MY FAVORITE BROADWAY – The Tony Awards
THEATER Tonight the 61st annual Tony Awards will be broadcast from Radio City Music Hall in New York City. They haven’t been doing well in the TV ratings in recent years and I’m not sure how they will fare airing against another Tony in the series finale of The Sopranos. But there is always an excitement when watching this particular awards show, probably because the scenes of the live performances are just a taste of what happens when you see an actor on stage becoming a character for two hours. I regret having to say that this is the first year in twenty of regular New York theater going, which I have not seen any of the nominated performances. Not that I haven’t been to NYC, but I guess I’ve spent too much time in movie theaters since last fall. 
Having said that, it still looks like an impressive season. I love live theater and a few shows I’d rush to see are "Frost/Nixon," "Grey Gardens," and "Spring Awakenings," the musical by singer/songwriter Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater. But the one at the top of my list would be the revival of Stephen Sondheim’s "Company," about a single man and his five married couple friends. This is the first show I ever saw on Broadway and it changed the way I looked at and listened to theater. It was nothing like the Rogers & Hammerstein shows I was used to. The music had a more contemporary feel and the lyrics were clever, precise and thoughtful without being overly sentimental. Sondheim is one of the best musical writers ever. One among many reasons to see this version of "Company" is for Raúl Esparza, who, I’m certain, is commanding in the lead role of Bobby. The one time I saw him perform live was playing Riff Raff in the revival of "The Rocky Horror Show." (On stage, he was fully clothed in a funky suit, but I was seated close enough to notice that when he bent over his pants were split and you could see his ass crack. I mentioned this to him when I met him outside the theater and he asked me if it was too much. I said it was perfect!) He is an amazing performer and one for whom you should keep your eyes and ears open.
I’m Just Wild About Audra 
I’m totally in awe of Audra McDonald who is nominated a sixth time for a Tony (she’s won four times) in the revival of "110 in the Shade." The nominated performance Ms. McDonald didn’t win, but was certainly worthy, was for the lead in the musical "Marie Christine" based on "Medea" but set in 1890’s New Orleans. She is an incredibly versatile actress who has a soprano voice that would be well suited for opera but is perfect in Broadway musicals.
When on stage in concert, Audra combines a warm personality with a beautiful voice easily alternating from ballads and lullabies to powerfully belting out standards and show tunes. She expanded her repertoire with the recently released solo album, Build a Bridge, which includes music written by contemporary singer/songwriters like Elvis Costello, John Mayer, Neil Young, Rufus Wainwright, and Laura Nyro, among others. I once met Ms. McDonald who was quite personable and it comes across during a performance. I’ve seen her in concert several times, the most recent being when she shared the stage at the Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall in Philadelphia with another Broadway legend, Barbara Cook. This blending of voices from two generations was thrilling and something rarely seen nowadays. After an evening of performing songs tailored to their specific styles, they concluded with a patriotic medley of "Of Thee I Sing/America the Beautiful" and "God Bless America."
If you’re a musical fan (and if you’ve read this far, you probably are) one concert available on CD and DVD that is a must-see and a must-hear is My Favorite Broadway: The Leading Ladies recorded live at Carnegie Hall. It’s one spectacular performer after another, including Bebe Neuwirth, Liza Minnelli, Linda Eder, Jennifer Holliday and Elaine Stritch. Audra McDonald appears in two numbers, a version of "Down with Love" that begins slowly and builds into a manic frenzy. Her second number is a real high point, The Webber Love Trio that includes the Andrew Lloyd Webber songs "Love Changes Everything," "Unexpected Song," and "I Don’t Know How to Love Him." Each are lovely on their own but combined in this particular arrangement creates feelings of love from blind elation to humiliation. Each of the women, Audra McDonald, Marin Mazzie and Judy Kuhn, sing one of the songs, respectively, which eventually intertwine creating a poignant mosaic and concluding with a powerful finish. Audra passionately belts out the line "Love will never let you be the same." This song will never let you be the same, and is one of the most moving recordings I’ve ever heard. Maybe ALW isn't so bad...
