Norm Lewis to Headline New York Pops Underground Cabaret Concert At Feinstein's/54 Below

The New York Pops will host its annual cabaret fundraiser at Feinstein's/54 Below on Monday, September 23, 2019 at 5:30 p.m.(performance at 6:30 p.m.) starring Tony and Drama Desk nominee Norm Lewis. The event is hosted by New York Pops Music Director Steven Reineke.

A star of stage and screen, Norm has been seen on Broadway in the title role in The Gershwins' Porgy & Bess, and The Phantom of the Opera, as well as Broadway productions of Once on This Island, Sondheim on Sondheim, The Little Mermaid,LES MISERABLES, Chicago, The Wild Party,Side Show, Miss Saigon, and The Who's Tommy. He has been seen on television in "The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt", "Chicago Med", and "Scandal" and previously appeared with The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall in April 2013 and in May 2016.

The evening includes a pre-concert champagne reception and dinner with wine pairings, followed by the performance by Norm Lewis.

Proceeds from the event support The New York Pops orchestra and PopsEd music programs, which reach more than 5,000 New York City students each year throughout the five boroughs of New York City. PopsEd allows students of all ages and backgrounds to participate in fully customizable music programs that blend traditional education with pure fun, using tools like composition, lyric writing, performance and mentorship to foster learning and unbridled creativity.

Concerts in The New York Pops' 2019-20 Carnegie Hall season include: One Night Only: Jeremy Jordan on October 18; A Frank and Ella Christmas with Tony DeSare,Capathia Jenkins, and Essential Voices USA on December 20 and 21; Find Your Dream: The Songs of Rodgers and Hammerstein with Laura Michelle Kelly, Max von Essen, and Essential Voices USA on January 24; I'm Every Woman: Divas On Stage with Mandy Gonzalez, Carrie Manolakos, and Alex Newell on February 14; and Movie Night: The Scores of John Williams on March 27.

Tickets are available at www.nypops.org or by calling The New York Pops office at 212-765-7677.

The New York Pops is the largest independent pops orchestra in the United States and the only professional symphonic orchestra in New York City specializing in popular music. Under the dynamic leadership of Music Director and Conductor Steven Reineke, The New York Pops continues to re-imagine orchestral pops music. The orchestra performs an annual subscription series and birthday gala at Carnegie Hall and a summer series at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, NY. The New York Pops is dedicated to lifelong learning and collaborates with public schools, community organizations, children's hospitals and senior centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City. PopsEd allows thousands of New Yorkers of all ages and backgrounds to participate in fully customizable music programs that blend traditional education with pure fun.

Steven Reineke has established himself as one of North America's leading conductors of popular music. This season Mr. Reineke celebrates his tenth anniversary as Music Director of The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall. Additionally, he is Principal Pops Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Principal Pops Conductor of the Houston and Toronto Symphony Orchestras. Reineke is a frequent guest conductor with The Philadelphia Orchestra and his extensive North American conducting appearances include Atlanta, Cincinnati, Edmonton, San Francisco and Sarasota. On stage, Reineke has created programs and collaborated with a range of leading artists from the worlds of hip hop, Broadway, television and rock including Common, Kendrick Lamar, Nas, Sutton Foster, Megan Hilty, Cheyenne Jackson, Wayne Brady, Peter Frampton and Ben Folds, among others. In 2017, National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" featured Reineke leading the National Symphony Orchestra performing live music excerpts between news segments - a first in the show's 45-year history. In 2018 Reineke led the National Symphony Orchestra with hip hop legend Nas performing his seminal album "Illmatic" on PBS's Great Performances. As the creator of more than 100 orchestral arrangements for the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Reineke's work has been performed worldwide and can be heard on numerous Cincinnati Pops Orchestra recordings on the Telarc label. His symphonic works Celebration Fanfare, Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Casey at the Bat are performed frequently. His Sun Valley Festival Fanfare was used to commemorate the Sun Valley Summer Symphony's pavilion, and his Festival Te Deum and Swan's Island Sojourn were debuted by the Cincinnati Symphony and Cincinnati Pops. His numerous wind ensemble compositions are published by the C.L. Barnhouse Company and are performed by concert bands worldwide.

Norm Lewis was recently seen in the NBC television special Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert!, alongside John Legend, Sara Bareilles, and Alice Cooper. He recently appeared in the Broadway revival of Once on This Island and as Sweeney Todd in the Off-Broadway production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at the Barrow Street Theatre, receiving the AUDELCO Award for his performance. In May of 2014, he made history as The Phantom of the Opera's first African American Phantom on Broadway.

He has been seen on PBS in the Live From Lincoln Center productions of Show Boat with Vanessa Williams, Norm Lewis: Who Am I?, and New Year's Eve: A Gershwin Celebration with Diane Reeves, as well as American Voices with Renée Fleming and the PBS Special First You Dream - The Music of Kander & Ebb. He can be seen recurring in the VH1 series Daytime Divas, also alongside Vanessa Williams. His additional television credits include "The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt", "Bull", "Chicago Med", "Gotham", "The Blacklist", and "Blue Bloods", as well as his recurring role as Senator Edison Davis on the hit drama "Scandal".

Mr. Lewis received Tony, Drama Desk, Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations for his performance as Porgy in the Broadway production of The Gershwins' Porgy & Bess. Other Broadway credits include Sondheim on Sondheim, The Little Mermaid, LES MISERABLES, Chicago, Amour, The Wild Party, Side Show, Miss Saigon, and The Who's Tommy. In London's West End he has appeared as Javert in LES MISERABLES and LES MISERABLES: The 25th Anniversary Concert, which aired on PBS.

Off-Broadway, Mr. Lewis has performed in Dessa Rose (Drama Desk nomination, AUDELCO Award), Shakespeare in the Park's The Tempest, The Two Gentlemen of Verona(Drama League nomination), Captains Courageous, and A New Brain. His regional credits include Porgy in The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess (A.R.T.), Ragtime, Dreamgirls (with Jennifer Holliday), First You Dream, Sweeney Todd, and The Fantasticks.

On film, Mr. Lewis can be seen in the upcoming Netflix film "Da 5 Bloods" by Spike Lee. He can also be seen in the newly released drama "Magnum Opus", and has appeared in "Winter's Tale", "Sex and the City 2", "Confidences", and "Preaching to the Choir".

Norm's albums "The Norm Lewis Christmas Album" and "This is The Life" can be found on Amazon.com as well at cdbaby.com.

The New York Pops is dedicated to lifelong learning, and collaborates with public schools, community organizations, children's hospitals, and senior centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City. PopsEd allows thousands of New Yorkers of all ages and backgrounds to participate in fully customizable music programs that blend traditional education with pure fun. PopsEd makes music open to all, and use tools like composition, lyric writing, performance and mentorship to foster learning and unbridled creativity. In doing so, PopsEd excites students and gives them skills that they can apply to all areas of their lives.

Photo Credit: Richard Termine