COMM 380:  Media Criticism

Six-time Tony Award winner, Audra McDonald, mesmerized music lovers all over the world with her release of the album ‘Go Back Home’ in 2013. McDonald, an actress and

vocalist originally from Fresno, California, attended a performing arts high school and moved on to the Juilliard Institute of Musical Art in New York City (Biography.com, n.d.).

McDonald won Tony Awards for her performances in Carousel, Master Class, Ragtime, A Raisin in the Sun and Porgy and Bess (Broadway.com, n.d.). Her most recent Tony was awarded in 2014 for her portrayal of jazz vocalist Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill (Biography.com, n.d.). McDonald’s record-setting win made her the most decorated Tony winner in history, as well as the only person to win the award in all individual performance categories (Biography.com, n.d.).

 

McDonald’s most recent album ‘Go Back Home’ (2013) encompasses personal and raw messages

to its audience. Critic and features reporter, Zachary Stewart (2013) describes McDonald’s newest

album as “a thoughtfully curated, well-orchestrated, and brilliantly sung homecoming  for the

(six)-time Tony Award-winning actress” (par. 1). ‘Go Back Home’ is McDonald’s fifth studio

album (Hetrick, 2013). In the time between her last record in 2006, McDonald lost her father in a

plane crash, divorced her husband of nine years, and remarried to fellow actor

Will Swenson (Kennedy, 2013). Talking about the album, McDonald said, “If there were a Broadway

show that was written about my life, especially the last seven years, this would be

the soundtrack” (Nonesuch Records, 2013). In ‘Go Back Home’,  McDonald explores

personal themes, of songs she was drawn to or songs similar to what was going on in her life, like

being away from home and her daughter (NPR Transcripts, 2013).   The album features songs from

various musical films and Broadwayproductions. McDonald’s soprano voice rings like a bell

throughout the album, but five particular songs stand out to me as the most powerful and emotional.

 

The title of the album is inspired by the opening song, Go Back Home from The Scottsboro Boys,

a play about a court case in the 1930s that sparked the Civil Rights Movement (Hetrick, 2013).

 

The song stands out so that you can really feel the genunine emotions coming from McDonald as she is singing. McDonald said, “This song speaks so much to what I’ve been through and my hopes and the things I was thinking about when I was laying in bed in California and wishing that I was back home” (Nonesuch Records, 2013).  Written by John Kander and Fred Ebb, the song lyrics resonate a sense of longing for and missing home. This song is incredibly beautiful. McDonald begins with a softer, quieter tone connects well with the lyrics about thinking of home and feeling lonely. She gradually increases volume in a way that creates a sense of hopefulness as she sings, “Maybe times’ll turn. I pray so. Maybe some day I’ll get lucky” (Kander & Ebb, 2010). The song is very easy to connect with, and it is so beautifully produced that you cannot help but think of being home as you are listening to it.

 

McDonald dedicates a song titled, The Glamorous Life, to her daughter in the album.  The song, written by Stephen Sondheim for the film A Little Night Music, is a about a little girl thinking of her mother, who is an actress (NPR Transcripts, 2013). McDonald says she feels connected to this song and dedicates it to her daughter, Zoe, during performances because of the separation that comes from having an actress or performer as a mother (NPR Transcripts, 2013).  This is McDonald’s way of connecting to her daughter when she cannot be with her in person. The tune of the song is fun and upbeat. The tempo for The Glamorous Life is fast paced, creates the feeling of adventure or something exciting for the for the audience. The tempo matches the lyrics in the way of a little girl with a big imagination, thinking of her mother the glamorous actress.

 

I’ll Be Here by Adam Gwon is another incredibly emotional and strong song in the album. The song is from Ordinary Days, a play inspired by the events of 9/11 (NPR

Transcripts, 2013). When deciding what to include in the album, McDonald said, the song “just grabbed my heart” (Nonesuch Records, 2013). McDonald related this song to what her stepmother went through after the death of her father, how to move on after losing the love of your life. The song tells the story of finding true love by chance one day, then losing that person and trying to move on afterwards. I’ll Be Here is incredibly enthralling and successful at pulling your heartstrings. The tempo changes periodically throughout the song, moving from fast to slow as it tells the story. McDonald sings the song wonderfully and with a sense of rawness. Her audience is carried through a wave of emotions in this song from happy, to shocked, to sadness, and then left with a sense of comfort and content at the finish.

