Leona Lewis on joining Broadway’s Cats: ‘The show’s got a lot of heart’

She was asked to join the cast by Lloyd Webber, who told the Economist that he was furious when Scherzinger quit. Lloyd Webber called Lewis to ask whether she was interested, but insisted that she audition. Being a seasoned trouper, she flew to New York (she has homes in Los Angeles and London) and within a few days the part was hers. She will play Grizabella until October, not a long stint by theatre standards. Id just come off a tour, I was having some time off and it just seemed like the perfect role because its not a long commitment.

Until One Direction came along, Lewis was the most successful X Factor contestant ever. Poised and humble, with a stratospheric voice, she won the contest in 2006. A year later her second single Bleeding Love was No 1 in 35 countries, including the US, while its parent album Spirit sold 9m copies worldwide not quite as much as the 15m American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson achieved with her second album, Breakaway, but still serious numbers.

After a few years, however, she and Simon Cowell, the X Factor judge and her label boss, came to disagree about which musical direction she should go in (she made a dubstep-tinged album inspired by Kate Bush and Tears for Fears; he wanted her to do Motown-style covers) and Lewis left his label. A subsequent stint with Island Records ended a few weeks ago, and now Lewis is moving on. This week she has been recording We Are Free from the Gladiator soundtrack with legendary film composer Hans Zimmer; she is also working on a single to come out later this year. Two years ago she alarmed some fans by writing an open letter in which she described the stress she had been under as her relationship with Cowells label deteriorated, but now Lewis says she feels creatively unshackled: Having had a decade from doing [The X Factor] to now, Im freed up to do things that I have always wanted to do.

If Lewis picked Cats as to remind the public of her indisputable talents, she chose well. She gets the big number, Memory, coolly drains it of most of its schmaltz, and then belts it with such passion and precision it probably ends up in Times Square. The pressure of handling such a showstopper doesnt faze her: Lewis is a stage school kid who first saw Cats aged seven. I know the song, Ive sung it since I was a little girl its been exciting [to perform], more than too much, she says.

Shes used to high-stakes performances. Two years after The X Factor, in which she had to crush the competition in front of an audience of millions every week, she performed Whole Lotta Love with Jimmy Page at the handover ceremony at the Olympics in Beijing. Page described it, quite sincerely, as his proudest moment outside Led Zeppelin. We spent loads of time together in Beijing and hes like a lovely uncle, so kind, says Lewis of the once notorious guitarist. All the iconic rock stars Ive gotten to meet are like that. They are all so chill, and have no ego theyre very confident and secure in themselves.

Lewis is a vegan and animal rights activist. She refused to open the Harrods sale because they sell fur coats, said she would give up her career in return for a global ban on vivisection, and even managed to stop her German boyfriend, brought up on bratwurst, from eating meat. Did her empathy for the animal kingdom influence her interpretation of the role a moth-eaten kitty shunned by her fellow felines, but taking comfort from memories of her glory days?

Shes gracious enough to take the question seriously. Its weird, isnt it, because I also got offered a part in The Lion King when I was younger, she says. There is definitely something for putting that kind of vibe out there maybe that played a part in me taking on the role of an animal. As for real-life felines, she feeds a stray cat that stalks her land in LA, but is more of a dog and horse person. Cats are more standoffish. But it depends. My cousins got this big tabby cat that Im in love with.

Lewis is not the kind of pop star who mouths off, gets into Twitter feuds or makes controversial videos. In the age of Kanye and Rihanna, where outrage is a potent currency, that can make her seem an anomaly. Yet along with animal rights, there are other issues that she feels moved to speak out about most recently, the massacre of 49 people at Pulse, the gay club in Orlando, Florida. It struck a chord, she says. I think of my friends that could have been there, or it could have been me that was there. Putting yourself in that position is just so devastating. Its terrible, this world were living in now and it just seems to get worse and worse. Every day youre turning on the news and some other tragedy has happened. Its awful.

So whats the role of a performer in all this to provide escapism from the horrors of daily life? Lewis disagrees. When people come and see a show I hope that they take away something from it, she says. The shows got a lot of heart. Grizabellas someone thats been outcast and the storyline is about acceptance and love. That is a deeper reason as to why I do music. I dont think its escapism at all, actually. I think its really meaningful. Its about people coming away feeling moved and having a bit more love in their heart.