that one time i met audra mcdonald...

well, i am back from cambridge. i can’t even explain how wonderful it was to see michael. before this trip, we had seen each other a total of five days in the past four months. i’m sure we will make up for all that time apart this semester. we already have several little trips planned. in the excitement of seeing michael, and his parents coming to visit, i only took a few pictures and didn’t get on the computer for about five days! i’ll share the photos i do have tomorrow, but for today, i want to share a little story and a photo from yesterday:

my love of audra mcdonald is no secret. she is an incredibly talented performer and i have looked up to her since my mom brought home the ragtime soundtrack when i was nine. as i got older and begun studying musical theatre, i continued to admire her work. almost every song i was assigned at tisch, audra sang. this weekend we saw her in the american repertory theater performance of porgy and bess (which is moving to broadway this winter, if you don’t have a chance to see it in boston.) the show was wonderful! the talent was just incredible. audra mcdonald was divine, of course. after the show, michael wanted to wait and see if we could meet audra. there wasn’t really a stage door or anything like that so i told him we should just go. this is going to sound strange, but i didn’t really want to meet her face to face. i don’t know if it’s because i can be pretty shy or because she is not a part of my daily life so i want to keep a separation in my mind, but I was very opposed to the idea. we all headed to l.a. burdick for some macaroons and drinks. 

about forty-five minutes later, we started heading back to michael’s room. who do you think was standing a few blocks down with a few of her fellow cast members?  why, audra mcdonald, of course! i noticed her before michael did and told him, “do not say anything.”-using that certain look and tone of voice that he knows means business. well, his mom had spotted her as well. just as michael was telling her not to say anything, she yelled, “oh my goodness! you were so amazing in the show!!” then pointed to me, “can we get you to take a picture with her??” naturally, i froze. there was no avoiding it now. audra mcdonald, being the gracious, lovely woman that she is, gestured towards the three people with her (including norm lewis) and said that they were also in the show and would totally take a picture with me. norm lewis ushered me into the middle of them and told me it was my turn to be the star. audra mcdonald was super sweet, which just made me love her more. i remember her talking to me but i don’t exactly remember what she said. i’m not sure i even spoke the entire time. i just smiled, literally speechless. as we were saying goodbye, michael’s dad, who is usually pretty quiet, told audra, “she just loves you! she thinks you are amazing!! she sings all your songs!” as we crossed the street to get back on track, i assured them all that i was not *completely* embarrassed. in fact, i am really glad they ratted me out and we got the pictures (even though i had already sweated my makeup off). it was absolutely the highlight of my trip. sorry michael :)

photos via our iphones

(she is on the far right!)

(please note how excited she was to meet me in the second picture:)