Audra McDonald to perform with ASO
EVENT PREVIEW
Audra McDonald performs with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in a fundraiser benefiting the ASO's education and community engagement programs. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Tickets $37.50-$147.50. 1280 Peachtree St. N.E., Atlanta. 404-733-5000, www.atlantasymphony.org or www.ticketmaster.com.
For Symphony Gala tickets, which include a pre-concert black-tie cocktail reception, meet and greet with McDonald, a post-concert seated dinner, silent auction and after-party, visit www.aso.org/gala. Packages start at $1,000.
For television audiences, Audra McDonald may best be known as Mother Superior to Carrie Underwood’s Maria in NBC’s December broadcast of “The Sound of Music.” Or perhaps some might recognize her from a stint on ABC’s “Private Practice.”
But for music lovers, McDonald is a Broadway legend and one of the premier voices of our time.
McDonald, 43, burst onto the stage in the early 1990s to begin a career that has spanned Rodgers & Hammerstein to Sondheim and Jason Robert Brown, earning her five Tony Awards and legions of fans along the way.
And now, just two weeks before she returns to Broadway to portray Billie Holiday in the musical “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill,” the powerhouse singer will take a detour down South to headline the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s annual black-tie gala this Saturday.
We grabbed a few minutes with the singer recently for a telephone interview, peppering her with questions about her varied career, favorite musical moments and future goals. Responses have been edited for length.
Q: Let’s talk about the evolution of your career and where you envisioned it would go when you first took the stage. Did you see television in that path?
A: I sort of choose projects based on opportunity and where I think I can learn the most. I always wanted to be on Broadway, it was a dream of mine from when I was 9 years old. … But then I was given the opportunity to start doing some concert work in the late 1990s and the opportunity to do recording. Both of those I found incredibly fulfilling. Television just kind of came after that.
Q: Do you anticipate making the jump to the big screen?
A: Oh, who knows? It's not like there are a million roles for African-American women. There's a very large school of actresses and very few roles.
Q: Of all the songs you’re known for, is there one that is so deeply personal you feel it is yours?
A: "When Did I Fall in Love?" from "Fiorello." That's a song I've been singing for many years. It feels really good to sing, even when I'm sick. I know I'm super sick when I can't sing that one. And "Stars and the Moon." You will always hear those in my concerts.
Q: Do you have a favorite composer whose work you like to sing?
A: Every actor feels like Stephen Sondheim was writing for them because he is so brilliant in getting into the psyche of a character. (I like) a lot of Jason Robert Brown. I would also say Michael John LaChiusa, but in a lot of cases, he was writing for me. Like a perfectly tailored couture outfit.
Q: Your voice is one many singers wish they had. Who is that person for you and why?
A: Growing up, it was Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand. I tried so hard to sound like them for so long, but finally I let that go. Trying to sound like them was going about it the wrong way. What I learned is that what I loved most about (them) is that they sounded so singular. I learned the lesson that being the best you is the ultimate goal.
Q: You’ve played so many important roles. Is there one that meant the most to you?
A: "Porgy and Bess" certainly was incredibly demanding, both physically and emotionally. It's not a role that was meant to be played eight times a week. It nearly killed me. In "Raisin in the Sun," I would get so exhausted walking on that stage before the show began because Ruth's journey was so exhausting. That was another one I had a hard time shaking.
Q: Any dream roles still on your to-do list?
A: Bess was certainly one of those roles. Some roles I'd love to play, I'm probably too old to play. I'm too old to play Sally Bowles. But I'd like to do more Shakespeare and, I don't know, I imagine maybe someday I will play Mama Rose.
