Does the prospect of seeing a performer with four Tony Awards, two very successful solo albums, and an extensive Broadway resume — including such recent classics as Ragtime, Marie Christine, and Carousel — sound appealing to you? Well, if you love live performance, enjoy musical theatre, and don’t mind sitting on the desperately-in-need-of-refurbishing seats at the Hershey Theatre, you missed it. Audra McDonald brought her show — and what a show it was — on October 14 to open the Hershey Theatre’s 2000-2001 season.

Though the seats are scheduled to be reupholstered and rebuilt over the course of the next year, it’s hard to say when McDonald will return. And if audience turn out was any indication of her chances for a repeat performance, theatre-goers have a long wait ahead of them. Despite the abysmal turn out, which McDonald hardly noticed, the show was superb. Her voice was alive and articulate from the first note to the last, some two-and-a-half hours later. Not bad considering that she is almost six months pregnant. I had never seen her in anything other than a performance of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," and then, I didn’t even know who she was. And although I had a pretty good idea of what to expect because I had done a bit of research before I arrived, nothing prepared me for the version of "Someone to Watch Over Me" that opened McDonald’s show. I could hear every word, notice every inflection, and see every subtle shift in emotion that she sang. Granted, I wasn’t as far from the stage as those people in the balcony, but I am certain that McDonald’s soprano voice read as well in the back seats as it did for me. Not that there was anyone sitting there…

The first half of the show was a sampling of love songs, some traditional, some contemporary, and McDonald danced through these numbers with grace and attitude, always the right attitude. She knew when to waltz and when to tango. Her voice articulated even the smallest nuance. It was this careful articulation and feeling that allowed me to enjoy her performance.

The first half of the show was indeed lovely. After a brief intermission, McDonald returned for more of the same. The second half of the show was filled with more songs of the same ilk. A little Sondheim, a little Flaherty and Ahrens, a lot of love, and some great singing. All of this would have been very, very good, but the best was yet to come. Though the song "All Fall Down" by William Finn was introduced by McDonald as a possible blunder, the opposite was true. This song was the climax of the show. Until this point, her musicians, led by Ted Sperling, McDonald’s Music Director and Pianist, were subtle support. In this number, introduced as "a piano concerto with words, lots of words," we got to see the true talent of Sperling. This was the moment where she let him shine. He was magnificent. His feel for the piano and understanding of McDonald ability made this the shining moment in the show. She performed the difficult song wonderfully. Her graceful voice matched with his great talent made for an all but perfect song. As they finished, there was a moment of brief silence where they both looked at each other and then smiled, knowing that they had succeeded. And though the audience was not stingy with there gratitude and approval, the collective sigh and the extra moment of applause at the conclusion of this song, made me know that they agreed.