#1
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.
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."
