Broadway debut in Cats was amazing, says Leona
LEONA LEWIS has said it was “amazing” to make her Broadway debut in Cats after taking over the lead role from Nicole Scherzinger just weeks before the show was due to open.
The Londoner stepped in at the eleventh hour when Scherzinger dropped out to return to The X Factor and has been rewarded with praise for her “rich” and “powerful” voice.
L e wi s , 3 1 , made h e r d e b u t a s Grizabella the faded Glamour Cat in the revival, which opened at the Neil Simon Theatre in Times Square last night.
She told the Standard: “It’s been amazing playing Grizabella. The audience reaction has been greater than I could have hoped for and I’ve really enjoyed it. But I’ve only done 14 performances so don’t want to get too carried away.”
The singer’s performance of the showpiece number Memory was praised by Cats choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler, who said: “Leona is graced with a song that is simply historic and when she sings Memory it’s a fantastic experience.”
Directed by Sir Trevor Nunn, who oversaw the original 1981 West End production, the revival has received mixed reviews — although Lewis’s singing abilities were praised.
The New York Times wrote: “Ms Lewis has a rich, powerful voice...[but] the lonely pathos of reminiscing about a life gone by is hard to put across when you look and sound as Ms Lewis does.”
The Huffington Post saw parallels in her role with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton: “When Grizabella, a woman, is selected to rise to new heights, more than a few spectators will flash on the Democrat’s 2016 nominee ascending to her next vaunted level.”
The Hollywood Reporter wrote: “Lewis reveals her lack of American experience with her less than g a lv a n i z i n g G r i z a b e l l a” b u t an Associated Press review said: “Her amazing voice only gets out of first gear with Memory right at the end and then it blazes.”
It emerged Lewis got the job with the help of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s son Alastair — despite him having never seen his father’s hit musical.
Lord Lloyd-Webber, who is not producing the new version of Cats, said Alastair suggested Lewis should play Grizabella after the pair collaborated at Island Records where he works in artists and repertoire.
He said: “It was my son’s idea — he had never seen Cats but he wondered to me whether Leona would be the right person.
“I think my son was right. It’s the first time she’s done anything in the theatre although she comes from a theatre school and a theatre background. I’m very excited.”