Broadway performer and activist Amber Iman became the first woman—and first Black woman—to perform on Broadway since the pandemic shutdown with a pop-up concert April 10, the second in NY PopsUp's series of re-opening events following an April 3 performance featuring Savion Glover and Nathan Lane. Watch highlights from the event above.
READ: Inside Amber Iman's Return to Broadway
The Shuffle Along...star's set, performed with music director and pianist Michael O. Mitchell, included fresh takes on such songs as "I Wanna Dance With Somebody," "Love Will Save the Day," "Imagine," and "Party in the USA."
Iman also returned to her Nina Simone roots (she inhabited the legendary High Priestress of Soul in Broadway's Soul Doctor) with a performance of "Be My Husband." Crystal Monee Hall (Rent) and Marcus Paul James (Ain't Too Proud) joined Iman for "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," with James providing the high-flying vocal arrangement as well.
Attendees, who were predominately Broadway performers, had to have proof of a recent negative COVID test, or proof of a completed COVID-19 vaccine cycle from at least 14 days prior. Temperatures were taken upon arrival, after which audience members were seated with social distancing guidelines in effect.
