12 Days of Christmas with Norm Lewis: Why Can't It Be Christmas Every Day?

Deck the halls, trim the tree, and spin the dreidel. BroadwayWorld is continuing our tradition of celebrating the holiday season with a 12 Days of Christmas countdown. This year we've invited the incomparable Norm Lewis to share his favorite holiday performances.

Check back daily to get in the holiday spirit in time for December 25 and to find out what else made his list!

---

"On the 11th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me..." the opportunity to share some real joy with you, from my heart. I'd be crazy not to include this video in my choices of 12, on the penultimate day of this fun feature from BroadwayWorld. Yes... it's ME! Last year, my first ever Christmas album was released and this was truly a dream I had fantasized for quite a while, coming to fruition. Richard Jay-Alexander and I produced it (during August), like most holiday albums, and Richard played me this song written by Jay Landers and Walter Afanasieff. He insisted we had to do it and I certainly loved it, but wasn't sure I had the right voice for it. Walter, of course, wrote and produced "All I Want For Christmas Is You" with Mariah Carey and, now, here was a song written by the same guy, this time with Jay Landers.

Jay and Richard Jay- are best friends and collaborators and Jay was wildly encouraging and guided us about HOW to do it. That's when I invited my friends, Darius deHaas, Mykal Kilgore and Destan Owens to join me at the recording session- LIVE! Joseph Joubert arranged and my boys in the band, George Farmer and Perry Cavari slammed away. Then, THIS happened.

The vibe is joyous and celebratory and we hit the streets of New York, Kamikaze-style, making this video. Directed by Nellie Beavers and Richard Jay-Alexander, I close my show in New York with it each night and send everyone out into the streets dancing. I couldn't feel more blessed at the opportunity to share it with you.

---

Norm Lewis can be seen starring in the upcoming Netflix film "Da 5 Bloods" by Spike Lee. He was recently seen in the NBC television special, "Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert!" and appeared in the Broadway revival of Once on This Island. He recently appeared as Sweeney Todd 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. In 2014, he made history as The Phantom of the Opera's first African American Phantom on Broadway.

He has been seen on PBS in the Live From Lincoln Center productions ofShowboat 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. He can be seen recurring in the VH1 series, Daytime Divas, also alongside Vanessa Williams. His additional television credits include 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.

Mr. Lewis received Tony, Drama Desk, Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle award nominations for his performance as Porgy in the Broadway production ofThe Gershwins' Porgy & Bess. 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 London's West End he has appeared as Javert in Les Misérables and Les Misérables: The 25th Anniversary Concert, which aired on PBS.

Off-Broadway Mr. Lewis has performed in Dessa Rose (Drama Desk nomination, AUDELCO Award), Shakespeare in the Park's The Tempest, The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Drama League nomination), Captains Courageous, and A New Brain. His regional credits include Porgy in The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess (A.R.T.), Ragtime, Dreamgirls (with Jennifer Holliday), First You Dream, Sweeney Todd, and The Fantasticks.

His additional film credits include Magnum Opus, Winter's Tale, Sex and the City 2, Confidences, and Preaching to the Choir.

Norm's albums "The Norm Lewis Christmas Album" & "This is The Life" are available now.