Customer Reviews

Way Back to Paradise

5 star:		(60)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I've been eyeing this CD for months. The thing that kept me from buying it was the fact that I didn't recognize a single one of the songs!

Then I saw Audra perform on the "Broadway's Leading Ladies" concert (a fabulous, defiant version of DOWN WITH LOVE) and knew I must dive into her recordings. I ordered this CD and Audra's new album HOW GLORY GOES. After listening to both (new songwriters versus standards), I keep coming back to this one -- the one with no recognizable songs!

Audra McDonald possesses a glorious instrument and an actor's instinct -- a great combination. Hear her roar through "Way Back To Paradise" (my favorite cut on the album -- so exciting! And a great arrangement). "Stars and the Moon" is a great, solid song with good singing. "Mistress of the Senator" is a fun, sexy number. "Dream Variations" sets the mood as the album's first track and contains some beautiful singing and some funky piano playing.

I really like these songs! I find them very listenable and catchy. I am so glad I got this album. I am definitely an Audra McDonald fan now.

A co-worker handed me this CD knowing that I am a performer of musical theater and opera. I was familiar with Ricky Ian Gordon, but the other composer's names were only vaguely familiar. I was familiar with Audra, and was not disappointed by this performance. Audra's artistry is astounding. She brings exciting, moving performances to each of these songs. This is not Rogers & Hammerstein, nor is it Sondheim. However, this is a wonderful sampling of young composers and lyricists. "Stars and the Moon" from Jason Robert Brown's SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD is exciting and thought provoking. I listened to it eight times in one work day. It's a shame Warner Brothers discontinued publication of this music in 10/99. Guettel's "Come to Jesus" is a haunting look at abortion. "I Follow" is stunning. Despite other reviews that this music is a-tonal and unmelodic, I have had multiple melodies ringing clearly in my mind after listening to this cd. As for Audra's choice of material, I must agree with a comment in the cd liner that her choice of music makes us listen to the music, not her. As a fellow performer, I commend Audra for allowing herself to be a vehicle to highlight music and text, instead of getting caught up in letting the music be a vehicle to highlight her. For me, this is a sign of a true artist.

If you look hard, I'm sure you can find CD's out there devoted to the best of early theatre music, songs from the 30's and 40's by such old hands as Gershwin, Porter and Kern. Nonesuch has been trying hard to disguise it, but the fact is, this disc is just such a disc - a disc from the 2060's somehow transported back in time documenting the best theatre music of the end of the 20th Century. And it was recorded by an angel, who are apparantly common recording artists in the future, for surely no human could make such sounds.

Audra MCDonalds debut album is one of two CD's I've purchased in the past 2 years that never leave my CD player for more than a week or so. For anyone interested in either wonderful, throughly enchanting and transporting singing or the future of theatre music, this disc truly fits the cliche of "required listening." Right from the opening the marriage of singer and song is glorious; Ms. McDonald wraps her bright and sweet soprano around an uplifting melody and the ears take notice. Other highlights include "Way Back to Paradise," a wonderfully sprightly feminist duet with operatic soprano Dawn Upshaw (and the blend between the two stars of opera and Broadway is a delight), "Come to Jesus," a moving and plaintive story of abortion, "You Don't Know this Man," a starkly simple song of condemnation, "Tom," a beautiful song about the ache of adultery, and - wait, I'm just listing the songs. Suffice it to say that each and everyone is a highlight, each and every one displays a almost mystical marriage of song and singer, and that each and every one of the people reading this should click above and get this disc now.

I think "Way Back to Paradise" is the best CD in my vast Broadway CD collection. There is nothing better than listening to Audra McDonald sing out a wonderful version of "Stars and the Moon", "Baby Moon" or "Tom". There is however, a catch with this CD. I, like so many other people did not love the song choices at first but wait. It will grow on you and soon you will love it. It is time that we learned that there is so much more to Broadway then over used (and just plain bad) A. L. Webber music. This could be the new path Broadway is taking. So buy this CD (only if you have an open mind and are willing to listen to some great changes) and after a few times through I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Audra McDonald is one of the greatest artists of our generation, with superb dramatic skills and a voice to match. She won three Tony awards before reaching age 30. Therefore, few were surprised when Ms. McDonald took a gamble on this, her first solo CD, by recording only the music of up-and-coming composers. Unfortunately, the compostions that Ms. McDonald has chosen are not of the same caliber as her own talents. I hate to admit it, but the four pieces I liked most on this CD were the four of which I already have other recordings: "Tom" and "Mistress of the Senator" from Michael John LaChiusa's HELLO AGAIN, and "You Don't Know This Man" from PARADE and "Stars and the Moon" from SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD, both by Jason Robert Brown. I did not care for the first three of these pieces on the cast recordings, but Ms. McDonald's talents make them sparkle. As fine a job as Ms. McDonald does with "Stars and the Moon," Jessica Molaskey does a better job on the original cast recording.

