Norm Lewis and Faith Prince to star in 42ND STREET

It’s still early in 2020 and as we look forward to the second part of the opera season, planning for the annual musical is in high gear. In just a couple of months, two major Broadway stars will begin rehearsals, along with the full cast and creative teams, here at Lyric for our new-to-Chicago production of 42nd Street. Norm Lewis and Faith Prince will make their Lyric debuts in the roles of famed Broadway director Julian Marsh and Dorothy Brock, the seasoned diva who sees her star status eclipsed by a rising newcomer. You may be thinking, “I know those names…but from where?” Learn all about our 42nd Street stars and get your tickets for the Tony-winning song-and-dance spectacular today!

Norm Lewis was seen in the NBC 2018 television special, Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert! alongside John Legend, Sara Bareilles, and Alice Cooper. He received Tony, Drama Desk, Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle award nominations for his performance as Porgy in the Broadway production of The Gershwins’ Porgy & Bess. Lewis’s other Broadway credits include Sondheim on Sondheim, The Little Mermaid, Les Misérables, Chicago, Amour, The Wild Party, Side Show, Miss Saigon, and The Who’s Tommy. In 2014, he made history as The Phantom of the Opera’s first African American Phantom on Broadway. 

In London’s West End, Lewis appeared as Javert in Les Misérables and Les Misérables: The 25th Anniversary Concert, which aired on PBS. Lewis also recently starred in the title role in the Off-Broadway production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at the Barrow Street Theatre, which earned him an AUDELCO Award for his performance.

He has been seen on PBS in the Live From Lincoln Center productions of Showboat with Vanessa Williams, Norm Lewis: Who Am I?, and New Year’s Eve: A Gershwin Celebration with Diane Reeves, as well as American Voices with Renée Fleming and the PBS Special First You Dream – The Music of Kander & Ebb. Lewis can be seen in the VH1 series, Daytime Divas, alongside Vanessa Williams. You may also recognize him from his television roles on The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Bull, Chicago Med, Gotham, The Blacklist, and Blue Bloods, as well as in his recurring role as Senator Edison Davis on the hit drama Scandal.

Lewis's additional film credits include Magnum Opus, Winter’s Tale, Sex and the City 2, Confidences, and Preaching to the Choir. He can be seen starring in the upcoming Netflix film Da 5 Bloods by Spike Lee.

Faith Prince has been dazzling Broadway audiences since winning the Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards for her portrayal of Ms. Adelaide in Guys and Dolls. As one of Broadway’s best-loved leading ladies, Prince most recently starred on Broadway in Disaster! The musical for which she received rave reviews. In a role she was born to play, she starred as the scheming, irascible Miss Hannigan in the Broadway revival of Annie. Prince was nominated for Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for both A Catered Affair and Bells Are Ringing, and was nominated for Tony and Drama Desk Awards for Jerome Robbins’ Broadway. Other Broadway credits include The Little Mermaid, Little Me, The Dead, and Noises Off. She also starred in the world premiere of Terrence McNally’s Unusual Acts of Devotion and in the national tour of the Broadway hit Billy Elliott. Chicago audiences had the opportunity to see Prince on stage in the iconic role of Brenda in the new musical version of the hit movie First Wives Club.

Prince can be seen regularly on the ABC hit series Modern Family. She also portrayed Joey Lawrence’s mother on ABC Family’s long-running series Melissa & Joey and wrapped her five-­season run as Brooke Elliott’s mother on Lifetime’s popular series Drop Dead Diva. She was a series regular on Showtime's Huff starring as Kelly Knippers, and appeared recurringly for five seasons on Spin City. Other television credits include Scream Queens, Galavant, Angel from Hell, A Gifted Man, Happy Endings, Ugly Betty, Grey’s Anatomy, CSI, Faith, House, Medium, Sweet Potato Queens, Monk, Now and Again, Welcome To New York, and Law and Order. Film credits include Our Very Own, Picture Perfect, Dave, and My Father the Hero.

Prince recently traveled to Australia for a concert tour with her Annie costar Anthony Warlow, which included performances at the Sydney Opera House and the Adelaide Music Festival. She works often with the Boston Pops, Utah Symphony, Cincinnati Pops, and Philly Pops, and starred in the Orlando Philharmonic’s concert version of Sweeney Todd. Faith toured her original show "Moving On in Australia" to rave reviews, and also toured in "Over the Rainbow," a concert celebrating the centennial of Harold Arlen.

What do our stars have in common? They were both in The Little Mermaid on Broadway together! We’re thrilled to welcome Norm Lewis and Faith Prince to our stage this May. 

(And stay tuned for a 42nd Street full casting announcement very soon!)