How Glory Goes

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
After Audra McDonald's audacious recording debut with Way Back to Paradise, a collection of newly composed, highly sophisticated theater music, this new disc dominated by Harold Arlen standards would seem to be a retrenchment. On closer inspection, not so. Anybody who would risk comparisons with Barbra Streisand and Judy Garland by recording "A Sleepin' Bee" and "The Man That Got Away" isn't playing it safe. McDonald comes out fine, though, not because she's better than her elders, but because she's different. What pop singers do with rhetorical flourishes, the operatically trained McDonald does with color and phrase shape, much more so here than on Way Back to Paradise. Indeed, she is in radiant voice. The differences multiply with the orchestrations, which give a Coplandesque slant to "Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home." Then there's the sequencing, which follows "The Man That Got Away" with "Somewhere" from West Side Story. On a dramatic level, it's a progression from devastation to healing. On a symbolic level, the signature song of gay-cult icon Garland is followed by the unofficial anthem of the AIDS era--with staggering impact. Not everything is great: sometimes McDonald runs dry of interpretive ideas. But at least five cuts are each worth the price of the CD. My favorite: "Come Down from the Tree," a playful gem about love and change cut from the Broadway show Once on This Island. --David Patrick Stearns --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Amazon.com essential recording
After Audra McDonald's audacious recording debut with Way Back to Paradise, a collection of newly composed, highly sophisticated theater music, this new disc dominated by Harold Arlen standards would seem to be a retrenchment. On closer inspection, not so. Anybody who would risk comparisons with Barbra Streisand and Judy Garland by recording "A Sleepin' Bee" and "The Man That Got Away" isn't playing it safe. McDonald comes out fine, though, not because she's better than her elders, but because... read more --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

How Glory Goes

Tracks:

Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home (Arlen-Mercer)
Bill (Kern-Wodehouse-Hammerstein)
I Had Myself a True Love (Arlen-Mercer)
I Hid My Love (Marzullo, poem by J. Clare)
Was That You? (Guettel-Robbins)
I Won't Mind (Blumenkrantz-Kessler-Saines)
Sleepin' Bee, A (Arlen-Capote)
Come Down from the Tree (Flaherty-Ahrens)
I Never Has Seen Snow (Arlen-Capote)
When Did I Fall in Love (Bock-Harnick)
Man That Got Away, The (Arlen-Gershwin)
Somewhere (Bernstein-Sondheim)
How Glory Goes (Guettel)
Lay Down Your Head (Tesori-Crawley)

Amazon.com essential recording

After Audra McDonald's audacious recording debut with Way Back to Paradise, a collection of newly composed, highly sophisticated theater music, this new disc dominated by Harold Arlen standards would seem to be a retrenchment. On closer inspection, not so. Anybody who would risk comparisons with Barbra Streisand and Judy Garland by recording "A Sleepin' Bee" and "The Man That Got Away" isn't playing it safe. McDonald comes out fine, though, not because she's better than her elders, but because she's different. What pop singers do with rhetorical flourishes, the operatically trained McDonald does with color and phrase shape, much more so here than on Way Back to Paradise. Indeed, she is in radiant voice. The differences multiply with the orchestrations, which give a Coplandesque slant to "Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home." Then there's the sequencing, which follows "The Man That Got Away" with "Somewhere" from West Side Story. On a dramatic level, it's a progression from devastation to healing. On a symbolic level, the signature song of gay-cult icon Garland is followed by the unofficial anthem of the AIDS era--with staggering impact. Not everything is great: sometimes McDonald runs dry of interpretive ideas. But at least five cuts are each worth the price of the CD. My favorite: "Come Down from the Tree," a playful gem about love and change cut from the Broadway show Once on This Island. --David Patrick Stearns

Amazon.com essential recording

Customer Reviews:

Glorious Audra.......2007-07-13

There need to be more stars than five for this one! Incredible voice,phrasing and music arrangements.Absolutely beautiful!

