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Tavis: Pleased to welcome Audra McDonald to this program. The four-time Tony-winning singer and actress is in Los Angeles for her starring role in the L.A. Opera production of “Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny.” It runs from February tenth to March fourth at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion here in downtown L.A. Her most recent CD out this past fall is called “Build a Bridge.” This is her fourth solo disc. Audra McDonald, nice to have you on the program.

Audra McDonald: Thank you, Tavis, it’s great to be here.

Tavis: I'm glad to have you here.

McDonald: Thank you.

Tavis: So, “Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny.” Tell me about this.

McDonald: This is a Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht opera, but it’s a hybrid. It’s an opera, there’s lots of music theater in it, there’s dialogue, it’s sort of everything. And it’s basically like a parable about three criminals who build their own little city in the middle of some unspecified desert in the United States. And where as long as you have money, you can do whatever you want. And as soon as you run out of money, it’s off with your head. And so, I-

Tavis: That sounds like America (laugh).

McDonald: That’s kind of the point they're making (laugh).

Tavis: That’s how it works (laugh).

McDonald: And I play a real big prostitute in the city who-

Tavis: I like how you kind of ease into that. 'Cause I was gonna say to you, I saw the “L.A. Times” yesterday, with a big picture of you in full regalia. And my first thought was, what’s her mama saying about this? What did your mama say about that? 'Cause your mama didn’t see that, I hope.

McDonald: No, she did. (Laugh) And looked mean (laugh). Yeah, I must say, when I saw my costumes, I thought, “Hm, I think my mom’ll handle this, but I may not let my dad come see this show.” It’s a little spicy, but it’s also great, because it really does examine a lot of the issues in terms of how we become such a society governed by money, and how there is no real sort of humanity left, or it’s very difficult to find it.

And the one person who sort of represents humanity in the show is eventually done away with. So, and also it’s an interesting challenge for me because I'm not playing a good girl at all. I usually play emotional centers of shows, or very good characters who are struggling with something. And this, she’s not struggling with anything, and she’s just bad through and through. And it’s kind of fun (laugh).

Tavis: That’s true, that’s like a little relief for you to do something different.

McDonald: Well, I just did “Raisin in the Sun,” I just finished filming that up in Toronto with Phylicia Rashad.

Tavis: How did that go? 'Cause everybody’s been talking about that production.

McDonald: Wonderfully. It really went well. Sean Combs, of course, was in the middle of shooting. He had to fly home to have twins. His girlfriend had twins. And we were up in the freezing cold in Toronto. But I really think we’ve made a really beautiful movie, and really captured the essence and the spirit of it. And the character I play in that, Ruth, is all about just integrity and-

Tavis: Night and day, exactly.

McDonald: -suffering, and so faithful, and so believes in God, and all of that. And so to go from that to just the biggest whore in town (laugh) has been very interesting. It’s a very interesting journey.

Tavis: Yeah, night and day, literally.

McDonald: Yeah (laugh).

Tavis: Let me go back to “Raisin” for a second before I come back to this. Obviously, you're sitting in Hollywood now. There is so much buzz on what “Dreamgirls” has already done, and perhaps can do, come Academy night. Is that pressure or possibility where “Raisin” is concerned? Because here we have another Broadway production that’s being made into a movie.

McDonald: I think it’s a possibility. I think which each barrier that’s been broken, starting from Sidney Poitier ... actually, we can go back further, with Hattie McDaniel up to Halle Berry. I think with each ... and now this wonderful “Star Is Born” moment that is happening for Jennifer Hudson. It’s so storybook; you couldn’t write a better story.

And the fact that the leading character in this storybook is an African-American female is just something that I didn’t honestly think I’d see in my lifetime. So to see it is quite wonderful. So I think it just means more possibility and less pressure, actually. I think there’s more anticipation in a good way in saying yes, these things can be done.

Tavis: In this particular production here in L.A., there is, to your earlier point, a message or messages, quite frankly, told through this particular production. Is that something you look for in making choices on the stage? Things that say something or don't say something? How do you go about your process of selection?

McDonald: I wish I could say it was more scientific or more intellectual, but it’s not. It’s all gut reaction. Like when I'm picking a song to sing, I usually know within the first four or five bars whether or not I wanna sing it. I’ll tell my music director, if he’s playing for me, I’ll say “Okay, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop. Just teach it to me now.” Or no-

Tavis: In four or five bars, you can figure that out.

McDonald: I can figure it out. Just because something will hit me on an emotional level. I'm a very emotional person. And I think in choosing the projects that I do, I go basically on my gut. Is it something that scares me and excites me at the same time? And if it does, that’s an emotional response I'm having, and it usually means it’s something I need to do.

For me, it’s also when I look back on my career, whenever I decide to retire, I wanna know that I continued to grow as an artist, and that the body of work that I have continues to sort of move me forward as an artist, and sort of a citizen of the human race. And so that’s what’s most important.

