Ariana DeBose has come to a point in her life where she knows exactly who she is, and that's exactly what she shows to the world. She lives out loud and on purpose. She is authentically herself.
DeBose took the stage at Lincoln Center's Geffen Hall April 8 for a sold-out concert as part of the American Songbook: A Place You Belong series, titled Authenticity. Created with her long-time collaborator music director Benjamin Rauhala, Authenticity featured favorite tunes and stories from her Oscar-winning and Tony-nominated career. The performer also loves a good mashup, so her set list was filled with Broadway show tunes seamlessly blended with pop hits.
Speaking with Playbill ahead of the concert, DeBose said, "Authenticity is about how you reconcile the fullness of your identity and walk through this world proudly when there are many entities that try to make you small. I believe in taking up space and making space for everyone.”
READ: With Ariana DeBose, What You See Is What You Get
With that kind of outlook, it's no wonder that she was able to turn her little internet bruhaha into a triumph by opening Authenticity, with the viral rap she performed when hosting the BAFTA Awards in February. (You know, where Angela Bassett did the thing.)
Check out the Lincoln Center Authenticity concert set list below.
ACT ONE
- "Did the Thing"/Madonna's "Vogue"
- "Come Rain or Come Shine" from St. Louis Woman/Tina Turner's "River Deep, Mountain High"
- Kander and Ebb's "Sorry I Asked"
- Sam Sparro's "Black and Gold" (Which DeBose danced to when she was a contestant on the reality show So You Think You Can Dance)
- Madonna's "Ray of Light"
- "You'll Be Back" from Hamilton
- "A Quiet Thing" from Flora the Red Menace/Alanis Morisette's "Hand in My Pocket"
- Donna Summer's "MacArthur Park," which DeBose performed in the musical Summer
ACT TWO
- "All That Jazz"/"Get Happy"/"Firework"/"Don't Rain on My Parade"/"Buenos Aires
- "Alyssa Greene" from The Prom
- Julia Michaels's "That's the Kind of Woman"
- "Ladies Who Lunch" from Company/"Poor Unfortunate Souls" from The Little Mermaid
- Sara Bareilles' "Manhattan"/"Move On" from Sunday in the Park With George
- Dua Lipa's "Don't Start Now"
- Coldplay's "Fix You"
- "Somewhere" from West Side Story
ENCORE
- The Carpenter's "Close to You"
- ABBA's "Waterloo"