Review: LESLIE ODOM JR.'S CHRISTMAS TOUR at Southern Theatre

Leslie Odom Jr., whose Christmas Tour 2024 stopped in Columbus Dec. 19-20, is best remembered for being “the villain in your history,” originating the role of Aaron Burr in HAMILTON.

“All your life you hope to do something that marks your life with distinction, that helps people put a face to a name,” Odom Jr. told the 900-person audience at the Southern Theatre (21 E. Main Street in downtown Columbus). “I’m so grateful that 25 years into my career, people still stop me in the airport and say, ‘Pardon me, but are you Aaron Burr, sir?’”

During his 22-song performance on the first of two shows with the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra as well as his own four-person back-up band, Odom Jr. proved he was a lot more than the character who shot Alexander Hamilton. In fact, the 43-year-old singer only performed one song from HAMILTON and (strap yourself in for the Dad joke) the audience had to be “willing to wait for it.”

Odom’s voice is a mixture of Nat King Cole and Sam Cooke, and he used it to serenade fans with a collection of holiday favorites. He shifted from the classic (such as “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”), the current (Wham!’s “Last Christmas,”) and the personal (“Snow” and “Heaven & Earth” from his two Christmas albums).

Columbus is one of two cities where he played back-to-back shows with Nashville being the other. Columbus was also the next-to-last stop on the 17-show Christmas tour. Odom Jr. wraps up his voyage on Dec. 21 in Detroit.

The shows marked his first visit to Columbus since performing at the ProMusica’s 2018 Soirée Benefit & Concert.

“We had such a wonderful experience with Leslie back in 2018, and to share the stage with him again will be such a treat,” ProMusica CEO Janet Chen, said when announcing the show. “These two shows as part of his Christmas Tour are the perfect way to kick off the holiday season, and his charming personality, energetic stage presence, and distinct voice will lift audiences up in holiday spirit.”

After the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Jerry Hou, opened the show with Bizet’s “Carillon,” Odom Jr. took to the  stage with a three-song blitz of Hugh Martin’s “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “My Favorite Things,” and Frank Sinatra’s “The Christmas Waltz” in the first 13 minutes before taking a breath.

“On the last tour, I wanted to make you feel like I was inviting you into my living room,” Odom Jr. said. “But this tour feels different. It’s like you have welcomed us into your home. I hope you made up the spare bedroom.”

He later added as he observed the confines of the Southern Theatre, “I really like what you’ve done with the place.”

Since coming onto the Broadway scene in RENT when he was 17, Odom Jr., like Hamilton, works like he is running out of time. Despite having to use a Kickstarter campaign to help fund his debut, self-titled album in 2014, the singer has squeezed out five solo albums.

As an author, he penned the biographical Failing Up: How to Take Risks, Aim Higher and Never Stop Learning and the children’s book, I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know, which debuted  #7 on the New York Times’ Best Seller’s list.

Odom Jr. became one of four artists to be nominated in the acting and writing categories at the same Academy Awards ceremony after co-writing “Speak Now” for ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI and receiving a nomination for his turn as singer Sam Cooke in that movie. He also portrayed Lionel Toussaint in GLASS ONION: A Knives Out Mystery, the fifth most watched movie on the Netflix platform as well as appearances on ABBOTT ELEMENTARY and PERSON OF INTEREST among others.

The artist did all of this between roles on Broadway

And yet, Odom Jr. feels he could have been more productive. Before playing Mel Torme’s “The Christmas Song,” he told the audience: “Legend has it that this song was written in 45 minutes. I only mention that to make all of us feel a little more unproductive … or inspired.”

Odom Jr.’s choices showed a lot about his influences, with soulful interpretations of the Who’s “Christmas” from TOMMY, Wham!’s “Last Christmas,” and Karen Carpenter’s “Merry Christmas, Darling.”

When he wasn’t performing fully orchestrated pieces with ProMusica, Odom Jr. tapped out elegantly understated pieces with his own band of Steven Walker (guitar), Eric England (bass), David Chiverton (drums), and Chris Cadenhead (piano). He allowed each member of his quintet to show off their skill set. Chiverton’s drums set the tone on “The First Noel” while Cadenhead’s pipe organ gave a gospely feel to Charles Brown’s “Please Come Home for Christmas.”

However, the band’s best moment came when they put their instruments away for an acapella version of Sam Cooke’s “Jesus Gave Me Water.”

Odom Jr. showed off his linguistic skills in spellbinding versions of “O Tannenbaum” in German and “Ava Marie” in Latin and an animated telling of Clement Clarke Moore’s “Twas The Night Before Christmas.”

“I feel like we’ve come a long way together,” Odom Jr. said, taking on a mock confessional tone before his reading of “Twas The Night Before Christmas.” “I want to let you in on this particular secret which I haven’t told in any other tour stop. I know I can trust you. It was about the time I met the big guy.”

The Tony and Grammy award winning singer put his own unique touches on the evening with songs from his two Christmas albums, Simply Christmas (2017) and The Christmas Album (2020). Simply Christmas hit #1 on iTunes and the Billboard Jazz charts and #4 on the Billboard Holiday chart. Ironically, his chilly-sounding titles, “Cold,” a collaboration with Grammy-nominated and multi-platinum artist Sia, and “Snow” were among the warmest received songs of the evening. His song “Heaven & Earth” from “The Christmas Album” seemed like a perfect way to conclude the show. As the last notes of it faded into the ether, several members of the audience started to file towards the exit.

However, Odom bounded back onto the stage with a “I fooled you” grin and treated those who stayed for a 20-minute encore of “Merry Christmas, Darling” and “Wait for It,” before closing with “I Wish You Love.”

“Perhaps I should take my job more seriously and have them turn the houselights up,” he said as he returned to the stage. “I saw some of you got up, but you were afraid to leave.”

Those who stayed were glad they waited.

Photo credit:  Rick Buchanan

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