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Opening night of Leona Lewis’ A Starry Night residency at Voltaire felt like a festive fever dream. The U.K. darling sauntered around onstage, surrounded by tall pines strung with Christmas lights and the spirit of the holiday heavy in the air—despite it being the night before Halloween.
“It’s a little bit early to start Christmas, but I think the world needs a bit of Christmas right now,” Lewis said. “We need a bit of joy and a bit of love.”
Over the next hour and 15 minutes, Lewis’ seven-piece, tuxedoed band mobilized around her, performing Christmas standards and some of her originals with a jazz-inflected twist. The entire evening swelled with a grand sense of supper club, Lewis’ bell-clear voice filling the room in real time. Jazzy trombone and trumpet trills infused a liveliness into “Walkin’ in a Winter Wonderland” and “Santa Clause Is Comin’ to Town.” And an acapella rendition of “Mister Sandman,” featuring Lewis’ harmonizing backup singers, scored high marks.
Lewis appeared near-angelic in every way. When she descended down the stairs into the crowd, singing against the backdrop of squeals, fans looked on in disbelief of her incredible skin and gorgeous outfits, like the shimmering gown she revealed for “Mr. Right.”
The literal height of the evening came when Lewis took to the skies or at least, the ballroom version of it. Midway through her set, the lights dimmed to a cool celestial blue and the singer appeared perched on a glittering crescent moon, descending slowly above the crowd. She eased into a piano-laced rendition of “Fly Me to the Moon,” her voice floating somewhere between velvet and vapor. The scene could’ve been pulled straight from a vintage holiday special, including a flute solo that made time stand still. Her gown cascaded over the edge like a waterfall of starlight, every spin of the crescent drawing gasps from an already swooning audience. Pure theater.
She couldn’t leave us without giving a taste of what made the world fall in love with her in the first place. Standing mid-catwalk, she took hold of her bedazzled mic and broke into her signature pop ballad, “Bleeding Love.” The band cranked the volume and emotion up a notch, layering in brassy swells and lush strings that turned the anthem into something even more cinematic. Her backup singers filled in the chorus, but by the second refrain, the crowd had already taken over—a full sing-along that left Lewis smiling and dancing in the glow of it all.
Christmas is still weeks away, but Lewis transported us to her favorite time of the year with a merriness unlike any other.
LEONA LEWIS: A STARRY NIGHT
November 1 - January 3, 8 p.m., $85+, Voltaire, voltairelv.com.
English (US) ·