Audra in WICKED
Audra in WICKED
robbiej
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#0Audra in WICKED
Posted: 6/11/04 at 11:52am
Just kidding.
But it seems the only way to get people to look at posts is to put WICKED in the title.
Audra MacDonald was, however, at the Zankel Hall last night, performing, among other things, the song cycle written especially for her, 'The Seven Deadly Sins'.
I'm not sure more can be said about the greatest singing-actress of her generation. She felt no need to interpolate high notes in order to show off her glorious soprano. She did not need to get up from the stool on which she sat (for almost every song) in order to make you believe she was engaged completely with the music. She simply infuses every note, every lyric with truth. She is a wonder to behold.
If you only know her from her tragadienne roles, then you are unaware of the remarkable humor she possesses. Whether delivering the delightful GREEDY TADPOLE (by Jessica Molaskey and John Pizzarelli) or telling stories about what the audience reaction has been at RAISIN IN THE SUN, she had the audience rolling, so much so that my boyfriend (who is not the biggest Audra fan) proclaimed that she simply must play Lily in ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.
Many of the songs she did are familiar to me from her ablums, including I WON'T MIND, COME DOWN FROM THE TREE and her incomparable STARS AND THE MOON. She closed the first part of the intermissionless evening with the title song from LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA. I'm not sure if the song itself is glorious, or if it was just Audra's interpretation, but I'm now very much looking forward to Adam Guettel's new work.
Next came the song cycle, THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS. To be honest, not every song was a masterpiece. But even those that fell short in composition (CAN YOU LOOK ME IN THE EYES representing Envy and written by Ricky Ian Gordorn and BURNING THE SAUCE representing Lust by Steve Marzullo and Mark Campbell) were aided a great deal by Audra's commitment and glorious tones. Jeff Blumenkrantz's ode to Sloth, MY BOOK, was a manic masterpiece that allowed us to see yet another side of Audra's multifaceted personality. Michael John LaChiusa's take on Anger, THE CHRISTIAN THING TO DO, challenged Audra with a country western sound. Although I doubt she'll have a career at the Grand Ole Opry, somehow it worked.
One quibble. She didn't need a mic. The space is so conducive to her voice that I would have thrilled to listen to it unamplified. But it's a minor fault.
To end the evening, she sang Harold Arlen and Yip Harbug's AIN'T IT 'DA TRUTH, a song I believe introduced to the world by Lena Horne. Now that Ms. Jackson is off the Lena Horne movie because of her boob, why not ask the radiant, classy and deeply human Audra to take on the mantle of this legend?
I pray you all get the chance to witness this remarkable talent in concert.
"I'm so looking forward to a time when all the Reagan Democrats are dead."
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#1re: Audra in WICKED
Posted: 6/11/04 at 12:00pmGreat review - thank you! Sounds like a fabulous evening. She is indeed a wonder.
#2re: Audra in WICKED
Posted: 6/11/04 at 12:10pmrobbie, i don't need wicked in a subject line to read posts... more often than not, if wicked is in the title, i pass it over...
robbiej
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#3re: Audra in WICKED
Posted: 6/11/04 at 12:15pm
Oh joeyjoe!
I KNOW! However, I think there are some folks on this board that need to be informed about other wonderful theatrical talents besides the laides of Wicked. I will do what I must to reach them!
"I'm so looking forward to a time when all the Reagan Democrats are dead."
#4re: Audra in WICKED
Posted: 6/11/04 at 12:25pmRobbie - what a great review and I am totally jealous!...sounds like an awesome evening in the company of an awesome lady...I like your idea of her as Lena!
"I don't really get the ending,all i can go with is when after several months,Judith saw Pat sang,and later she kissed him on the toilet,after that the story back to where Pat went down from the stage after he'd sung,and he went to the italian lady.I just don't get it,what Judith exatcly meant when he kissed Pat that she had seen,and did Pat end up together with The Italian Lady?Please help me,thank u very much!"
Quote from someone on IMDB in reference to a movie he/she didn't understand. Such grammar!
