (right) was nominated for a Tony Award for his portrayal of Porgy in The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess on Broadway in 2012.

There have been so many people I have spoken with that didn’t realize or were unaware of certain systemic behaviors or incidences Black people or people of color face on a daily basis, and now they want to understand and become more aware to help change that within our industry and also society as a whole.

I feel this conversation is encouraging more people to create and promote more diverse stories because now there seem to be more possibilities for those stories to be heard. u How can we be involved? Be more proactive in hiring. Not only for the stage but beyond the stage. Administratively, creating more space for board members. Market to platforms where the people are: radio, churches, Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs, schools in different neighborhoods. u How can we change the status

quo?

The status quo can be changed by changing yourself. Step outside of the box. There are so many stories out there that just need the chance to be heard. People who have skills that just need the chance to show them. Situations where mentorships and scholarships can be offered and applied. HBCUs [Historically Black Colleges and Universities] that have programs that need to be explored. u How can young brothers and

sisters get involved in changing the look of theatre?

Great question. Go to Blacktheatreunited. com. That’s one thing. But there are other organizations out there. The Broadway Advocacy Coalition. The Black Theatre Coalition. Just try to get involved with whatever there might be at your school – a Black student union, or some friends just getting together and just uplifting each other. And that’s the main thing – supporting each other, uplifting each other, and knowing that everything’s going to be all right, and you have support from people like us. u The last time you were here in

2013, a student asked you about your dream role. You said it would be really cool to have an African American actor play Phantom on Broadway. And a year later you were starring with Sierra Boggess in The Phantom of the Opera.

Yes … going into the show, I think I was probably the first baritone they ever hired. And at that time, the show had been running for like 24 years or so. And knowing that, knowing that everybody knows

every note, every word, I wanted to be as on point as I could eight times a week, and so I was a monk. I wouldn’t speak during the day. And then I would burst out at 8:00 at night, just so I could be that person to have the voice that people were looking for. … I brought my own little style to it, but it’s one of those shows that you want to be on point with. u When you play roles that are

well-known, like Phantom or Javert in Les Misérables, do you have a mindset or process to make the character your own?

I try to go to the text. … The text will give you everything, really. It’s about engaging. … It’s not about you being grand. John Caird, who directed [Les Miz] originally and for us in New York, said when you look out in the audience, look for somebody. And when you have a thought, sing to them … so it’s about the relationship you’re trying to create with the audience and with the person that’s on stage [with you].

I just dive deep into the text, even if it’s a song, and I’ll break it down because sometimes in a song, you’re limited by the musicality and the music and the rhymes and all that stuff. But if you just break it down as a monologue, you’ll find the answer, and that’s the only thing I can really say. … I just try to find it within the text. u What was it like working

opposite Audra McDonald in The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess?

Audra McDonald … she took me to the White House. She was good friends with the Obamas … and they used to have a party at the White House around January or so. And [Audra] would take her husband, and they would have a good old time. Well, her husband was working and he couldn’t go, so she called me and said, “Hey, how would you like to go to the White House?” And I’m like, “Are you serious?” We had to go through security … two different lines. And Bruce Springsteen was right in front of me … and then [I thought], “Who am I? Like, what am I doing here?” But I walk upstairs … and I turned the corner, and it was Bradley Cooper talking to Paul McCartney! I stayed as long as I could … till 4:30 in the morning. … I was tired and, all of a sudden, as soon as I was walking down the stairs, I hear music – you know, like in a circle dance. It was Janelle Monáe and Usher having a danceoff. And I’m like, “I’m going back upstairs.” Yeah. So, that’s my story. u What was it like working with

Spike Lee and Chadwick Boseman on Da 5 Bloods?

We all just got along really well. And I’m honored to be a part of that film. For me, one of the main reasons was telling a story that’s never been told before about Black soldiers in Vietnam. And I didn’t know this until I did the film, but African Americans made up at the time 11% of the [population] of the United States. But in Vietnam, Black men were 33% of the Army. So, it was really interesting getting that perspective. And also I got to work with great actors. [Da 5 Bloods] was Chadwick Boseman’s second to last film. … I was honored working with such a great actor … and to work with someone of that caliber. And to feel like I belonged in the room. And so, even though he’s much younger than me, he [Boseman] has such a great presence and so, yeah, he’ll definitely be missed, but never forgotten. u In 2018, NBC produced the

musical Jesus Christ Superstar and you were Caiaphas. So, you went from a tenor in The Phantom of the Opera to a double bass.

I didn’t warm up for that. … You have to keep your morning voice all day long. … I remember when we were in rehearsal, David Leveaux (the director) was just so perfect. He’s done television, and he’s done film, and he’s done theatre. So, it was great to have all that perspective coming into this [project]. He was really, really prepared. And we won five Emmys. u Can you talk about your

experience as Senator Edison Davis on Scandal? What was it

like working with the showrunner Shonda Rhimes?

Shonda was amazing. … She was wonderful to work with and for. The set was run so perfectly. I mean, the cast and the crew got along so well. Kerry Washington really set the bar. She knew everyone’s name. She knew their grandmother’s name. She knew their dog’s name, which was really, really important. And I think it makes people feel like part of a group … a family. u Advice for young theatre artists:

What is the one thing you would share that you wish someone had shared with you?

That I was enough. Learn your skills, have passion for this industry, have a sense of self (spiritually, whatever that means to you individually), have a thick skin, be ready for anything. And just show up. If you don’t, you’ll never know and you’ll always wonder. Do as much research as you can right now. And I would also get Ross Reports [now known as Call Sheet]. … It comes out monthly. … And with modern technology right now with social media, get a YouTube channel, start a TikTok, and start singing. Seriously, start doing things with your colleagues and do scenes. … Start creating content. … Do research on where you want to go – California, New York, Chicago or Atlanta, wherever. Just find out who is creating. But just know that it’s going to be okay. You don’t have to be scared. It’s going to be okay. u How do you handle challenges

in the industry? What do you recommend for emerging artists?

That’s a really good question because I have a lot to say about that. Well, whoever you believe in, whatever you believe in, please get a stronger hold on whatever that is. Buddha, Jesus, The Rock, whatever floats your boat, but just believe in something, and believe in yourself. That’s the main thing because you have to have a sense of who you are going into this because they’re going to come at you. … You just have to believe in what you do and make sure you keep up your skill sets. And if the pandemic has taught you anything, you have got to have multiple streams of income. … I’m a huge advocate for entrepreneurship and, as an artist, you are an entrepreneur. I mean, you can do it. u What is one thing you do every

day for yourself? To keep yourself grounded – or present?

I practice gratitude every day. It could be something as simple as saying, “Thank you, Lord, for another day” or doing something nice for someone else. u You’re really good at naming your

dreams.

Yeah, I’ve been pretty blessed with having a lot of my dreams fulfilled. I will continue to dream for bigger and better things with my career, but I now mostly dream for peace within our country and around the world. We are living in very challenging times, and I pray/dream that I can somehow be a light to bring people together. My next dream role/dream project is to be able to work on new, innovative material created by emerging artists. I just love to work. n

Noah Taylor

Norm Lewis (center) poses after his keynote presentation with two of the winners of SETC’s 2022 Keynote Emerging Artist of Promise (KEAP) Award: Cynthia Tinschmidt Leal (left) and Logan Oakley. The other 2022 KEAP Award winners were Olivia Szysmanski and Sadie Libby.

Gaye Jeffers (she/her) is a professor of directing, theatre history and playwriting at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She is a member of SETC’s Publications Committee.