Jessica Vosk • September 21, 2024 • The Noorda Performing Arts Center
Reviewed by Kevin Rolfe
Musical Theater fans in Utah have developed a real affection for Broadway Star, Jessica Vosk. Vosk performed at The Noorda Performing Arts Center on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem. The venue where Jessica made her Utah debut in February 2023. She returned a year later to perform at Eccles Theater in Salt Lake City with Jeremy Jordan and Kara Lindsay. So within a fairly short period of time she’s grown quite the fanbase. There was a buzz inside The Noorda on September 21. Fans were eager to see what the talented vocalist would bring to this show. Her prior appearances were so entertaining that I’m sure expectations were high. Let’s get this out of the way in the first paragraph, Jessica Vosk did not disappoint.
In order to talk about a Jessica Vosk concert it seems necessary to first share some of her story. At 41, Vosk made her Broadway debut just ten years ago. She didn’t study theater or voice in college. Instead she studied to work on Wall Street. And following her studies that’s just what she did. A few years into it, a career change was necessary. It’s impossible hear her voice, or to see her act and not feel like she had always been destined for the Broadway stage. I commend her for taking the chance and going for it. We are the beneficiaries.
The show started strong with “The Wizard and I” from the musical Wicked. A musical where many Vosk fans in attendance know her from. Jessica even joked that after starting the show with a song like that it was all downhill from there. This was definitely not the case.
As much as I love Jessica Vosk’s voice, I think it’s her storytelling and audience interaction that make her concerts so much fun. She told us stories from how she was cast in Wicked, how she met her now fiancé, and the way she connected with the songs she performed for us. Vosk gives us suck insight into her life and this music in a way that made the audience feel like we were watching a friend. She’s so engaging that we just wanted the show to keep going. Normally when a singer talks or tells a story, there comes a point where I’ll feel like, ‘Ok, ok, get to the song!’. Never once did I feel like that in this concert. Her stories are so entertaining that think I could attend a night of just Jessica Vosk storytime, with no music. She’s that good.
That being said, we were there for the music. Jessica Vosk told us that she had a completely new setlist for us. That she wouldn’t be a good Jersey Girl if she had just brought back the set from the last time she was here. I thought the mix of contemporary music with classic musical theater hits, as well as some of the best current Broadway gems was well curated. To hear, “Something to Talk About” a Bonnie Raitt hit, next to, “One Song, Glory” from the musical, Rent followed by a song from Ingrid Michaelson’s The Notebook, showed Vosk’s versatility. She pulled off each song perfectly.
A highlight of the show was when Jessica performed, “Suddenly Seymour” from the Off-Broadway favorite, Little Shop of Horrors with a student from Utah Valley University. Her banter with the student was so fun. It was pretty clear that he was in awe of the moment. The entire audience was so supportive. It was one of the many show stoppers of the evening, and a memory I’m sure this student will never forget.
This tour isn’t the only thing Jessica Vosk is working on. She’s also working on a show featuring the music of Laurel Canyon, and she’s getting ready to star in the stage adaptation of the film Beaches. Vosk performed “Wind Beneath My Wings” better than I have ever heard it sung before. The song is perfect for her voice, and I know she will receive ovations similar to the one she had at The Noorda when she steps into the role.
I love the music from the musical Chess. I was delighted to learn that Jessica performed the lead role of Florence Vassey at The Muny in St. Louis. My hope was that she would perform one of the songs from that show in this concert. I’m sure you can imagine how excited I was when Jessica began to talk about the show and then performed “Nobody’s Side”. I wish I could have seen her at The Muny in this role. But at least I got to hear her perform this song from the show. It was my favorite part of the concert.
I don’t think I expected to hear some Chapel Roan at this concert. But Jessica Vosk is full of surprises. She gave the audience two parts to choose from and as she sang, “Pink Pony Club” we harmonized with her. It was so fun. This audience was totally game to sing along with Vosk. Chappel Roan is everywhere these days, and I think I’m ok with that.
Jessica then invited more students on stage to perform Adele’s “Send My Love (To Your New Lover)”. She joked that normally she’ll have a few students perform with her, but this looked like an entire football team on stage.
In what might have been the biggest and most inspirational moment of the night, Jessica Vosk performed, “This Is Me” from The Greatest Showman. She dedicated it to “All of you who have ever felt “othered”, who have ever felt less than, who have ever had imposter syndrome, who have ever thought, “what am I going to do with my life”…”. Again the audience joined in the appropriate moments to sing along. Jessica’s vocals were on point. She made even the most difficult notes seem effortless. Her range and power are so impressive. But the thing that impresses me the most with her is how she can sing so powerfully and then pull it all back and sing so softly and clearly. Not every vocalist can do that and she has perfected this dynamic.
The show seemed to fly by. As I said earlier, I wanted the show to keep going. It could have continued for another hour and the crowd would have been into it. But as fast as the night went, time seemed to stop, in a good way, when Jessica sang one of the best Broadway songs in the last decade, “She Used to Be Mine” from the Sara Barielles penned Waitress. Another show Vosk starred in at The Muny. I have listened to as many renditions of this song as I possibly can. The version I heard inside The Noorda is as good as any I have heard, including when I heard Barielles herself perform the song.
The night ended with the anthemic “Heart of Stone” from the musical SIX. Once again the audience joined in and the combination of fans knowing the intricacies of this song, and Vosk’s command of the song created the perfect close to the concert. As I’m sure you’d expect, Jessica Vosk exited the stage to a thunderous standing ovation. I can’t imagine she’ll be gone long. Utah loves her, and it seems she really enjoys playing here.