By Melissa Griegel
Photos by Melissa Griegel Photography
Tony®, Emmy, and Grammy nominee Vanessa Williams returns to the 54 Below stage with her new show The Comfort Zone. Her six-show run began Monday, February 16th, 2026 and continues through this Saturday night, the 21st. All shows are at 7 pm, with doors opening at 5 pm so you can dine on a delicious meal at 54 Below before Vanessa sings.
At the Tuesday, February 17th show, Vanessa looked stunning in a gorgeous red dress, as she sang about love and took a musical stroll down memory lane. Vanessa, who is currently headlining the West End musical adaptation of film The Devil Wears Prada as the iconic character Miranda Priestly, took a short hiatus to come sing at 54 Below. She started off the show with a funny anecdote about how some of the young cast members in London said, “Oh, so you are doing your cabaret act? What are you singing?” Her joking response was, “Google my name bitch; look up my hits and then you’ll know what I am singing!” She then launched into one her hits, “The Comfort Zone” off of her second album of the same name.
The 1991 album The Comfort Zone is her most commercially successful album, reaching triple platinum status, earning her five Grammy nominations. Tuesday’s set list included four songs off that album, “Running Back to You”, “The Comfort Zone”, “Save the Best for Last”, and “Work to Do”. “Save the Best for Last” spent five consecutive weeks as the #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Vanessa talked lovingly about working on her first album The Right Stuff, released in 1988. In addition to singing the title song, she serenaded us with the ballad “Dreamin’”, her first hit on the charts. She said she enjoyed working with producer Donald Robinson on the song, and recording it in the famed Philadelphia recording studio Sigma Sound. Introducing “Love Is”, she told us she recorded the song as a duet with Brian McKnight for the Beverly Hills 90210 soundtrack. “Yes, we are going way back. Then it (90201) came back and now it’s gone again, and I think it’s never coming back, but this song will last forever!”
With a career spanning over forty years, Vanessa has a lot to choose from for her cabaret shows. “One of the highlights of my career,” she said, “was getting a chance to sing live at the Academy Awards in 1996, singing a song that actually won the night: “Colors of the Wind” by Alan Menkin and Stephen Schwartz. It was a complete disaster when we had our dress rehearsal in 1996. We had aerialists and dancers all over the place and a revolving staircase, but when it was time, when it was showtime, it was perfect.” Before delighting the audience with this big hit, she continued, “This is “Colors of the Wind” from Pocahontas. I know every dance recital you have been to, you have seen this danced to. I’m sorry. It’s a good song! What can I say?” The platinum single won the Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe for Best Original Song.
The 54 Below patrons absolutely enjoyed every note of the”Colors of the Wind”. This was a good introduction for her to pivot from her own songs to some Broadway tunes. “Children Will Listen” was a natural choice, as she starred in Sondheim’s Into the Woods as the witch. Other Sondheim greats that made the cut were “Losing My Mind” (Follies) and “Not a Day Goes By (Merrily We Roll Along). The latter was a duet with her back-up singer for the evening, Shelley Thomas-Harts (Brooklyn, the Musical, Zanna, Don’t).
Her four-piece band was composed of big industry greats who have played with some of the most accomplished singers and musicians in the world. Led by pianist and musical director Leo Colon, the band was rounded out with Al Caldwell on bass, Keith Robinson on guitar, and JT Lewis on drums. Colon also added his resonant voice to some of the songs, singing along with Williams including “Any Place I Hang My Hat is Home” from St. Louis Woman by Johnny Mercer. Williams played the lady from St. Louis in the 1998 City Center Encores production.
Williams and Thomas-Harts with cabaret legend Marilyn Maye
Wiliams told a really interesting story about working with Stephen Sondheim on Sondheim on Sondheim. The show had a myriad of different screens and would show clips of interviews Sondheim did with James Lapine. “The most effective moment in that show was when Stephen talks about his mother. He talks about him getting a hand-delivered letter to his place. He opened the letter and the letter was from his mother and it said: ‘I am about to go in for heart surgery. I just want to tell you that the only regret I have in life is giving birth to you.’” There was an audible gasp from the audience. She then explained how that was such a moment of clarity for Sondheim. He realized that his mom was upset about not realizing her own dreams of being a star and blamed her for him holding her back. “After he says this whole confession about how it was a moment of clarity, we turn around and sing ‘Careful the things you say; children will listen.’ And you can hear the sobs and the wave of sorrow in the audience ‘cause you see the connection of the pain into art. And that’s what he was so brilliant at: loneliness, pain, angst. He channeled all of that into amazing work.”
She also has an amazing body of work in film, television, recordings, and the Broadway stage. Her acclaim has led to being recognized by every major industry award affiliate including four Emmy nominations, eleven Grammy nominations, a Tony® nomination, three SAG award nominations, seven NAACP Image Awards, and three Satellite Awards. On Broadway, she has appeared in The Trip to Bountiful, Sondheim on Sondheim, After Midnight, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Into the Woods, and POTUS. Catch one of her upcoming shows this week by clicking here for tickets: 54 Below.
