An Evening With Audra McDonald

Because I took a bit of an unplanned, long blog break, I want to write about a few of the goings on in our lives over the past few months. These are going to be a bit random, but I'm just going to go with it.

About a month ago, FIVE-TIME Tony winner Audra McDonald came to Baton Rouge and performed with the BR Symphony Orchestra. I went by myself, but I didn't care. (I think some of my friends thought that was weird, but if Darryl had gone with me -- and it wasn't really his cup of tea -- we would have had to get a sitter. None of my friends here knew who she was, so I didn't want to ask them to fork out money for someone they didn't know...so I went alone.) I had a seat on the fourth row. FOURTH ROW. Several times throughout the concert, I had moments of, "Holy cow! I'm twenty feet from Broadway great Audra McDonald! Holy cow!"

That photo looks farther away than twenty feet, but it was taken with my phone. Trust me. Audra and I were tight. :-)

I took the photo above as a joke for one of my friends -- but I was excited!!

So if you are wondering who Audra McDonald is...Many people know who as Naomi from Private Practice (a show I didn't really watch unless it just happened to be on in the background). However, I first became acquainted with her from Rosie O'Donnell's old talk show. (I know Rosie is a divisive personality -- love her or hate her -- but I loved how she featured Broadway performances on her show. It gave people like me, who aren't frequent visitors to New York, a glimpse of Broadway greatness.) At the time, Audra (because we are on a first-name basis, of course) was starring in Ragtime, for which she later won a Tony. And thus began my fascination with her.

Here's a clip I found on YouTube of her singing one of my favorites. She opened with this in Baton Rouge, and y'all...I might have teared up. I don't know if was the song, or just the whole experience, or everything, but dadgum. The girl can SING. (She's also funny!) So enjoy this greatness for yourself...