Ben Vereen ready to step out in Baton Rouge

When Ben Vereen steps out on the stage of the LSU Union Theater Sunday afternoon it’ll be to put on a show that was more than 40 years in the making. Steppin’ Out with Ben Vereen is billed as a combination tribute to Broadway, Frank Sinatra and a “very special” tribute to Sammy Davis Jr.

But the show is really the “best of a body of work that has taken me from Brooklyn to Baton Rouge,” said the star recently by phone from Los Angeles.

And what a body of work: star turns in the Broadway productions of Wicked, Fosse, Chicago, Jesus Christ Superstar (nominated for the Tony) Pippin (won the Tony) and Hair; roles in more than a dozen feature films; and TV appearances ranging from How I Met Your Mother all the way back to 1977’s groundbreaking miniseries Roots.

If Sunday’s one-man show is the story of his life, it’s fitting that his professional life began with the 1965 off-Broadway production of “The Prodigal Son,” since later in life he would, like that Biblical figure, “come to myself.”

“There’s a power within me greater than myself. It’s living in me and [all of us]. The grace of that power has carried me through all of this…we call it God.” The adversities he’s encountered, including his daughter’s accidental death, his own near death after being struck by a car, and most recently, diabetes, have only served to energize him and make him more grateful.

“The diabetes isn’t slowing me down much,” said Vereen, who’ll be 65 next month. “It’s given me more energy, knowledge and awareness.”

Vereen likes to spread that awareness—when he’s not performing, he’s spreading the word on lifestyle changes important to the country’s millions of diabetics, on behalf of a pharmaceutical giant. By now, it’s clear Vereen is not just a glass half-full kinda guy; his glass is overflowing like Vermont after Irene.

Another passion is the arts in education (don’t get him started…) “The arts in education is not up to the government, it’s not up to Barack Obama. We are the change. We must support our own change. The arts are the center of our civilization.” And he’s not just talking the talk—he was recently named co-artistic director of Tampa’s Broadway Theatre Project, a musical theater arts education program for high school and college students.

Sunday’s stop along the Third Coast is between gigs in the other two. Readings in observation of 9/11 will keep him busy ’til he gets here that day, then it’s back home to L.A., which he now calls home.

Tickets are available at uniontheater.lsu.edu, or by calling the box office at 578-5128.

Group discounts for 10 or more people are available by contacting Terry Serio at 578-6013.