Feature: Norm Lewis Wrapped Up the Holiday Season with 7 Sold-Out Shows at 54

How does he do it? Norm Lewis, celebrating his 10th Anniversary year of Christmas shows, at 54 Below, wrapped up a 7 night sold-out run, sparing nothing. The warmth, the voice, the matinee idol looks, the humor, the religion, the humanity and the ability to connect and entertain. It is, indeed, a gift, and my wife Eda and I were thrilled to be in attendance for 6 of the 7 nights. (Of course, we had to miss one of the nights to go see Jessica Vosk at Carnegie Hall conducted by Steven Reineke, with The New York Pops.)

But, what happened over the consecutive shows, was indeed a Christmas miracle. Norm’s longtime collaborations with Musical Director Joseph Joubert and Director Richard Jay-Alexander, reap the richest of musical moments and sincere and touching reflection as we end this calendar year.

There was plenty of laughter and tears and an interaction with the audiences that I have never witnessed to be so intimate and sharing. It is simply the “must-see” holiday event of the season and, this year, to celebrate, the legendary club “pulled out the stops” with a special menu for Norm’s run, specially created by Executive Chef James Klapak, and a special cocktail (or mocktail version of) Norm’s "Jingle Bell Rock." They seemed to be flying across the room on trays, carried by the wait staff team (who Norm refers to as Ninjas, with love). It’s a holiday homecoming when this guy comes home to Broadway’s Living Room.

Then, there all the fantastic guests, none of them announced prior. Whether it’s his cousin, Pastor Bobby Lewis (with homemade bundt cakes in tow for the audience), or the the gifted Avery Wilson or Alexis Michelle from RuPaul’s Drag Race, each and every one of them scored. But two were of special interest to me: 1) an 11-year-old boy from Romania, named Milan Solomon, who Norm met on the subway one day, with his family (and is on scholarship at Manhattan School Of Music) and 2) A girl Norm saw on CBS Sunday Morning, in a story about a program teaching opera/classical music in Italy. Her name is Hannah Jones. Norm tracked her down on Instagram and invited her to sing with him. She is now up at The Metropolitan Opera and singing with the Broadway star was a dream of hers, she never could have imagined. I’m putting the video up here, so you can see what Norm saw. 

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