May 17, 2007
"110 in the Shade"
Can't wait!!
May 24 8 p.m. I'm finally gonna see Audra McDonald live in her latest performance - in 110 in the Shade (musical version of The Rainmaker). Seriously - it's about time I see this phenom do her thing in person.
Here's the review in the Times.
Brief excerpt:
Singing for Ms. McDonald is just a more emphatic and articulate way of talking, one that’s needed when emotions are so intense they can’t be captured without the texture and shading of melody. When you listen to Ms. McDonald’s Lizzie sing about the ache of loneliness or her disgust for the words “old maid,” you don’t know how she feels; you feel how she feels. You’re likely to find tears in your eyes by the end of even comic songs.
The woman has gotten reviews along those lines since she first trod Ye Olde Boards ... you know, words like "transcendent", and "powerful" are used repeatedly. I missed her in all of those storied productions. Carousel (1st Tony), Master Class (Tony), Ragtime (Tony). She won 3 Tonys in 5 years. She was 26 years old. I have her albums ... I thrill to her voice ... and I can't wait to see her live. My friend Kate (who just opened in Arcadia in Chicago) saw her in Ragtime and said it was more like watching a "raw nerve" than a Broadway-typical performance. McDonald burned, ached, wailed, crooned - her acting as spectacular as the voice ... but it is the VOICE that makes it all possible.
What is rare is how abandoned she seems at all times. Yet the voice remains in her service. She can use it at will. It is as abandoned, emotionally, as uninhibited, emotionally, as she is. It seems paradoxical - but it takes intense discipline to have a voice be that free. It's like Judy Garland's voice. Or like the young Barbra Streisand's voice. It is capable of expressing everything. There is nowhere that that voice cannot go.
Thrilled! Countdown to May 24 begins.
Audra McDonald in "110 in the Shade"
I can't wait to hear all about it - what a treat!!
Posted by: Betsy at May 17, 2007 11:47 AMBets - wanna play hookey on the 24th and 25th?? Come down and see it with me! :)
Posted by: red at May 17, 2007 12:05 PMevil temptress!!!
Posted by: Betsy at May 17, 2007 12:19 PMI do really want to - but I'm literally standing here with your "cousin" and I don't want her to think badly of me - Actually, she's saying I should!
Posted by: Betsy at May 17, 2007 12:46 PMmy buddy chris innvar is playing opposite her!
Posted by: brendan at May 17, 2007 12:48 PMha! My cousin!! Hi, cuz!
You know, i think there's a flu going around. At least it WILL be going around next week, on the 24th and 25th ... hmmmmm .....
Posted by: red at May 17, 2007 12:48 PMBren - Chris Innvar, I saw that!
Posted by: red at May 17, 2007 12:49 PMI want a blow by blow account of this Sheila. Honestly. Please.
I'm dying.
Posted by: Alex at May 17, 2007 5:33 PMI'm still getting caught up online from last weekend, so I've just now seen this. I hope it was great--I'm jealous. I saw Arcadia a week ago today, and it was wonderful. I clapped extra hard for Kate, who did a marvelous job. It was interesting to see the differences in direction from the last time I saw it--I liked Valentine much more this time around. The friend I dragged along didn't like it quite as much as I did, which would be impossible, but she did enjoy it very much and could easily see why it's my favorite play.
Posted by: Harriet at May 25, 2007 9:16 PMHarriet - I'm so glad it was a good show and that you went! I'm jealous!!
Posted by: red at May 27, 2007 11:19 AM