Audra McDonald, MUSICIAN Of The Year
Musical America WorldwidePhoto: © Jennifer Taylor
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MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR: AUDRA MCDONALD
Audra
McDonald is unparalleled in the breadth and versatility of her
artistry as both singer and actress. She is fearless, vocally and
physically. Her immediately recognizable soprano is rich, flexible, and
incandescent, with a huge dynamic range, equally persuasive as silk or
gravel, belt or whisper. It's also genre-bending, since she can sing
across the spectrum, from opera to blues, pop to gospel. She is what
Barbara Cook calls "the whole package."
Among
numerous accolades, she has received five Tony Awards, the first of
which she won at only 23 for her performance as Carrie Pipperidge in
Nicholas Hytner's legendary production of Carousel (1994) at Lincoln Center. Other musicals were Ragtime (1998) and The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess (2012). Two of her Tonys are for performances in dramatic productions: Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun (2004) and Terrence McNally's Masterclass
(1996), where her role as a vocal student required her to sing a Verdi
aria in every performance. This Juilliard School graduate relishes
acting without the support of music and she approaches every role,
musical or non-musical, even every song, precisely the same way. It's
all about character, she tells Katrine Ames in Musical America's
tribute, and something she can connect to: "Who is this person? What
does she want? What truth am I trying to convey?"
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