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| Vanessa Williams Photo by Gilles Toucas Courtesy of Vanessa Williams / Arizona Musicfest |
"Arizona Musicfest recently kicked off their 2019/2020 season with a concert by Vanessa Williams, who was making her Musicfest debut. Toward the beginning of her show, Williams mentioned that she wears a lot of hats. Not only has Williams recorded eight solo albums, appeared in dozens of TV shows and films, but the Tony, Emmy and Grammy nominee has also been in seven Broadway shows. She mentioned that Broadway is where she feels most at home. Her concert featured several songs from musicals she's been in along with many of her soft pop hits, all of which sounded excellent, backed by an exceptional band. Williams was a theatre major at Syracuse University and her versatile voice is equally at home singing Broadway songs as well as jazz and pop....Williams was nominated for a Tony Award for her portrayal of the Witch in the revival of Into the Woods, and she sang a gorgeous version of "Children Will Listen" from that show. She paired it with "The Sweetest Days," a song Williams stated was written for her four children. ...The second part of her show kicked off with a moving rendition of the Oscar-winning song from Pocahontas "Colors of the Wind," which Williams sang the pop cover of and also performed at the Oscars. Williams is a Special Olympics Ambassador and for this song she was joined on stage by members of the Kellis High School Unified Choir. The emotion, energy and thrill the choir members brought to the number received a standing ovation from the Musicfest audience....For every song she sang in her concert, Williams showed us how her voice has a beautiful richness to it plus a power that can turn from a whisper to a roar. Her phrasing is impeccable and she finds the nuance, meaning and emotion in the lyrics of each number. Her band, most of whom have been with her for over 20 years, are sensational. Williams performed at Arizona Musicfest's main venue of Highlands Church, which affords excellent, unobstructed sightlines and superb sound." -Gil Benbrook, Talkin' Broadway (click here to read the complete review)
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