By Andrew Gans
24 Dec 2004
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| Singer-actress and four-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald |
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| photo by Barron Claiborne |
News, views and reviews about the multi-talented women of the musical theatre and the concert/cabaret stage.
AUDRA McDONALD
Lincoln Center's American Songbook series scored a coup this season when the most acclaimed musical theatre star of her generation, Audra McDonald, signed on to open the program's seventh season. McDonald has created a brand-new show for her Jan. 6-8, 2005, concerts, which will mark the American Songbook's first season at the Frederick P. Rose Hall in the Time Warner Center. Although she will offer a few songs by some of her musical theatre favorites — expect a couple Michael John LaChiusa and Adam Guettel ditties — McDonald's program will primarily celebrate contemporary pop writers, including the work of Elvis Costello, Laura Nyro, James Taylor, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder and Prince. Those who have been lucky enough to witness McDonald live know that the four-time Tony Award winner is one of the most riveting concert performers around. Not only does she boast a lush voice that can belt or soar to the stratosphere, but McDonald manages to imbue each song with irresistible honesty and emotion. I recently had the chance to have a brief chat with the down-to-earth performer, who scored her fourth Tony Award last season for her powerful work in the revival of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun. That interview — conducted by phone as McDonald awaited a plane to Utah for a series of concerts — follows:
Q: Tell me about your program for the American Songbook series.
Audra McDonald: We always try and put a few of our favorites in, but it's basically a new show. We're doing a lot of other works by these composers and then some pop material, trying to explore the bridge between their work and the pop world. I'm not crossing over — this is not Audra's big crossover. I'm not becoming Britney Spears. [Laughs.] Actually, a lot of the music I've chosen is music that I think could have been conceived for any musical in this day and age.
Q: What are some of the songs?
McDonald: I'm doing a couple of Laura Nyro tunes, an Elvis Costello tune, a Stevie Wonder, two Randy Newman, and then I'm doing some of my composer friends as well. Michael John has written a new piece for this concert.
McDonald: It's both. I pick a lot of it, but I get a lot of ideas thrown at me from different places. My music director, Ted Sperling, helps a lot. I also have a lot of people whose taste in music I appreciate and respect. Certain things — like the Laura Nyro tunes — came from [conductor] Michael Tilson Thomas back in 1998. And, the Elvis Costello tune was a tune that a pianist of mine suggested that I sing, and then I was chatting with [jazz vocalist] Diana Krall, and she said, "You know what song you should sing? My husband's." [Laughs.] When things like that drop into your lap or come across your consciousness like that, I try and pay attention to them.
Q: And, you're also going to record these songs? When will you be heading into the studio?
McDonald: Well, we recorded a lot of them already and the rest of them [will be recorded] right after the concert. Hopefully [it will be out] in the spring [on Nonesuch].
Q: I know at one point there was talk about bringing Raisin in the Sun to Los Angeles. What's happening on that front?
McDonald: I'm hearing a lot of stuff like they're trying to get it maybe done on television. I'd love to revisit it. It's certainly not a role that you can do for a long, long stretch because it's so heavy. I find that living that life every night is very difficult.
Q: I always wonder with people who sing if doing a play is as fulfilling or as enjoyable as doing a musical.
McDonald: It's absolutely as fulfilling. I just mean that particular role — because it's such a heavy role, she's so down the entire time — that it can be hard to shake that off on a long-term basis.
Q: You were also recently part of the workshop of 110 in the Shade. How did that go?
McDonald: It went really well. It was a piece that I was only slightly aware of when [director] Lonny [Price] brought it to me and wasn't all that taken with it until I started to work on it. And, now I absolutely love the piece. There's a lot of work to be done, I think, but the piece itself, the music is incredible, and the story is such a beautiful story. I was joking, and I kept calling it Lizzie's Very Big Day because it all happens in one day for her, and it's a pretty huge journey she takes. It went really well, but that's all I can officially say. [Laughs.]
Q: What's happening with the new Michael John LaChiusa piece, R Shomon, that you performed at Williamstown?
McDonald: I guess we're just waiting to figure out where exactly we're going to do it in New York. It is going to have a New York life — we're just not sure at this point exactly where. There are a couple places, but we haven't been told definitively which place we will end up in.
Q: How was your experience working on the show?
McDonald: It was great. As with all of Michael John's pieces, it's very challenging. It's very . . . sharp is the wrong word, but it's definitely its own thing. It doesn't pussyfoot around on any level, nor does Michael John — he's not that type of a person. It was a great experience. It was a sold-out run, and people seemed to be really, really into it up there. It was great, after workshopping it for so long, to finally get it up on its feet and see it fully realized.
Q: It's two separate pieces . . .
McDonald: It's three separate pieces actually. . . There's something very fascinating about telling the exact same story from three different viewpoints. It's really neat to see, [but] it's hard to play because you have to remind yourself of who [you are] in each version. "Who am I playing? I'm me, but I'm this person's version of me, therefore I wouldn't do this." That was very tricky to figure out in rehearsal. You have to be incredibly specific, down to when I move my left arm. . . And, then, the second full piece, which is called "Glory Day," it was great because Michael John calls that his variation on the "Wizard of Oz" characters, set in sort of a post-9/11 experience — looking for a heart, courage, home, brain. It was great to play all these different characters. Continued...
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