Tavis: I like your formulation of things that scare you and excite you simultaneously. In that regard, is there something ... you're doing so much and have done so much, I wanna come back to that in a moment. Anything at this point that you have not tried that you really want to try? In terms of characters or venues or genres.

McDonald: That I have not tried. There are certain roles. And I'm just now putting my toe into this operatic world. I went to Juilliard and studied opera, but was not happy there, and really felt a bit shackled. That’s probably a bad choice of words, but really shackled by the medium. And I really wanted to go to Broadway instead. And now, for some reason, maybe it’s God, maybe it’s just the way my voice has developed and just where my career is, that opera seems to be coming back into my life for some reason.

And so, I'm testing the waters to see what that will be. I've done two, and this’ll be my third one that I'm doing here in L.A., and we’ll see where it takes me. I know that I don't really ... there’s nothing in my focus that I would not do, if it moved me to do it. So I don't really put any sort of limitations on what I might try.

Tavis: You have done so much, from solo CDs to the acting to Broadway. Is that the plan here, to, like, have a rich palette, or is there something ultimately that you're going to settle on, or something now that you think you're actually better at?

McDonald: No. This is also sort of my hyperactivity. I don't think I will ever settle on any one particular thing. There’s too many things out there for me to try, and too many things that interest me. And I'm really curious about it all, so I'm just. And the other thing is, in some cases, I wish I would have a little more restraint about these things, because I don't always succeed at all these things I try. And that’s not usually the goal.

Tavis: Let me put you on the spot there, since you went there. Give me an example of something that you think you have not succeeded at. Because there are others who feel differently.

McDonald: Well, I don't feel that I succeeded in my operatic debut, in the Houston Grand Opera. I did this one-woman opera called “La Voix Humaine.” And the Houston papers hated it. And said that the audience sat on their hands, and couldn’t wait it get out of the theater. And I felt that I had, maybe it didn’t come across very well for them, but that I had broken through to something, and maybe I’d overcome a fear of singing operatically in public.

So for me, it was a personal victory, even though publicly, it looked like I fell on my face. And I'm not afraid to run ... I don't run away from that. Here I am, (laugh) trying it again. We’ll see if it works. But I'm not afraid to put it out there, and see what happens. Because I think fear, if you're gonna be afraid, especially in this business, then find something else to do.

Tavis: Well, that’s what makes the great ones great. You gotta step out there and do those things that are challenging for you.

McDonald: Absolutely.

Tavis: Let me go back to something you said a moment ago. How do you think your voice has changed over the years? When you said earlier, that maybe it’s because your voice ... how has your voice changed for you over the years?

McDonald: Well, I think it’s gotten actually more operatic (laugh). The one thing that I ran from is the thing that my voice (laugh) is becoming. I don't know what that’s about.

Tavis: Get back here, get back here.

McDonald: That’s right. And I never really thought I had an operatic voice. And when I auditioned for Juilliard, I thought well, Shirley (unintelligible) auditioned when she was a senior. This is, like, a real sort of popular girl at our school who’d auditioned, and she got far. So I'm gonna audition, and see how far I get. And I just had no idea that I would get in and that they would consider me for the operatic program, and that I had an operatic voice.

And so I guess it’s just learning that about myself, and giving over to it. Because I don't always love the sound, I have to admit. I don't. But it’s, I think, what my voice is, and what it wants to be, the older I get, so.

Tavis: See, I'm just laughing because you're sitting here ... first of all, I love your courage to actually ... you don't know how many times I've asked people a question that they set me up for about something they failed at, something that they didn’t succeed at, and then you follow up and you say, “Well, tell me about it,” and they go, “Homina, homina, homina.” (Laugh) Nobody wants to be honest and frank about something they tried that didn’t work.

So I'm sitting here listening to your courage to be honest about that. But at the same time saying, there’s so many young girls listening right now, and Black, White, and otherwise, who would love to have an Audra McDonald kind of a career.

McDonald: It’s interesting, someone said something to me once, and I really took it to heart, and I try and tell it to any aspiring actress or singer that I meet, especially kids in colleges, when I go and sing in colleges. And that’s the ... someone said to me, “Don't try and be another Barbara Streisand or Lena Horne. Be the next Audra McDonald.”

That’s really all you can do. Stop trying to be them. Find out who you are, and then present that to the world. And that’s what I try and tell them. They say, “I wanna be just like you.” I'm like, “Don't be like me. Be like you. We already have me. We need you now.” That’s everything to me.

Tavis: That’s cool. So, if you're in L.A., call the Dorothy Chandler. We’ll all go together and see if she falls on her face. (Laugh) It’s called “Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny.” I am certain that Audra is always her toughest critic, like many of us are, (laugh) and she’ll be just fine. We’ll go check her out at the Dorothy Chandler. Her latest CD, Audra McDonald, “Build a Bridge.” Audra, nice to have you on the program.

McDonald: Thank you, thank you so much.

Tavis: All the best to you.