Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Catching up with some of Broadway’s favorite leading ladies: AN EVENING WITH AUDRA MCDONALD, LEA SALONGA IN CONCERT, and BROADWAY PRINCESS HOLIDAY CONCERT

• By drediman
• December 13, 2020
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Last week, I caught up with some of Broadway’s favorite leading ladies. Here are my thoughts on their recent virtual concerts.

AN EVENING WITH AUDRA MCDONALD
New York City Center
On-demand through January 3

In years past, New York City Center’s annual galas have been elaborate, much-hyped events (e.g., the starry, fully-staged revivals of A Chorus Line and Sunday in the Park with George). This year, City Center has gone the other extreme with the minimalist but no less enticing proposition of Broadway legend Audra McDonald in an intimate evening of song (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED), which is available for on-demand streaming through January 3. It was a bold move for City Center, and it paid off in spades.

Shot almost entirely in close-up, An Evening with Audra McDonald had me falling in love with the six-time Tony winner’s glorious voice and down-to-earth persona all over again. Indeed, those who have been fantasizing about getting Audra in a cozy cabaret setting may have just gotten an early Christmas present. Accompanied only by piano (beautifully, by Andy Einhorn), the versatile singer/actress – garbed simply in an elegant sleeveless black dress – was able to showcase her emotive soprano to thrilling effect. The evening was hosted by Broadway funny man Michael Urie, who was amusing as the sole in-person audience member and the subject of much of Ms. McDonald’s charming, natural banter.

A good chunk of the concert was dominated by selections from the 1940s and 1950s American Songbook (an impassioned rendition of Cole Porter’s “I Happen to Love New York” was an emotional tribute to the ravished city). She tantalized me with renditions of Jerry Herman’s “Before the Parade Passes By” and Stephen Sondheim’s “The Glamorous Life”, hinting at the possibilities of her potential Dolly and Desiree portrayals. In terms of more contemporary fare, I was beguiled by her soaring take on Adam Guettel’s “March Is a Windy Month” from the composer’s new musical Millions. Ms. McDonald fittingly capped off the evening with an inspirational rendition of “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” and a moving “May You Always/Auld Lang Syne” medley (the latter as her encore).

LEA SALONGA IN CONCERT
Sydney Opera House / PBS
On-demand through December 25

Last year, the great Lea Salonga gave a series of sold-out concerts at the iconic Sydney Opera House (RECOMMENDED). Luckily, the final night of the run, which was attended by throngs of the musical theater star’s adoring fans, was captured on film for posterity and is currently available for streaming via PBS’s Great Performances series until December 25.

Ms. Salonga shot to international stardom as a teenager in the leading role of Kim in Boublil and Schönberg’s 1989 West End mega-musical Miss Saigon, winning an Olivier Award for her heartbreaking yet steely performance. She also subsequently triumphed in the role across the pond on Broadway, snagging the Tony for her acclaimed work. She would go on to play the two famously tragic female roles in Les Misérables (first Eponine, then graduating to the part of Fantine), as well as appear on the Great White Way (albeit to lesser acclaim) in the heavily revised 2002 revival of Flower Drum Song, the new musical musical Allegiance in 2015, and the 2017 Tony-winning revival of Once on this Island. On film, she is perhaps best known for providing the singing voice for a pair of animated Disney heroines, Jasmine in Aladdin and the title character in Mulan.

Accompanied lavishly by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra – conducted by the headliner’s brother and longtime collaborator, Gerald Salonga – the Philippine national treasure unsurprisingly revisited most of her career’s greatest successes from stage and screen, but not always in the ways you’d expect. For example, in the Miss Saigon segment, she chose to perform “Why, God, Why?”, an anthemic song originally written for the show’s romantic male lead. Another unexpected, crowd-pleasing moment was when Ms. Salonga plucked one lucky man from the audience with whom to co-sing “A Whole New World”. Amazingly, Ms. Salonga’s voice has lost very little of its signature girlish but resonant timber, still convincingly singing the ingenue roles which have been the bread and butter of much of her career.

BROADWAY PRINCESS HOLIDAY PARTY
Feinstein’s/54 Below
On-demand through December 26

Since opening its doors in 2012, Feinstein’s/54 Below has become one of the most cherished and important cabaret spaces in New York. Over the years, it’s hosted some of the biggest names from the Great White Way (handily earning the nickname of “Broadway’s Living Room”) and the cabaret world. One of the club’s most beloved series has been Benjamin Rauhala and Laura Osnes’s Broadway Princess Party, which yesterday kicked-off “54 Below Premieres” — a newly-conceived lineup of virtual concerts that are broadcast in cinema-quality fashion from Broadway’s Living Room — with the 2020 holiday edition of the popular show (RECOMMENDED) (available on-demand through December 26).

Having been chosen to portray the title role in the long-awaited Broadway debut of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella in 2013, Ms. Osnes continues to be the quintessential Broadway princess. Once again, she’s joined by Susan Egan (the original Belle in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast on Broadway) and Courtney Reed (the original Jasmine in Disney’s Aladdin on Broadway), who counteract Ms. Osnes’s unblemished good girl appeal with just a touch of rebelliousness and snark. And as always, as the evening’s so-called “Fairy Godfairy”, Mr. Rauhala provided simultaneously sassy and wholesome musical accompaniment and banter. The whole thing is insistently sweet and good natured, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Happily, everyone was requisitely perky and in rather fine voice, including special guests Aisha Jackson (Disney’s Frozen) and Adam J. Levy (Waitress). Their powerhouse vocals were especially potent when in collective harmony, as in the “All Is Found/Into the Unknown” (from the underrated Frozen 2) and “Someday/God Help the Outcasts” (from the similarly underrated The Hunchback of Notre Dame) medleys. Then there was “Jingle ‘Belle’ Rock” – a mash-up of “Something There” from Beauty and the Beast, “Jingle Bells”, and “Jingle Bell Rock” – which I found particularly enchanting and witty. The evening’s biggest surprise was the induction of smoky-voiced Ms. Jackson — whose soulful solo rendition of “O Holy Night” nearly stole the show — as a permanent fixture in future “Broadway Princess” shows. A welcome addition, indeed.