Speaking of “The Man That Got Away” ….

Check out Audra McDonald singing it. (Clip below). And check out her ACTING. Something happens to her – inside – at around the 3 minute point … just watch her face, and where it goes. She’s a phenom. I was lucky enough to recently see her in action in 110 In the Shade and I can attest to the fact that she’s truly one of a kind onstage. I mean, there’s the undeniable fact of her instrument. There’s that. Gal’s got some major pipes. But to connect that with subtle deep heartfelt acting … that is no easy task. It cannot be taught. My cousin Kerry has it too. Alex has it. My friend Kate has it. Judy Garland, of course, had it. At the beginning of the clip below – if you turned down the sound, and watched the start of the song – you might not even know she’s singing – her manner is so natural, so easy, so … thoughtful. You can see that she is working out the lyrics. She is discovering what to say next … even though it’s all plotted out for her beforehand.

Enjoy. This woman is something else.


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12 Responses to Speaking of “The Man That Got Away” ….

  1. melissa says:

    OH… I love Audra McDonald. Love her.

  2. DBW says:

    OMG. I regret to say that I am not familiar with her, but I will be soon. That was just spectacular, and ALL in service to the music. None of this asinine vocal posturing in service to the singer that we see all too regularly these days. I am agog.

  3. red says:

    DBW – Yes!!!! This is the chick who won 3 Tonys before she was 30. Amazing!!

    Check out Ragtime, the musical. Some great stuff there – but I know she has a couple albums out too.

  4. red says:

    I love how she sings “Good riddance” – so often a singer really punches those words out, because they are obviously so angry – and that’s certainly one way to do it … but she kind of quietly shakes her head, to herself, like … she’s still struggling, still hoping – and then realizes, inside, “Nope. Nope.” So her “good riddance” comes from that small internal thought … rather than a musical veersion of “F*** off” – it’s so good.

  5. DBW says:

    Albums, Schmalbums. At this moment, I’m thinking about leaving my wife, quitting my job, and tending Audra’s garden, delivering her newspaper,…whatever.

  6. red says:

    HAHAHA

    I’m telling Nastassia Kinski on you.

  7. DBW says:

    I am, at times, a jaded old fool, but this WRUNG tears from me. Just fantastic.

  8. DBW says:

    Now, now. Don’t be a tattletale. What Nastassja doesn’t know, Nastassja doesn’t need to know.

  9. red says:

    Her singing of the song “Your Father’s Son” in Ragtime never fails to bring tears to my eyes and I have heard it 100 times. I will always be sorry I did not see her in that production. My friend kate saw it and said that Audra, on stage, is like a raw nerve. She quivers with truth, she cannot lie. A wonderful thing for an actress to have – but then to combine it with a voice like that.

    The song that closes the first act of 100 in the Shade is an anthem called “Old Maid” -where Lizzie realizes she will never be married, and is destined to be an old maid. I am serious when I say that Audra literally WAILED that song – it became a wail of anguish that was nearly unbearable for me in the audience. It’s not even that good a song – but she just inhabited the truth of it to such a degree that it left us all wiped out. I was sitting next to two little old black gentlemen – both of whom wore vests, with watch chains (heart crack) – and I loved it because they were talking back to her, throughout all of her songs. In typical gospel-church behavior. She was howling with grief up there – Old Maaiiiiiiiid – and both these little old guys were calling out, “Oh, SISTER!” “MMMMM! SING IT.” They were shouting out what I was experiencing – it was awesome. A truly great theatre moment.

  10. red says:

    Oh, and of course I spelt Kinski’s name wrong. My bad.

  11. DBW says:

    I would love to have seen that performance. Apparently, I live in my own little world. It’s ridiculous I don’t know anything about her. Thanks for the introduction.

    Anyone who spells her name like that, deserves to have it misspelled occasionally.

  12. red says:

    DBW – yay! I introduced you to some music you actually like!! I’m not forcing Britney Spears or Backstreet Boys on you!!

    tee hee

    tee hee

    I kid.

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