Review: AN EVENING WITH AUDRA MCDONALD at BLOSSOM Music Center

The sky was clear, the temperature ideal, the Cleveland Orchestra was in perfect pitch, conductor Andy Einhorn was enthusiastic, and Audra McDonald was Audra McDonald---witty, relaxed, filled with wonderful stories, and in full-voice.  Even her floor-length multi-shaded blue gown was occasion right!  Yes, AN EVENING WITH Audra McDonald, the August 13, 2023 Blossom Music Festival program, was a night to remember.

I was first exposed to Audra McDonald in 1995 when she debuted in a pre-Broadway production of Terrence McNally’s MASTER CLASS.  It was love at first exposure. 

Since then I have had the pleasure of seeing the six-time Tony winner, that’s more performance wins than any other actor, on Broadway in CAROUSEL, RAGTIME, PORGY AND BESS, LADY DAY AT EMERSON'S BAR AND GRILL and FRANKIE AND JOHNNY IN THE CLAIR DE LUNE, on television (National Medal of Arts telecast and RAISIN IN THE SUN), and in an earlier concert at the Blossom Center. 

It was my honor, as a member of the American Theater Critics Association, to vote for her for induction into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2017. 

I even had the tenacity to walk up to her restaurant lunch table the day I saw PORGY AND BESS and talk to her.  She was as charming in person as she is on the concert stage.

McDonald, who is not shy about stating her philosophical views, as evidenced in her Blossom concert comments, is known for defying prejudice and racial typecasting.  Her performances as Carrie in the 1994 revival of CAROUSEL and Lizzie Curry in the 2007 revival of 110 IN THE SHADE made her the first black woman to portray those traditionally white roles in a major Broadway production.

AN EVENING WITH Audra McDonald showcased musical theatre songs from her career, from shows in which she hasn’t appeared, as well as jazz favorites and personal revelations.  The between songs commentary included charming self-deprecating insights, family stories and personal revelations.  She knows how to charm an audience!

The evening opened with an enchanting version of “The Carousel Waltz,” from Rodger and Hammerstein’s epic CAROUSEL.  The selection is the opening of the musical.  It exposes the major characters and sets the mood for the tale.

Her opening number was the stirring “I Am What I Am,” from LA CAGES AUX FOLLES, often referred to as the gay national anthem. 

Other songs in the evening’s program included a jazzy version of “It Don’t Mean a Thing if It Ain’t Got That Swing,” the swing Duke Ellington classic, “I Could Have Danced All Night” from THE KING AND I, PORGY AND BESS’s “Summertime,” “Before the Parade Passes By,” from HELLO DOLLY, Kermit the Muffet’s “It’s Not Easy Being Green” a tribute to self-pride and knowing who you are, and “Somewhere”- (”There’s a Place for Us”) from WEST SIDE STORY.

Carrying out further the evident theme of the evening, McDonald sang a mash-up of “You Have to Be Carefully Taught” from SOUTH PACIFIC and “Children Will Listen” from Steven Sondheim’s INTO THE WOODS.  The applause was deafening!

Capsule judgment:  AN EVENING with Audra McDonald was an emotional and artistic evening of song, narration and orchestral music.  It was a night to remember!  BRAVO!!!

The Blossom Music Festival ends its 2023 season with “DISNEY IN CONCERT: THE SOUND OF MAGIC,” with music from PETER PAN, MOANA, ALADIN, THE JUNGLE BOOK, FROZEN, THE LION KING, FANTASIA, and ENCANTO (September 1-3) and “DISTANT WORLDS: MUSIC FROM FINAL FANTASY, which showcases the music used throughout the Final Fantasy game series.