★★★★★ The queen of Broadway isn’t just a world-class singer; she’s a class act to boot.

Hamer Hall, Melbourne
October 31, 2015

Audra McDonald is the reigning queen of Broadway. Winner of six Tony awards and the only person to have won a Tony in all four acting categories, McDonald’s talent and stature has shattered the so called ‘white ceiling’ which has seen her cast in roles reserved usually for white actresses (including Carrie Pipperidge in Carousel, Grace Farrell in the 1999 movie version of Annie, Lucy in Sweeney Todd and even the Reverend Mother in a recent live television version of The Sound of Music). She is also an ambassador for new musical theatre projects promoting the work of such writers as Adam Guettel, Jason Robert Brown and Adam Gwon, noting that revivals -in which she also stars – are great, but that the art form will die unless new works flourish.

With such a world-class résumé her Australian debut was one of the years must see events. Joined by her trio of musical director and pianist Ansy Einhorn, Mark Vanderpoel (bass) and Gene Lewin (drums), McDonald walked out to an ovation befitting royalty from an audience of devotees who had been waiting a long time for the moment – and she didn’t  disappoint, giving them the old (It Might as Well be Spring, Make Someone Happy, Maybe this Time, The Glamorous Life), new (Stars in the Moon – Jason Robert Brown and I’ll Be There – Adam Gwon, a song about finding love in the shadow of 9/11), and the borrowed (Kate Miller-Heidke’s Facebook Song with its unabashed f-bomb); but my favourites were the blues-inflected Moonshine Lullaby from Annie Get Your Gun, and an intimate, unmiked version of Summertime that had the hairs on the back of my neck standing to attention.

McDonald’s voice is heavenly and her technique, flawless. Coupled with a unique ability to word paint she is able to move seamlessly from the operatic to the popular. McDonald is also refreshingly unburdened with the unappealing airs and graces of a Diva. A charming hostess, she was at ease interacting with the audience, and candidly honest about the difficulties of balancing a relationship with her teenage daughter (“I hope she doesn’t write a book about me one day”) and stepsons. When McDonald broke off after a verse of the old chestnut I Could Have Danced All Night and invited the audience to join in, I was startled to find myself surrounded by a master class of budding and established sopranos who sang with such aplomb that I was too embarrassed to open my own mouth. Perhaps stirred by recently engaging with the life of Billie Holliday for her latest Tony award winning performance and becoming a Board member of a New York based charity assisting homeless youth, Audra McDonald is also an activist for both racial and marriage equality. Yes, granted, the audience was full of those who would like the right to tie the knot, but her encore of Arlen’s Over the Rainbow and its introduction on the funeral of Judy Garland and the ensuing Stonewall riots became a warm gay lullaby of hope.

Audra McDonald joins the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in concert, November 5 – 7.