 

Edelweiss from Rogers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music was the first song McDonald auditioned with when she was a child. McDonald said, “That started me on my

theater journey. That song has always had this huge influence” (Kennedy 2013, Par. 17).  

 

 

This influence started for McDonald as a young child of one when she was given a music box that played Edelweiss (NPR, 2012). "When I sing it, I sing about, certainly, my homeland,” McDonald said. In “a metaphorical sense, which is my home, and my dad, and my childhood” (NPR, 2012). For the album, her husband, Will Swenson, accompanies McDonald on the guitar. The pair creates a beautiful lullaby type melody with the song. The song is very peaceful and comforting.

 

The final song on the album is Make Someone Happy from Do Re Mi, written by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. “Make someone happy, and you’ll be happy too,” (Comden & Green, 1960) is the main lyric in the song, and this really made an impact on McDonald’s life. “The song just started to mean everything to me,” McDonald said. “That’s what I’m trying to live by these days” (Nonesuch Records, 2013). The song, about happiness, also creates a sense of happiness for the audience. The tempo gradually increases throughout the song, as well as the volume, which makes it more upbeat and joyful.  The message of the song is incredibly positive and powerful.

 

Audra McDonald’s new album, ‘Go Back Home,’ is a hit. Her songs are performed beautifully, with a personal touch in her own life that the audience can connect with. Her

songs chosen for the album and her voice evoke an array of emotions, leading the audience to really feel what the songs are saying. With this album, McDonald has made many happy, so she can be happy too

 

References

Biography.com. (n.d.). Audra McDonald Biography. Retrieved fromhttp://www.biography.com/people/audra-mcdonald

 

Broadway.com. (n.d.) Audra McDonald: Star files. Retrieved fromhttp://www.broadway.com/buzz/stars/audra-mcdonald/profile/

 

Comden, B. & Green, A. (1960). Make Someone Happy [Recorded by Audra McDonald]. OnGo Back Home [CD]. New York City, New York: Nonesuch Records. (2013).

 

Hetrick, A. (2013). Audra McDonald's New Album, "Go Back Home" Sets May Release; PBSconcert will follow. Retrieved fromhttp://www.playbill.com/news/article/audra-mcdonalds-new-album-go-back-home-sets-may-release-pbs-concert-will-fo-204244

Kander, J. & Ebb, F. (2010). Go Back Home [Recorded by Audra McDonald]. On Go BackHome [CD]. New York City, New York: Nonesuch Records. (2013).

 

Kennedy, M. (2013, May 20). Audra McDonald Album 'Go Back Home' Shows Personal Side.Huffington Post. Retrieved fromhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/20/audra-mcdonald-album-go-back-home_n_3306091.html

 

McDonald, A. (2013). Go Back Home [CD]. New York City, New York: Nonesuch Records.Retrieved fromhttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5QVO3t7YmHSAS9PIjWqgJUppoAiKGe4T

 

Nonesuch Records. (2013). Audra McDonald on Her Album “Go Back Home”. Retrieved fromhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=za2t6sxXPAA

 

NPR. (2012, June 5). Why 'Edelweiss' makes Audra McDonald think of home. mom and dad’srecord collection. Retrieved fromhttp://www.npr.org/2012/05/29/153924975/why-edelweiss-makes-audra-mcdonald-think-of-home

 

NPR Transcripts. (2013). Audra McDonald goes back home with new album. Tell Me More@ NPR News. Retrieved fromhttp://www.npr.org/2013/05/30/187291532/audra-mcdonald-goes-back-home-with-new-album

 

Stewart, Z. (2013). Audra McDonald: Go back home. Retrieved fromhttp://www.theatermania.com/new-york-city-theater/news/06-2013/audra-mcdonald-go-back-home_65399.html