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PHOTOS from An Evening with Leslie Odom, Jr. at MPAC

By Julie Hoffman

originally published: 04/03/2023 

(MORRISTOWN, NJ) -- On Friday, March 31, 2023, Mayo Performing Arts Center (MPAC) presented An Evening with Leslie Odom, Jr., the Tony and Grammy Award-winning, three-time Emmy and two-time Academy Award-nominated vocalist, songwriter, author, and actor best known for his Tony-winning role as "Aaron Burr" in Hamilton, performed a mix of jazz-influenced soul, pop, standards and more with his band. Photographer Julie Hoffman was on hand to take photos.

Most recently, Odom starred in Rian Johnson’s Knives Out sequel, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, streaming worldwide on Netflix. In December 2022, the film debuted as Netflix’s #1 movie in its premiere week and has already secured its position as the #5 most popular movie of all time on the platform. Odom is currently in production on the highly anticipated sequel to the original iconic film The Exorcist. The film is scheduled to be released in October 2023.

Odom recently starred in The Many Saints of Newark, a prequel to David Chase’s Award-winning HBO series The Sopranos that was released in theaters and on HBO Max in October 2021. He can also be heard voicing the character of ‘Owen Tillerman’ in Season 3 of the Apple TV+ animated musical-comedy series Central Park, for which he received a 2020 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance. In September 2021, Odom hosted “The Tony Awards Present: Broadway’s Back!” on CBS, earning his third Emmy nomination for Outstanding Variety Special (Live) in 2022. Throughout the live 2-hour special event, he performed various musical numbers with David Byrne, John Legend, Audra McDonald, and many others.

Additional film and television credits include the Disney+ filmed musical performance of the original Broadway production of Hamilton (2021 Emmy nomination, Outstanding Lead Actor In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie), the limited series Love in the Time of Corona, which he executive produced and co-starred opposite Nicolette Robinson, Abbott Elementary, The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder on Disney+, Harriet, Murder on the Orient Express, Only, Red Tails, Smash and many more.

Well known for his breakout role as the original ‘Aaron Burr’ in the smash hit Broadway musical Hamilton, Odom won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical and a Grammy Award for his performance as a principal soloist on the original cast recording. He made his Broadway debut in RENT at the age of 17. He also starred opposite Lin-Manuel Miranda and Karen Olivo in a 2014 City Center Encores! revival of Jonathan Larson’s Tick, Tick…Boom! 

 

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In December 2017, Odom returned to the New York City stage in a solo concert at Jazz at Lincoln Center. The cabaret-style performance was crafted around signature songs and music that shaped this artist’s journey, all performed with a world-class band in front of a live audience. The show was filmed for broadcast as an hour-long PBS special as part of the 17-time Emmy Award-winning series, Live from Lincoln Center, and premiered in April 2018.

A Grammy Award-winning recording artist, Odom’s self-titled debut album was part-funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign and released in 2014 by Borderlight Entertainment, Inc. His new label home, S-Curve, re-released an expanded version with additional material in June 2016, and the album reached #1 on the Billboard Jazz charts and charted in the Billboard Top 200. In winter 2017, Odom topped the charts once again with the re-release of his second album and first holiday album, Simply Christmas, as a deluxe edition with new arrangements and new songs. Simply Christmas hit #1 on iTunes and the Billboard Jazz charts, #4 on the Billboard Holiday chart, and #31 on the Billboard Top 200 chart. Odom released his third full-length album and first of original material, Mr, in November 2019, and the following October teamed up with nine-time Grammy-nominated and multi-platinum artist Sia to debut a new version of standout track “Cold.” His critically acclaimed second holiday album, The Christmas Album, was released in November 2020. He has performed at the White House, Super Bowl, Oscars, Grammys, and on hallowed stages such as Lincoln Center, Rockefeller Center, and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

In March 2018, Odom added the title of author to his resume with the release of his book – Failing Up: How to Take Risks, Aim Higher and Never Stop Learning. Written in the style of a commencement speech, the book brings together what Odom has learned in life so far, tapping into universal themes of starting something new, following your passions, discovering your own potential, and surrounding yourself with the right people. Failing Up is about unlocking your true potential and making your dreams come true even when it seems impossible. The book was published by Feiwel & Friends, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers. Co-written with Nicolette Robinson, Odom’s first children’s book, I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know, will be published by Feiwel & Friends on March 28, 2023.

Here are more photos from his performance at MPAC.

Julie Hoffman is a concert and live event photographer with a background in broadcasting. She started out in the newsroom at ABC News in NYC, and ended up as a Technical Director at Disney/ ABC TV studios in Los Angeles. She has since left broadcasting and moved back to the east coast, where she started up her photography business.

When she is not at a concert, she is shooting print/theatrical headshots out of her studio in Livingston, NJ. For more on her visit her website at www.juliehoffmanphotography.com or her Instagram accounts for Concerts/Live Events and Headshots.

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