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Audra McDonald sings ''Moon of Alabama.''
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Following the limited run of "Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny," which marked Audra McDonald's debut with the LA Opera and only the second operatic engagement of her career, she returned to the Broadway stage in the revival of "110 in the Shade." The classically trained soprano and four-time Tony® winner (for "Carousel," "Master Class," "Ragtime," and "A Raisin in the Sun") can now be seen regularly on the hit ABC drama PRIVATE PRACTICE. McDonald talked with contributor Tim Smith about portraying the prostitute Jenny in "Mahagonny," working with Broadway luminary Patti LuPone in the LA Opera production, another operatic role that holds some interest for her, and more.
GREAT PERFORMANCES: How did you like taking on the spicy role of the amoral prostitute Jenny, who is quite the protagonist in "The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny"? What was most challenging about the assignment, and what was easiest?
AUDRA McDONALD: The difficulty was finding something to love about Jenny and trying to find the reasons she does what she does just to survive. I would say the easiest part was being able to put on such a mask and going so sexual and grotesque -- way out from the things I've done before. I enjoyed doing that. When you do something [so different], it is almost easier to drop into it.
GP: What do you think this work from 1930 says to us today?
AMcD: It has a great deal of relevance. It [reflects] the perverse history of capitalism as we know it in this country and morality as we know it in this country.
GP: How did you enjoy the Los Angeles Opera's production?
AMcD: I liked how spare the set was and how the costumes were so incredibly colorful and, at the same time, ratty. I found that really intriguing. The hard part was that with the set so sparse, there was not a lot of movement. You had to get comfortable with being very still. And [with] playing a lot of the action straight to the audience.
GP: You have collaborated several times with Patti LuPone onstage. What was this particular experience like?
AMcD: It is absolute comfort working with Patti. The only thing we bemoaned was that we didn't have a lot of scenes together in "Mahagonny," and in most of those we weren't dealing with each other. But being onstage with her is a joy. It's like playing tennis with an incredible player and getting things smacked right back at you.
GP: Given that two great Broadway stars were in this production, it seems even more appropriate to ask where you stand on the issue of whether "Mahagonny" should be classified as an opera or as something more in the musical theater line.
AMcD: You can debate that into the ground. For me, the important thing is that you have [to] approach everything the same way and put it all across convincingly.
GP: Speaking of opera, some of us who first experienced you playing a voice student in the Broadway play "Master Class" hoped we would be seeing you regularly on the opera stage. Was opera ever a goal?
AMcD: I don't know how operatic I ever intended to be. I enjoyed going to opera, definitely. But it didn't thrill me as much as musical theater did. In terms of performing, I got more joy from musical theater, so I was surprised to put my toe back into opera for "Mahagonny."
GP: Are there any works in the standard opera repertoire that interest you, maybe some roles that find you singing opera in the shower?
AMcD: I don't do much singing around the house at all. Certainly people have suggested opera roles to me through the years. Simon Rattle [music director of the Berlin Philharmonic] asked me to look at [Leos Janacek's] "Jenufa" -- that made me laugh. But I know he was thinking about what a good acting role it is. I guess if I were going to do an opera, maybe [Puccini's] "Suor Angelica." She's such a sweet character.
GP: Your ability to inhabit a character is remarkable and seems to come so naturally. Were you interested in acting at an early age?
AMcD: I performed a lot as a child. For me, the goal was always Broadway, and for Broadway you have to be able to sing and act a character. A lot of things helped put me on the path. One of the most important was having parents who knew I was hyperactive and hyperdramatic. Instead of medicating me, they decided, "Let's put her in the theater and wear her out." I was very curious about acting and drawn to it. And I'm really ambitious about continuing to improve as an actress. When I get great opportunities, like "Raisin in the Sun" [McDonald won her fourth Tony for that performance], I jump at them.
GP: That includes a lot of TV and films.
AMcD: With a medium like television, or anything in front of a camera, there is a different set of muscles that you have to flex -- in front of that unblinking eye. But the goals are the same.
GP: Your latest TV role is Dr. Naomi Bennett in ABC's PRIVATE PRACTICE. What is this character like?
AMcD: She's very much a Type A personality who has always been in control of her life. She was the perfect daughter, a good little Catholic girl who became a doctor and married her college sweetheart. All of a sudden, her husband says, "I want out." And her life falls apart. It's like sand slipping between her fingers. She's learning to adjust, to let go in some ways. And, out of nowhere, she's getting all this attention from a beautiful stud muffin. She could be his -- well, not mother, but certainly auntie. I'm enjoying the character a lot.
GP: As we do this interview, the writers' strike in Hollywood is curtailing TV production. Are you taking sides in the dispute?
AMcD: I'm absolutely on the writers' side. The issues that the writers are fighting with producers right now are the same issues that my union, Screen Actors Guild, will have to deal with come June. As the medium changes, the little guy has to be protected. But, at the same time, I want to work. So do the writers.
GP: How do you see your future shaping up -- more television, less theater and music?
AMcD: I have concerts lined up next spring and theater pieces I'm workshopping soon. And I have one more album to make under my contract for Nonesuch. I take it as it comes. I have no desire to leave the theater -- ever. I have no desire to leave music -- ever.
Interview by Tim Smith for GREAT PERFORMANCES Online conducted in November 2007. (photo credit [left]: Robert Millard/LA Opera)
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