Hamilton Tony Award winner Leslie Odom, Jr., is warming up for his return to the New York City stage in a December 19 solo concert at Jazz at Lincoln Center. The show is being taped for broadcast as an hour-long PBS special at a spring 2018 date to be announced, as part of the Live From Lincoln Center series.
Odom told Playbill that the Appel Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center is “one of the beautiful concert venues in the country. I've seen my friends be brilliant in this space. We've spent a year preparing for it essentially. Once we received the invitation, it's been on our minds at every concert since then. And the fact that the evening will live on with the PBS broadcast—we are humbled, excited, and very nervous! Luckily, we'll be in front of family and friends who will only be wishing us well.”
Odom was recently seen in the film remake of Murder on the Orient Express, and on the White Hot Holidays TV special in a Hamilton sendup titled “Prancerton.”
He also recently released a music video of himself singing “Christmas,” written by Pete Townsend for Tony-winning 1993 score to the musical The Who’s Tommy.
Odom is currently assembling an as-yet-untitled new solo album to be released in 2018. The in-demand artist told Forbes, “We're going to do an album of originals. Get that heart farther on the sleeve.”
The recording will follow Odom, Jr.’s earlier album releases Leslie Odom, Jr., which made it to No. 1 on the Billboard magazine jazz chart, and Simply Christmas, which was recently re-released in a deluxe edition with new arrangements and new songs, available now at LOJSimplyChristmas.
He made his Broadway debut in Rent and has since appeared in the original cast of Leap of Faith in 2012. On television, he had recurring roles in Smash, Gilmore Girls, Person of Interest, and Law & Order SVU.
