Philly POPS present Heather Headley's 'Broadway My Way'

Despite her theatrical pedigree, Headley’s career has largely crossed over to pop, gospel, and R&B music in recent years. (She won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Gospel Album in 2010). Her résumé boasts only one return to the Great White Way — as a replacement Shug Avery in The Color Purple — since her breakout role in Aida.

The current concert suggests no decline in her musical-theater prowess. If anything, her velvety, rich alto sounds more secure and interesting than ever.

Styles for miles

The concert opened with “Home” from The Wiz, an appropriate choice for an artistic homecoming. Backed by the swelling strings and polished brass of the Philly POPS BIG Band, paced by Ron Colvard, Headley sent her voice soaring into all corners of Verizon Hall. If home is “a place where there’s love overflowing,” as Charlie Smalls’s lyrics say, the audience’s ecstatic reaction certainly qualified.

Although Headley sang a few verses of “Written in the Stars,” her signature song from Aida, she mostly avoided familiar music. She used the program to exorcize some “song envy,” choosing material she’s unlikely to tackle in full productions.

Since her Irish accent, in her own words, sounds "too Jamaican," Finian’s Rainbow probably isn’t on the horizon. That’s a shame, since her “Look to the Rainbow” captured the song’s quiet whimsy and haunting beauty.

Headley compared songs to dresses — she wants to try them all on. And as with dresses, some fit better than others. The evening’s only true misfire was “Still Hurting,” a mawkish ballad from Jason Robert Brown’s divorce drama The Last Five Years.

Headley had a compelling reason for including the song: she explained that at her stage of life, she has more friends announcing divorces than marriages or pregnancies. But it represented the only time she seemed out of sync with Colvard and the band.

A more gently poignant moment came in the form of “My House,” a sweet song from Matilda about self-reliance and being content with what you have. Headley related the lyrics to her childhood in Trinidad, where she said her family’s entire apartment fit into her current living room.

Pop heart

The program’s second half strayed a bit from Broadway, with exciting renditions of “River Deep, Mountain High” and “Your Song.” The latter, she explained, came into her repertoire at the personal request of Sir Elton John — the first of several endearing humblebrags she dropped into engaging stage banter.

Another humblebrag: her story of being approached to sing Céline Dion’s part opposite Andrea Bocelli for their famous duet, “The Prayer.” Headley performed the song — which is a tad too syrupy for my taste — with Philly native son Hugh Panaro, a veteran of six Broadway shows. Panaro also got a moment to shine on his own, singing a stirring “Maria” from West Side Story.

The program closed with an endearing take on “For Good,” the lovely 11 o’clock number from Wicked. Singing both parts, Headley turned the song from an anthem of friendship to a rousing appreciation of her life on the stage, how performing on Broadway made her into the artist she is today. It was a genuinely moving moment.

Headley, who lives in Chicago these days, currently has no announced plans for a musical-theater return. After this exhilarating event, I can only hope that will change.