Today’s Staff Pick comes from Jay in Programming
10 years ago, much younger but no less enthusiastically, I was counting down the days to see Audra McDonald perform live at a brand new place called The Kimmel Center. It was the opening week of this grand glass-domed performing arts venue and the opportunity to hear this woman, who by 30 years old had already won 3 Tony awards, was just too exciting. When the night finally arrived, I sat in the front row entranced while her prodigious talent soared down from the heavens to awe us with the liquid gold of her voice. She is the inheritor of a great tradition of musical divas - equally channeling the likes of Judy Garland, Lena Horne, Jessye Norman, and Barbra Streisand. While she has found success in plays, musicals, movies, and even a television melodrama, there is nothing like hearing this soprano live in concert performing the standards, show tunes, and arias that become magical journeys as she applies an unparalleled gift to bring a character to life through song. On October 1, to help us celebrate the opening of our anniversary season, she is taking a break from her hit revival of Porgy and Bess to commemorate the decade of music in Verizon Hall that began with her concert. Do not miss this event! For those of you who admire the great vocal talents of the ages, this is the concert for you.
Photo credits: Eddie Malluk
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