Leslie Odom Jr. with the Boston Pops, 5/22/26

Live performance Opinions

At a elegant present Friday, Odom Jr. cemented his standing as the newest legend to play with the Pops.

Leslie Odom Jr. with the Boston Pops, at Symphony Corridor, Friday, Might 22.

On Friday evening, Tony-Award profitable actor and Grammy-Award profitable singer Leslie Odom Jr. joined the Boston Pops for a star-spangled efficiency. 

Greatest recognized for originating the function of Aaron Burr within the Broadway musical Hamilton, Odom Jr.’s second efficiency with the Boston Pops was extremely anticipated as part of the Pops’ 2026 spring season. This yr marks the Pops’ one hundred and fortieth season, in addition to the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, so it felt becoming to introduce an artist related to the inventive reimagining of pivotal moments in American historical past.

The orchestra started the present appropriately with Dudley Buck’s “Competition Overture on ‘The Star Spangled Banner,’” throughout which beloved conductor Keith Lockhart instructed the viewers to face and sing the nationwide anthem. The theme continued with “Buckaroo Vacation” from Aaron Copland’s ballet Rodeo. Lockhart referred to Copland because the “Dean of American composers,” setting the tone for an exploration of the richness and variety of American music. 

He additional defined that there are two distinctly American musical artwork varieties: jazz and American musical theatre. Recognizing that an viewers who was there to see a Broadway star was seemingly appreciative of musical theatre, Lockhart launched his orchestra into the musical Carousel’s opening quantity “The Carousel Waltz” by Richard Rodgers, which was adopted by “Instances Sq. 1944” from On the City. Leonard Bernstein’s dynamic tune constructed up the power for the energetic rendition of “It Don’t Imply a Factor (If It Ain’t Obtained That Swing)” composed by jazz pioneer Duke Ellington. The Pops closed out this primary act with what Lockhart referred to as an “uncommon association” by Morton Gould of the patriotic ditty “Yankee Doodle.”

Following an intermission, Odom Jr.’s four-piece band joined the Pops on stage, previous the singer whose heat, velvety voice captivated the viewers earlier than he even stepped into the highlight. Decked out in an overcoat and sparkly gloves, Odom Jr. carried out himself with a theatrical swagger that would solely be achieved from years of honing his craft on stage and display screen. He delivered a mesmerizing efficiency of a number of songs, together with “Fly Me To The Moon” and “My Favourite Issues,” maintaining his voice clean and managed whereas seamlessly transitioning from one music to the following. As he launched his band, he introduced consideration to the truth that these musicians had been expert stage performers additionally, incorporating dramatic actions of their fingers and our bodies as they performed.

The lighting till this level had been a tender blue tinged with purple, glamorously illuminating the stage like moonlight to match the actor’s dreamy vocals. However as he started to croon the romantic basic “L-O-V-E,” the lighting turned to a mixture of vibrant pink, purple, and purple, as if to rejoice Valentine’s Day in Might at Symphony Corridor. Odom Jr. talked about the venue after the music, saying it was “particular to be on this room” and that “legends have performed on this stage” with a humility that advised he was unaware that he was one in every of them. He remarked that it had been almost a decade since his final Pops efficiency.

In that decade, Odom Jr. appeared in movies akin to “Homicide on the Orient Categorical” (2017), “Harriet” (2019), and “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Thriller” (2022). He additionally portrayed soul artist Sam Cooke in “One Evening in Miami…” (2020), for which he was nominated for 2 Academy Awards. The movie featured his cowl of Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come.” Odom Jr. and his band carried out the heartfelt music on the Symphony Corridor stage with soul and vitality. The lyrics rang out and touched the hearts of each viewers member, sending a glimmer of hope for social change that’s simply as vital now because it was when the music was written in 1964.

Odom Jr. additionally made certain to indulge the Hamilton followers within the viewers. His rendition of “Look forward to It” from the musical was uncooked and shifting, amplified by the strings within the Pops’ orchestra. Whereas his singing right here gave the impression to be rather more managed and subdued than the impassioned belting related to the Broadway model, it felt just like the inhibited emotion made the efficiency all of the extra highly effective. As he sang the lyrics, “I’m the one factor in life I can management,” it was clear that it was not the character of Aaron Burr singing them, however Leslie Odom Jr., purely and unapologetically himself.

He additionally carried out his personal model of the musical’s opening quantity “Alexander Hamilton.” Earlier than singing, he expressed that he was nervous about remembering all of the phrases to the fast-paced hip-hop present tune and that he “normally [doesn’t] do all these elements,” referring to the music’s standing as a grand ensemble quantity within the present. Nonetheless, his expertise shone brightly as if he had been again on Broadway. His highly effective efficiency blended the drama and theatrics that Lin Manuel Miranda’s piece demanded along with his personal suave crooner type, and he was accompanied by each the Pops’ rhythm part and the beaming viewers’s snapping fingers. He swapped different Hamilton characters’ traces within the final verse for a chilling repetition of his personal as Aaron Burr: “And me…me…me…I’m the rattling idiot that shot him.”

On the finish of the present, Lockhart and Odom Jr. walked again on stage for his or her last bow, arms round each other. The viewers stood with resounding applause in celebration of an evening that exemplified the depth and vibrancy of what American music may be.

Setlist for Leslie Odom Jr. and the Boston Pops, Might 22, 2026:

Boston Pops:

• Competition Overture on The Star Spangled Banner, Opus 23 (Buck)
• Buckaroo Vacation from Rodeo (Copland)
• The Carousel Waltz (Rodgers)
• Instances Sq. 1944 from On the City (Bernstein) | It Don’t Imply a Factor (Ellington—arr. Sebesky)

Boston Pops with Leslie Odom Jr.:

• Requirements Medley (arr. Elliott)
• Fly Me To The Moon (Howard) | My Buddy (Donaldson/Kahn)
• On A Clear Day (Lerner) | My Favourite Issues (Rodgers/Hammerstein)
• L-O-V-E (Kaempfert/Gabler—arr. Carmichael/Elliott)
• Let Me Be Your Star (Shaiman/Wittman—arr. Elliott) | Wait For It (Miranda—arr. Elliott) | Tonight, Tonight (Corgan—arr. Elliott)
• Preserve Respiratory (Michaelson—arr. Elliott)
• Smile (Chaplin/Turner/Parsons—arr. Elliott)
• A Change is Gonna’ Come (Cooke—arr. Elliott)

Encore:

• Open My Eyes (Conventional—arr. Elliott) | Alexander Hamilton (Miranda) | I Want You Love (Trenet/Chauliac—arr. Elliott)