Adam Lambert’s new brew is ‘The Witch Hunt’ at Encore Theater

Adam Lambert ascended from the cruise ships to “American Idol” to saving Queen.

That’s the short story. But the 40-year-old Lambert has loaded a lot of experiences into his two-decade career. He worked for Anita Mann Productions as a teenager on Holland America cruise line, where he first sang and danced at the same time in proper stage shows. He soared to the “American Idol” finals in 2009, finishing second to Kris Allen but impressing Queen founders Brian May and Roger Taylor so much during a performance of “We Are the Champions” that he was invited to tour with the legendary rock band.

Lambert brazenly took over as vocalist, performing the hits once sung by Freddie Mercury. May has said Queen was about ready to call it a career before meeting Lambert on “Idol.”

And in a solo career that took off just after “Idol,” Lambert has sold 3 million albums and 5 million singles. He’s toured solo and in the Queen + Adam Lambert lineup, including a 10-show run at Park MGM in September 2018.

All those experiences have shaped Lambert as a dazzling rock star, comfortable with Queen, as a soloist and certainly in his own skin. Theatrical, sharp and imaginative, Lambert brings “The Witch Hunt” tour to the Encore Theater on Oct. 26, 28 and 29 (showtimes are 8 p.m., tickets available at Ticketmaster.com).

Highlights from a recent Zoom chat:

Johnny Kats: We’re really interested in seeing what you’ll bring to “The Witch Hunt” shows.

Adam Lambert: I’m excited. Last year (at the Venetian Theatre) we did a Halloween-themed show, but it was a bit of an afterthought. This year, I really wanted to plan ahead. I think last year, coming out of the pandemic, it was a little moody and it was a little darker. This year, with “The Witch Hunt,” it’s a bit more lightweight, but it’s very fun. I’m definitely making my way through a handful of different genres and eras of music. But all within that Halloween vibe. Obviously there’s songs from my catalog, but I’m doing a lot of covers this year, more than I usually do, and singing some new material.

Who are you covering, aside from the obvious?

Oh, I don’t know if I want to give it away!

OK, how about a genre?

I’m definitely gonna hit you with some new wave from the ’80s. I’m definitely going to hit you with sort of a surprise ’90s metal moment. I’m going to get into some disco, and some ’70s funk, too.

This might be the show where the audience needs their own costume changes. I think I need to bring four or five outfits just to watch this show.

(Laughs) I plan on wearing enough costumes for everybody. So, you don’t even have to wear a costume. Just come in a T-shirt and jeans. I will do all the work.

I’ve always been impressed by your musical theater qualities, which make you more than a typical rock star. I think that’s why you’re so effective in the Queen shows. But where are you in your solo environment, in relation to Queen? Is that project on indefinite hold?

I’ve been really lucky. The last 10 years it’s always been side by side, and they’ve happened simultaneously. I’ve been able to go on tour with Queen, and then in the gaps between I’ve put out my own music. I haven’t really had to choose one as the primary, which has been pretty cool. We just toured this last summer, Queen and I, in Europe and in the U.K. We’re looking at maybe doing another one soon. I have a new song coming out — it’s a cover of an old Noël Coward song.

What’s the story behind the new single?

It’s called “Mad About the Boy”, and it’s for a movie about his life, a documentary (“Mad About the Boy — The Noël Coward Story,” due next year). They wanted an original song, and wanted a version of one of his songs that he could never sing because it was taboo for him to sing about a guy. It became a torch song for a lot of female vocalists. But being it’s 2022 and it’s a different time, we thought that it’d be cool to take it back and have a guy sing it. It’s a little jazz, a little trip-hop. It’s my own thing and I’m really into it.

I’m just now remembering that Coward recorded a live album at the Desert Inn, in the ’50s. That’s where Encore is today.

Well, that is interesting. I knew he had a thing in Vegas for a while. ... That’d be a fun little fact for the audience.

I have to ask about your time with Anita Mann, who is the producer of “Fantasy” here at Luxor. She worked with you at the start of your career on the cruise ships, if I’m not mistaken.

I love her. She gave me my first job. We were doing revues, so it was like, a male and female vocalist, a secondary female and male vocalist, and then dancers. We were doing five different shows that were themed for the clientele on Holland America, a slightly older clientele. It was a lot of throwback stuff — Frank Sinatra, Tom Jones, stuff like that. It was really fun. We did Broadway songs. We did standards. It was a crash course of an education, too.

How old were you?

I was 19 years old, doing the male lead in the show with people who were twice my age. It was a little scary, but she believed in me.

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.