Fine voice but not one that resonates with me - a detail often overlooked..........2007-06-29

Here's the thing about music and those who listen to it. There are some wonderful singers out there and I think Audra McDonald is one of them. But listen to her sample tracks (or, for that matter, anyone's sample tracks, if you can) BEFORE buying this.

Her voice is a bit too high for me, not warm and melodic. Others may disagree and so I hesitate to be negative because I do think what appeals to some will leave others cold. I listened to this CD in a store as well as on Amazon, just to make sure I wasn't hearing the sound wrong. I can't say she does a thing wrong and yet her style simply doesn't reach me the way others do, even those with lesser voices. But then I guess thats what makes any work, from music to books, so personal. Very few have a universal appeal.

A joyful, sexy sound, with look and spirit to match.......2006-06-21

I've owned this CD for so long and had to stop listening to it when a very jealous girlfriend of mine was around that I forgot to share with others how good it is. Audra McDonald is already a legendary figure on Broadway with four Tony awards, exemplifying the complete package of drama and artistry she is on stage. Yet that voice, which could just as easily have taken her to the Met as it did to the theatres downtown, is in rare expressive form on this CD tribute to Harold Arlen and others.

I don't want to spoil the experience of the songs by going into detail. Just know from the moment you hear "Anywhere I Hang My Hat is Home" with her beautiful voice, wonderful technique and deeply poignant subtext that celebrates her ability to interpret to the point of personalize the songs she sings, you will be more than satisfied with this CD.

Not Judy Garland or Barbra Streisand yet? Don't worry, she's got time. And she's on her way.

Terrific Album, Beautiful Voice.......2005-05-19

I am most definitely an Audra McDonald fan. I saw her live recently at Linclon Center in the American Songbook Series and was blown away.

This CD is a must buy for anyone who loves musical theater or great singing. Ms. McDonald is able to take a song you've heard a million times and make you feel like you've never heard it before. She is able to capture the emotional content of a song without making it sappy or overly sentimental. From Showboat's "Bill," which she sings with child-like wonder, to "The Man That Got Away," which drips with lament and regret, every song in this collection strikes the right chord.

An amazing voice and a gift for acting make her one of the best entertainers around. If you get a chance to see her live, don't ask questions, just do it. In the meanwhile listen to this wonderful CD.

Golden Ears.......2005-05-05

A Moose from California compared Audra's "Bill" with one done by Jane Monheit. I took his advise and listened to both. Audra sounds like a church choir singer making an attempt at jazz. The Moose from California has a tin ear when it comes to quality and soul.This is a sad recording as far as jazz goes. It should be in the cabaret bin. Absolutely!!!

Average customer rating:

The Musicals: The Best Of

Manufacturer: Solid Gold
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Musical Theater | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Musicals | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music

General | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000BFH4OO
Release Date: 2005-11-01

Tracks:

Lion King/The Circle of Life
Fiddler on the Roof/Sunrise Sunset
Man of la Mancha/The Impossible Dream
Sweet Charity/Big Spender
Aida/Elaborate Lives
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat/Any Dream Will Do
Chicago/Mr. Cellophane
Beauty and the Beast/If I Can't Love Her
South Pacific/Some Enchanted Evening
West Side Story/Something's Coming
Annie Get Your Gun/Anything You Can Do
Camelot/How to Handle a Woman
Thoroughly Modern Millie/Thoroughly Modern Millie
Cats/Memory
Cabaret/Maybe This Time
Rent/One Song Glory
Ragtime/Back to Before
Mame [From Mame]

Tracks:

Chicago/All That Jazz
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang/Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Mamma Mia/Dancing Queen
My Fair Lady/On the Street Where You Live
Chess/Anthem
Jubilee/Begin the Beguine
Phantom of the Opera/Masquerade
Staurday Night Fever/What Kind of Fool
Miss Saigon/Why God Why?
Bombay Dreams/Shakalaka Baby
Guys and Dolls/Luck Be a Lady
Lion King
Miserables/I Dreamed a Dream
Mary Poppins/Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Phantom of the Opera/All I Ask of You
Oliver!/As Long as He Needs Me
Anything Goes/Anything Goes
We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions

Music:

Music

Music