In many ways, the award-winning actor and singer Leslie Odom, Jr., has made history.
From his Broadway success, onscreen roles and the release of a new album, there are many reasons he's one of Time's 100 most influential people of 2024.
Now, he's bringing his work to Boston for one night only, with a headline show at the Emerson Colonial Theatre on April 24. He joined host Jared Bowen on The Culture Show to talk about his career, artistic process and the state of modern theater.
Odom's performance as Aaron Burr in the mega hit musical “Hamilton,” a role that earned him a Tony Award, gave us a new way to think about America’s history, what the nation is built on, and the complexity of the fathers who founded it.
Since then, he has gone on to star in the first-ever Broadway revival of Ossie Davis' “Purlie Victorious,” a play skewering American racism. Before it closed, PBS filmed the production, which will be broadcast on May 24 at 9 p.m. as part of a series on the best Broadway performances.
Along the way, Odom has also been making music. His latest album, “When a Crooner Dies,” was released in November.
He said the album came at a time when, “Life was asking more of me than I had the tools to really handle.”
He said the final product is, “the most personal project I've put out, and I'm very, very proud of it. I hope people will take a moment to listen to it.”
“When a Crooner Dies” is a vast departure from Odom's first album, which he reflected on as “a Kickstarter album in 2014.”
“I felt kind of weird about going to the public and asking them for money [to make the album],” Odom remembered. “I asked everybody that I knew for 15 bucks to make [that] record. And a lot of people said 'yes.'”
In addition to his work on stage and in song, Odom is also making waves on the screen — last year, he starred in “The Exorcist: Believer,” a follow-up in a classic horror franchise.
“I have to put myself as close to the psychological situation as possible,” he said of the filming process. “And so it was a rough few months, I have to say. But to me, they're worth it. I only did it because I love horror movies, and I think they serve a real useful purpose in our society.”
Across each of his roles and experiences, Odom says that “the most useful thing [that] I can offer the world through this thing that I do [is give] truthful renderings of Black lives, whether I am acting in them or producing them, or directing them. Those are the images I want to shepherd into the world.”
His belief is, “if I can be a part of adding new images and new ideas to expand the idea of who I am and the idea of what somebody who looks like me is, I think that that'll be a real good use of my life.”
Listen to the full interview above, and listen to The Culture Show every weekday at 2 p.m. Get more information about Leslie Odom, Jr.'s Boston event here.
