Nicole Scherzinger Is Ready to Reinvent Herself with Her New Concert Special: “People Tend to Put You in a Box”
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The Tony Award-winning Sunset Blvd. star spoke with PEOPLE about why she wanted viewers to experience the “many different sides” of her in the filmed PBS special.
Nicole Scherzinger hopes her latest concert special will introduce audiences to the many different dimensions of who she is as a performer.
The production, Great Performances: An Evening with Nicole Scherzinger, was recorded during her Oct. 6, 2025 appearance at London’s Royal Albert Hall and is scheduled to air on PBS as part of its 2026 Broadway’s Best lineup on Friday, May 22.
Following her Tony Award-winning performance in Sunset Blvd., the 47-year-old entertainer created a setlist blending Broadway classics, jazz favorites, and hits from The Pussycat Dolls, accompanied by a live orchestra.
“I felt like I needed to show people this side of me,” Scherzinger told PEOPLE. “Musical theater has always been part of my background, but many people only knew me from one perspective. When people put you in a box, they tend to see only one version of you.”
She explained that the concert became her way of presenting the full range of her artistry. Instead of waiting for casting opportunities, she chose to perform the songs she had loved since childhood and shape them into her own personal production.
The idea had been developing for years. Back in 2019, Scherzinger independently funded a small performance at New York City jazz club The Django to showcase her passion for storytelling through music. During that show, she performed selections from Kiss of the Spider Woman along with other favorites.
She later expanded the concept into solo performances in London and Los Angeles, often opening with the iconic Funny Girl number “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” which also serves as the opening song in the Royal Albert Hall special.
“In all of those performances, I entered through the audience because I wanted to change expectations,” Scherzinger shared. “I didn’t want to do what people assumed I would.”
Eventually, she announced appearances at legendary venues including Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and Royal Albert Hall — a venue she says she dreamed about performing in for years while passing it on her trips through London.
One of the show’s most emotional highlights features a medley of “Losing My Mind” from Follies and “Not a Day Goes By” from Merrily We Roll Along. During the concert, Scherzinger told the audience she had always hoped to collaborate with the late Stephen Sondheim.
Calling “Losing My Mind” one of her favorite songs ever, she said she first connected deeply with it as a teenager. The performer added that combining the two songs created what she considers the most honest and emotionally exposed moment of the entire show.