Can’t wait!!<\/p>\n
May 24 8 p.m.<\/b> I’m finally <\/i>gonna see Audra McDonald live <\/b>in her latest performance – in 110 in the Shade<\/i> (musical version of The Rainmaker<\/i>). Seriously – it’s about time I see this phenom do her thing in person<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Brief excerpt:<\/p>\n
Singing for Ms. McDonald is just a more emphatic and articulate way of talking, one that\u00ef\u00bf\u00bds needed when emotions are so intense they can\u00ef\u00bf\u00bdt be captured without the texture and shading of melody. When you listen to Ms. McDonald\u00ef\u00bf\u00bds Lizzie sing about the ache of loneliness or her disgust for the words \u00ef\u00bf\u00bdold maid,\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd you don\u00ef\u00bf\u00bdt know how she feels; you feel <\/i>how she feels. You\u00ef\u00bf\u00bdre likely to find tears in your eyes by the end of even comic songs.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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<\/i> (1st Tony), Master Class<\/i> (Tony), Ragtime<\/i> (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<\/i> in Chicago) saw her in Ragtime<\/i> 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.<\/p>\n
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<\/i>. There is nowhere<\/i> that that voice cannot go.<\/p>\n
Thrilled! Countdown to May 24 begins.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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 … Continue reading