THE HANGOVER REPORT – Tony-winner HEATHER HEADLEY astounds at Carnegie Hall with an electrifying concert

Heather Headley performs at Carnegie Hall (photo by Adrian Dimanlig).

Last week, Tony and Grammy winner Heather Headley returned to Carnegie Hall in what can only be described as an electrifying event for both fans of her theatrical and recording careers. After having conquered Broadway in a pair of Disney stage blockbusters — originating the role of Nala in The Lion King and the title role in Elton John and Tim Rice’s musical theater version of the opera Aida, the latter of which won the singing actress the coveted Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical, Headley subsequently made a name for herself as an R&B recording artist of note. On the stage, she also headlined the stage adaptation of The Bodyguard in London’s West End, as well as made a triumphant return to the Great White Way in the terrific, minimalist revival of The Color Purple (most recently, she was also quite sensational as The Witch in the acclaimed Encores! revival of Sondheim’s Into the Woods at New York City Center).

Headley’s powerful voice remains a thing of wonder — forceful yet capable of a remarkable variety of color — as she weaved between the Broadway, popular, and R&B songbooks with remarkable ease, all without having to compromise her boldly distinctive way with songs. Despite her foray into popular music, she remains at heart a song interpreter in the theatrical tradition, navigating her way through lyrics with the intent and specificity of an actor. For this latest appearance at the iconic Midtown concert hall, she chose to don a simple yet elegant sleeveless black-and-white dress, which she moved and swayed in with infectious freedom and verve. Throughout the course of the inspiring and uplifting evening, Headley was fearlessly herself — an invariably sassy and regal presence whose connection to her adoring audience was nothing less than palpable. Her special guest for the evening was the brilliantly-voiced Javier Colon, a winner of NBC’s The Voice, who joined Headley for a soulful duet of Hoobastank’s “The Reason”, before himself launching solo into Leonard Cohen’s aching “Hallelujah”.

For musical theater fans, she thankfully skimp on the show tunes, beginning with the stirring one-two punch of “As If We Never Said Goodbye” from Sunset Boulevard and “Home” from The Wiz. Later on, she sank her teeth into “Maria” from West Side Story and “Bring Him Home” from Les Miz, only to devastate us with “Still Hurting” from The Last Five Years and “She Used to Be Mine” from Waitress (somewhere in between, she also gave us a glorious “Shadowland”). Other song selections came from her original R&B hits (“He Is” and “Only One in the World”), as well as rousing covers of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” and the tender “When She Loved Me” from Toy Story 2. Best of all, however, was her emphatically declarative rendition of Elton John’s “Your Song”, which brought the house down, which she followed with a rousing take on Tina Turner’s “River Deep — Mountain High”. Headley concluded the concert with a delightfully joyous encore of “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)”, in which she invited her youngest daughter to come out onstage to dance as she conducted an epic sing-along with the entirety of Carnegie Hall to the feel good Whitney Houston anthem.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

HEATHER HEADLEY
Concert
Carnegie Hall
1 hour, 45 minutes (without an intermission)
One-night-only

Categories: Cabaret, Music, Other Music

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