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Avery Wilson

The New York Pops: ‘If I Ain’t Got You: The Best of R&B”

February 17, 2026

For Jackson, this concert marked her Carnegie Hall debut, and it was a thrilling one. Known to Broadway audiences for her luminous Daisy Buchanan in "The Great Gatsby" and for a career that moves fluidly between musical theater, concert work, film soundtracks, and voiceover, she sang with a sense of arrival rather than introduction—her sound clear, warm, and emotionally legible even at its softest. Wilson returned to The New York Pops after first appearing with the orchestra at its 41st Birthday Gala in 2024, and he sang with the confidence of someone who already understands how to live inside this ensemble. A Grammy-nominated artist with roots in Broadway ("The Wiz"), R&B, and contemporary recording, he brought an easy authority to the stage—rhythmic, grounded, and unforced. [more]

The Wiz

May 16, 2024

The eye-filling sets by Hannah Beachler and video and projection design by Daniel Brodie include subtle tributes to Black Culture that not all theatergoers may notice on a first look. When Dorothy first lands in Oz, the landscape and houses are reminiscent of Tremé, the Black neighborhood in New Orleans decimated by Hurricane Katrina. The overhead set piece is inspired by the arch in New Orleans’ Louis Armstrong Park as well as incorporating patterns found in quilts on the Underground Railroad. African symbols are carved into the bark of the trees along Dorothy’s path on the Yellow Brick Road as well as depicted on the sides of the theater proscenium arch. When Glinda enters, she comes out of house at the address 1804, commemorating the year of Haiti’s independence. The red and black sets and costumes (by Sharon Davis) for the sequence in the Castle of Evilene are a tribute to West African culture. [more]