#5re: Audra in WICKED
Posted: 6/11/04 at 12:35pm
i really want to see her live. how long is raison supposed to run? i would love to see her in a musical, but im sure her acting is just as amazing as her singing.
by the way, she's won a tony for raison and ragtime that i know of. what where the other two shows?
Updated On: 6/11/04 at 12:35 PM
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#8re: Audra in WICKED
Posted: 6/11/04 at 12:45pmYes, she did. You should check out the "ibdb.com" site. Good for general Broadway info.
SueleenGay
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/9/03
#10re: Audra in WICKED
Posted: 6/11/04 at 12:52pmWhat a great review, robbie. Thank you. And by the way, why couldnt't she do WICKED?
PEACE.
#11re: Audra in WICKED
Posted: 6/11/04 at 12:55pmYEAH! She'd be great as EITHER of those witches!
"I don't really get the ending,all i can go with is when after several months,Judith saw Pat sang,and later she kissed him on the toilet,after that the story back to where Pat went down from the stage after he'd sung,and he went to the italian lady.I just don't get it,what Judith exatcly meant when he kissed Pat that she had seen,and did Pat end up together with The Italian Lady?Please help me,thank u very much!"
Quote from someone on IMDB in reference to a movie he/she didn't understand. Such grammar!
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
robbiej
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#13re: Audra in WICKED
Posted: 6/11/04 at 12:58pm
Oh please...she could play the Sydney Blackmer role in COME BACK, LITTLE SHEBA and I'd be there, buying every word of it!
Of course she could do ANY role in WICKED. I just don't want to have to sit through it again 
"I'm so looking forward to a time when all the Reagan Democrats are dead."
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#14re: Audra in WICKED
Posted: 6/11/04 at 1:00pmI've always kind of wished for her and Stokes to do PORGY LOVES BESS. I just want to hear it.
robbiej
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#15re: Audra in WICKED
Posted: 6/11/04 at 1:03pm
A couple of years ago, they opened the Philharmonic's season with an evening of Gershwin. Their selections from PORGY AND BESS were beyond thrilling.
WHEN ARE THEY GOING TO DO THE STAGE ADAPTATION OF 'A STAR IS BORN' FOR HER????
"I'm so looking forward to a time when all the Reagan Democrats are dead."
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#16re: Audra in WICKED
Posted: 6/11/04 at 1:10pmWOW - what a thought! I like that idea alot - any producers lurking in here?
robbiej
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#17re: Audra in WICKED
Posted: 6/11/04 at 1:13pm
Well...I know it's a pet project of her's, but apparently someone else holds the rights (Lloyd Webber, maybe??)
Things could have changed, though.
"I'm so looking forward to a time when all the Reagan Democrats are dead."
#18re: Audra in WICKED
Posted: 6/11/04 at 2:11pmoh PUHLEEZE don't let ALW write A Star is Born - what a wretched mess of a musical THAT would be!
"I don't really get the ending,all i can go with is when after several months,Judith saw Pat sang,and later she kissed him on the toilet,after that the story back to where Pat went down from the stage after he'd sung,and he went to the italian lady.I just don't get it,what Judith exatcly meant when he kissed Pat that she had seen,and did Pat end up together with The Italian Lady?Please help me,thank u very much!"
Quote from someone on IMDB in reference to a movie he/she didn't understand. Such grammar!
SueleenGay
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/9/03
#19re: Audra in WICKED
Posted: 6/11/04 at 2:19pmWhat's going on with the film version with Will Smith and whoever he was supposed to star with?
PEACE.
QuixoticK8NY
Swing Joined: 2/27/04
#20re: Audra in WICKED
Posted: 6/11/04 at 2:45pm
for those who would like to see audra in a prime role, you can check out the movie/ hbo special "wit" with emma tompson where audra is an integral part of the plot as the nurse. she does a phenomenal job. her acting is rather impeccable.
also, if you would like to see audra live in a "musical" SOON she will singing at Chicago's music festival Ravinia (lawn tickets are only $10!!!) in early september with Patti Lupone, performing 'Sunday in the Park with George.'
yay for audra's tony win!
keep up the love for a true artist!
*me*
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