Don't get me wrong: this is a fine CD, but there are better ones to purchase. For those who adore Audra McDonald, her second CD, HOW GLORY GOES, is superior to this one. For those looking for compositions that can stand on their own without the context of a show, perhaps CLOSER THAN EVER, SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD, or I LOVE YOU, YOU'RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE would fit the bill.

The world needs more beautiful songs, and Audra McDonald gives them to us. With the release of her debut album, Ms. McDonald gives all of us a chance to hear up-and-coming music composers who demonstrate that good songs need not follow all the rules of songwriting. It is truly daring and exciting for any singer to make such a statement. "These are great songs by great composers and I have the voice to make them shine." It is so refreshing to see new artists who do not write their own material still find ways of giving us new music worth hearing.

As a musician and music lover, I highly recommend this recording. I look forward to similar statements by Ms. McDonald in the future.

Honestly...Audra could be singing "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and people would fall at her feet proclaiming her as the creator of that song. In other words, there is nothing a reviewer can say that could honestly put down the vocal and emotional talent Audra possesses.

The beef that many people have with this CD is Audra's choice of material. Yes, it is a risk for a performer to make her recording debut with material from relatively unknown and young composers. As some reviewers have stated, some of the "best" songs from this disc were ones with which they were already familiar...If you're expecting Richard Rodgers, Jule Styne, or Jerry Herman you're in for a huge disappointment. In fact, if you're expecting Sondheim you're still in for a disappointment.

This CD is best approached with an open mind. Audra's emotional depth and honesty in her performance of this material clearly demonstrates her love, support and belief in not only these selections but their respective composers as well. Our duty is to trust a performer in his or her choice of material. If we value the performer, then we need to value and understand that every song is intentional. Every song is a personal, intimate moment that the performer is sharing with the rest of the world.

The songs on this disc deliberately and successfully stray from the exhausted popular form of verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus. Jenny Giering's "I Follow" is a gorgeous, quiet, introspective and haunting piece. Ricky Ian Gordon's song cycle pieces are brilliant and quite evocative of the moods of the Langston Hughes poems from which the text was derived. Adam Guettel is a master of fusing theatrical music with a contemporary "pop"-like quality to create music that is not only smart but ear-friendly as well.

Do yourself a favor. Purchase this CD if you're willing to judge for YOURSELF--free of preconceptions--the quality of the pieces. At worst, you'll have a CD of a glorious vocal talent. At best, you'll have discovered along with the rest of us some amazing new composers.

Responding to the "60 Minutes" interviewer's questions about Audra's potential, Zoe Caldwell, her co-star in "Master Class," assured him and us with prophetic flair: "Just wait. Just wait." I beg to disagree with the esteemed Ms. Caldwell. We need not wait. Audra McDonald has arrived.

I concur with the raves that precede my comments here (and I question seriously the taste, the sanity really, of those who find fault with this superlative recording).

Voice, brains, balls. What more could the listener want? What is most special about Audra, I think, is her ability to communicate. Her voice is transparent. Her singing has the immediacy, the intimacy of speech. In the liner notes, Terrence McNally compares her to Judy Garland in this regard, which I think is great call. She shares with Judy Garland that ability to grab hold of a song, not let go, make it all her own. A totally self-actualizing singer. Early favorites: "Dream Variations," (excruciatingly beautiful) "Stars and the Moon," "Mistress of the Senator" (read a review that notes that this one song alone contains a more complex plot and covers more emotional ground than many shows in their entirety). Not crazy about the Guettel pieces, but I suspect they'll grow on me with time.

Buy this CD!

I have never seen Ms. McDonald perform live. I heard about her"Carousel", saw a clip of "Master Class", but whenI heard he first sing that searing lullaby from Ragtime, I knew I was listening to someone special and unique. She is one of the chosen, lucky few blessed with an incredible instrument; one that is treated with respect by using it only as an instrument funnels through it so much truth, love and beauty. When an artist approaches their material with these three things, it is a gift. I am so honored that I have been the recipient of this gift. Audra, please know that I feel when you sing and it changes me. I am giving to myself through your gift and I feel a part of you move through me when you sing.

This work is wonderful. I grew up with Theresa McCarthy and it was a pleasure to know that you both are friends and that you sound so well together on "I Follow".

Kudos, kiddo!

When I bought this cd, I wasn't quite sure what to expect, as the songwriters and the songs were all unfamiliar to me. All I knew was that I loved Audra's voice -- it is a voice with incredible emotional power and range. Now I admire these songwriters as much as I admire Audra's voice. The songs are truly the new face of musical theater. They are unpredictable, powerful, and layered with meaning. If you are a bit disoriented by your first listening, just wait. You will be mesmerized the second time. And the third, and the fourth, and the fifth . . .