Fort Erie ‘Soul Man’ Lee Siegel releases 12-track album online

Fort Erie Broadway performer Lee Siegel released his soul album on streaming platforms, where hometown listeners can now hear a record he sold only at his touring shows last year.

Siegel wrote ‘Rise,’ a new song inspired by the civil rights movement, for the streaming release after world politics left him feeling helpless, he said.

“What can one voice on the planet do?” Siegel told Fort Erie Radio. “Well, you can write a song.”

Eleven Motown and soul covers from the 1950s through the 1980s round out the 12-track album, among them Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’ and Otis Redding’s ‘Sitting on the Dock of the Bay.’

Siegel created “Soul Man,” the two-hour stage show behind most of the album’s songs, with musical director Konrad Pluta about two years ago. Siegel said the show traces Motown and soul artists through the civil rights movement, a struggle he said mirrors events in parts of the world today.

“You really listen to those lyrics, and you’re like, ‘It’s still happening,’” Siegel said of civil rights-era songs such as Sam Cooke’s ‘A Change Is Gonna Come.’

Siegel began performing in the drama department at Ridgeway-Crystal Beach High School in Fort Erie, where he still lives. He made his Broadway debut in March 2012 as Simon Zealotes in the Stratford Festival’s production of “Jesus Christ Superstar.” He later performed on Broadway in the musical “Paradise Square.”

The Grand Theatre in London, Ont., will host the show February 11, its closest confirmed date to Fort Erie.

Several Montana theatres invited the show back for next season after Siegel performed at a showcase in the state, he said. Siegel also plans performances in Manitoba next season.

Siegel said he hopes to bring “Soul Man” closer to Fort Erie next year, but the show’s 11-piece band is hard to take on the road.

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