Spend an Evening With Leslie Odom Jr. at WHBPAC

As a performer, Leslie Odom Jr. is one of those rare talents who defy a singular superlative description. That’s because at the age of 43 (he just had a birthday August 6), he seems to have done it all in pretty much every genre.

For Odom, who grew up in Philadelphia, it all begin in 1998, when, at age 17, he made his Broadway debut as Paul in Jonathan Larson’s musical “Rent.” After graduating from Carnegie Mellon University in 2003, he resumed his acting career and countless more stage roles followed. Then, in 2016, Odom brought home the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of Aaron Burr in the original production of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton.” (Ironically, Miranda has been quoted as saying that he was inspired to try his hand at writing musicals after seeing “Rent” as a high school student).

Earlier this year, Odom earned two more Tony nominations for the Broadway revival of the Ossie Davis comedy “Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch.” Directed by Tony-winner Kenny Leon, it was the first time the play, which was nominated for six Tonys, has appeared on Broadway since its premiere 62 years ago. Odom earned a nomination for his performance as the show’s title character. Purlie Victorious Judson, — originally played by Davis himself — and was also nominated for a Tony as a producer of the show.

Moving to the big screen, Odom’s portrayal of Sam Cooke in the 2020 film “One Night in Miami” brought him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor and a second nomination for Best Original Song, “Speak Now,” for which he wrote the music and lyrics.

On the recording front, in 2014, Odom self-released his debut jazz album, “Leslie Odom Jr.,” and in 2016, earned a Grammy for the cast album of “Hamilton.” Then there’s television. In 2020, he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for his role as Owen Tillerman in the animated musical-comedy series “Central Park” and in 2021, also starred in “The Many Saints of Newark,” the prequel to HBO’s series “The Sopranos.” He is also on TIME’s list of The 100 Most Influential People of 2024.

So this Sunday, August 11, when he takes the stage to perform “An Evening With Leslie Odom, Jr.” at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center, audiences can expect to hear a wide range of musical material drawn from his vast stage and screen resume as well as from his albums, the most recent of which, “When a Crooner Dies,” was released late last year and is a very personal and heartfelt project.

“I’ve put out five records since leaving ‘Hamilton,’” Odom explained in a recent phone interview. “The first was a Kickstarter album of jazz standards. I’ve also done holiday albums and a couple with all originals. This show is a mix of music from the albums. Of course, it includes the shows that I’ve done on Broadway. Sam Cooke is well represented, because you know some people might know me from ‘One Night in Miami.’

“I think of it as building on the relationships that I’ve begun with the audience in these different mediums,” he added of his stage show. “I love seeing a way to knit everyone together and continue the conversation. It’s a chance for a kind of solo expression that I don’t get as part of an ensemble. The evenings are great fun for me, I think people find them to be not unlike the ‘Hamilton’ experience. I’ll say for people my age — early 40s, it’s something that they can enjoy with their children and their parents.

“On these evenings, the audience looks like the ‘Hamilton’ audience — young and old, Black and white and everything around and in between.”

Odom, who was involved in the development of “Hamilton” in the year and a half before it premiered off-Broadway at Manhattan’s Public Theater in 2015, noted that the musical really was a game changer in terms of introducing new audiences to rap as a musical art form.

“Proudly, I might add that ‘Hamilton’ is a millennial creation, and we were very pleasantly surprised and affirmed in this thing that connected so strongly with us,” he said. “The popular music of our generation was connecting with all the generations at once.”

It turns out that “Hamilton” was a groundbreaking phenomenon, not only in terms of the audiences who flocked to see it, but also because it shattered long-standing barriers for performers of color and opened doors of opportunity for singers and actors who didn’t necessarily adhere to established expectations of the sorts of roles they could — or should — play.

“I’ve seen the ‘Hamilton’ effect all over the place,” Odom said. “It reminded people that we don’t have to be literal. The arts can be symbolic sometimes, and a statement can be stronger when it’s not so literal. We’re made stronger by our diversity — the diversity of thought, of bringing the delicious joy of experiencing contrasts, these things that shouldn’t make sense, but somehow because they don’t, that’s what’s interesting about it. We have Lin-Manuel to thank for that.”

In terms of the types of roles now available to performers of color, he added, “I think things are better. The industry is recovering still from COVID and the strikes, and there’s quite a bit of the industry that is ailing after some really tough times. But as far as diversity, equity and inclusion, it is better and we’re making progress.”

Because Odom has been so successful in so many different arenas, it’s logical to assume that he often finds himself gravitating toward one medium over another. And while that’s certainly true, it may be for somewhat unexpected reasons.

“It’s kind of seasonal,” Odom confirmed. “When I was making ‘When a Crooner Dies,’ that was all I was thinking about and it was the most important thing to me. With ‘Purlie Victorious’ it was the same. As I was putting this show together to go on the road, I was thinking of fall and the Christmas tour I’ll do, and you know I’ll be in Christmas mode through the end of the year.

“Everything in front of me gets everything I have to give,” he said.

At Odom’s WHBPAC show this Sunday, audiences will certainly hear selections from “When a Crooner Dies,” Odom’s fifth full-length album in the past 10 years and his first of original music since 2019. The 10 songs contained on it are deeply personal, reflecting not only his life’s journey to this point, but also on his role as husband to actress Nicolette Robinson and father to two young children.

When asked to share some of the emotions and experiences that he tapped into in writing the tracks, Odom said, “Maybe because of the resources that have become so available and prevalent in our generation, I think one of the great works of my generation and those coming behind me is going to be the mental health and emotional wellness investigation and work we’re doing with our doctors and therapists in community with one another,” he said.

“We can get sort of flack for that from older generations. You notice there’s not a whole lot of investigation or thinking about those things from the older generations,” he continued. “They say, ‘Why are you focusing on those things?’ It’s the way they were treated and raised and it was the way it was.

“But we have these resources and curiosity about it. I have two young children, I’m in a very-long-term relationship — 16 years this year. As I’ve gotten promoted and bring creative projects to the marketplace in a leadership capacity, I’ve had a desire to get well and be the leader and the man I desire to be,” he said. “It was a breaking down process I had to go through to put myself back together in a way more pleasing to me.

“It has not been easy, but I do think it’s valuable and useful work, and I’m proud of myself for being courageous enough to look at these things about myself I didn’t like and change them.”

Tickets for “An Evening With Leslie Odom, Jr.” on Sunday, August 11, at 8 p.m. are $186 to $233 at whbpac.org. The Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center is at 76 Main Street in Westhampton Beach.