Audra At Harvard: Random Ramblings
Audra At Harvard: Random Ramblings
#0Audra At Harvard: Random Ramblings
Posted: 5/21/06 at 10:18pm
This is a bit late as I didn't have internet access yesterday, and will be incoherent, but I wanted to say how amazing Audra's concert at Cambridge was yesterday. It was my second time seeing her and I was not one bit less thrilled this time. Plus I had awesome seats. Row B. I skipped my college graduation to go and boy am I glad I did.
Audra just exudes stage presence like a teenaged soccer player exudes BO. Ok, perhaps an odd comparison, but you get the picture. From the second she came on stage I started crying and didn't stop until the end. Now granted part of this may have been due to not sleeping for 3 days due to my fear of navigating the streets of Boston (my school is in a rural area), but it was still all genuine. Everytime she finished a song I jumped up in my seat like a poorly trained poodle is when they see their owner with a treat. When it came time for encores (I was sad there was only two) I clapped like tinkerbell's head was on the block. I think she had most of us in the palm of her hand.
I've been a fan of her's since I was 14 and always fear that she just won't be as strong as I think she is, but my fears are always in vain. I've never seen her in a full production but I can only imagine how amazing she is there. Audra doesn't simply stand and sing, nor does she deliver the same robotic renditions we've seen before.
Comparing the PBS concert to the first concert I saw her in to last nights, her perfomance changes. She finds different or additional nuances in each song character she portrays. She full on performs each song. And of course that voice...
The only thing that bugged me was the amplification. I was weirded out hearing the buzzing from it when I was only 7 feet away from her. Still, it's Audra...who cares, right?
I also enjoyed the little jokes she made aside from the standard introductions she give to her songs (most were the same I heard in the last concert) it made the air more lively and fresh. At one pointed she stopped singing during Bill saying that it was the fastest she had ever sung that verse in her life. Nobody seemed to care. We all enjoyed the magic that was Audra singing live.
The concert was also nifty because the audience was so divided, older folks who bopped their heads and enjoyed themselves and the younger, dare I say more active fans (I was amused that some kids actually SHOUTED REQUESTS when Audra was considering what to sing as an encore. Oh how I too would have liked to have heard Down with Love. Audra had a little cult somewhere up to the right and I very much wanted to join them. I took the T back to my friend's house and a gentleman was still talking about it which made me smile. No, "well that was nice" for Audra. An artist that can bring the generations together is A-OK in my book.
If someone else was there, I was wondering if they could recall the artist Audra sang towards the end of the concert that was from the 60's? She at first thought the song was "crazy" when Ted played it for her, but then grew to like? I can't remember it for the life of me.
I urge anyone and everyone to see her in concert as soon as they can. It's an amazing experience. From what I could hear after the concert was over, I wasn't the only one drained (in a postive way) from the experience.
#1re: Audra At Harvard: Random Ramblings
Posted: 5/21/06 at 10:29pm
what did she sing!!!??
one of my favorites is her: Poor Girls Ruination
sounds like an AWESOME TIME!
i've recently become a little... erm... obsessed 
lovesclassics
Broadway Star Joined: 10/7/05
#2re: Audra At Harvard: Random Ramblings
Posted: 5/21/06 at 10:47pm
Buffy,
The singer from the '60s was Laura Nyro. I'm not sure of the song title, but it was something about killing her lover.
lc
#3re: Audra At Harvard: Random Ramblings
Posted: 5/21/06 at 10:48pm
stone sould picnic... man i love Laura Nyro.
it's sad that she's somewhat forgotten
lovesclassics
Broadway Star Joined: 10/7/05
#4re: Audra At Harvard: Random Ramblings
Posted: 5/21/06 at 10:56pm
Agreed. Singer/songwriter, vocalist and pianist all in one. That decade gave us so many wonderful women - Carole King, Judy Collins, Joni Mitchell, Janis Ian, Janis Joplin, Mama Cass, Joan Baez, Jane Olivor, Carly Simon, and Karen Carpenter a little later.
lc
#5re: Audra At Harvard: Random Ramblings
Posted: 5/21/06 at 11:02pm
i guess she just got lost...
#6re: Audra At Harvard: Random Ramblings
Posted: 5/21/06 at 11:03pmI feel bad I didn't know who she was. Then again, that's what I love about Audra, she introduces me to music I wouldn't otherwise know, musical theater or otherwise.
#7re: Audra At Harvard: Random Ramblings
Posted: 5/21/06 at 11:10pm
Oh gosh, she sang so much. From what I can remember: Bill, The Man That Got Away, The Christian Thing To Do, My Book, My Stupid Mouth, The Laura Nyro song, When Did I Fall In Love, Ain't It De Truth, Will He Like Me, Beat My Dog, The Glamorous Life, Stars & Moon, and probably 10 more I can't remember
Truth be told it was one continuous song for me (especially as there was no intermission. Audra's a powerhouse), thus the difficulty in remembering songs specifically.
Does anyone remember the title of the lullabye to parents song? I loved that when I heard it the first time and again last night but forgot to look it up before!
iliketheater
Broadway Star Joined: 12/10/05
#8re: Audra At Harvard: Random Ramblings
Posted: 5/22/06 at 1:17am
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE THAT WOMAN!!!!
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