Everyone loves Audra McDonald for different reasons. Perhaps it's for her opera performances. Or maybe you couldn't get enough of her in Private Practice, one of her standout roles in a TV drama. Hopefully you didn't miss her last year on Broadway when she brought down the house night after night in Porgy and Bess. Or maybe you cherish her performance in Terrence McNally's play Master Class (that won her one of her five Tony Awards). On Friday, May 24, you can add a new reason during the next Live From Lincoln Center telecast on PBS for a program called "Audra McDonald in Concert: Go Back Home."
McDonald doesn't keep her luminous soprano to the rarefied stage; many have enjoyed her when she's performed at marriage equality rallies over the years. Today McDonald's first solo album in seven years, Go Back Home, drops today. Many of the selections are by familiar composers (Guettel, LaChiusa, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Sondheim), while some songs, including the Kander and Ebb title track, are by names that are relatively new to her repertoire. Plus, McDonald continues her tradition of championing works by an emerging generation of composers, represented on this recording by Adam Gwon, Heisler and Goldrich, and Will Reynolds. We have a special sneak peek: "Some Days," a song with music by Steven Marzullo and text by James Baldwin.
Listen to it below:
