Stars and Moon - Audra McDonald

[lukebayer2]

Wow stunning!

[ponchandra]

Love it love it love it!

[yippee1999]

the perfect combination....work-of-art song writing and musicians, combined with a strong singer with impeccable timing and understanding of the overall song.

[mmvaliant]

<333 Ughhh I love this so much

[robsterpaco]

She is great, and it's a wonderful song. But she's not perfect.

[Marktheho]

@robsterpaco No one is, I think thats what makes us all artists.  Right? I think people put people in the perfect category too much.

[TheLadylovesick]

her voice is like the perfect combo of strength and beauty

[mockingjay25]

I wud totally take the stars and moon bysides fame!!! who is this guy that wud give it??? I WANT HIM!!! :) <3

[kayvicchen]

Saw her this friday- Incredible and wonderful and funny and gorgeous.

[mockingjay25]

@kayvicchen im so jealous!!!! i want to see her!!!

[dbuckleytv]

I'M GOING TO SEE HER IN CONCERT TOMORROW!

[alltimelove5678]

thanks so much for posting this! i sent it to all my friends. i love audra mcdonald!

[ponchandra]

I love this song!

[TheAshumms]

this version is amazing, I can't believe I have only just found it. I love the way she keeps us waiting for her to belt it out at the end but still has so much control.

[ahfclass]

*sigh* Still my favorite JRB song (do not ask me why), and by far my favorite rendition of it. Audra, you vocal goddess, thanks for sharing your heaven with the world. (How could you not?)

[78CBerens]

How is one person this PERFECT!!!! :)

[oslusarek]

simply amazing. 

[martinekaw]

so incredibly indescribable!

[MsSmithers13]

People destroy this song by belting and yelling...they should listen to this and learn real control....absolutely stunning...such placement

[meganbear141]

Oh this is a beautiful rendition!!! ^^

[thamestango]

I love Audra too, but listen to an American singer called Deborah Boily... she sang a lot in France, and sings Brel and many other French writers, but also sings new and old American songs, and I think she does the song beautifully, it was the first time I heard it.

[MrGekko80]

i ma a french man , and i like private practice and the role of audra !! she's wonderfull !! and a great singer !!!! bravo j'aime beaucoup!!!

[Silvertus]

im sory i didnt mean james lols i mean jason lols

[Silvertus]

audra and james were both going in, audra is my idol and when im famous i will def perform wit her if i can keep myself from fainting, i mean she is soooooo goood that hen she sings angels stop and listen in envy and god himself stops running the cosmos to listen as her voice rings through the heavens, so yeah im in love, but anyway look at james the whole time he didnt even look at the sheet music lols he was going in and audra just nailed this song best version ever to be!!!!!

[nellyausrufezeichen]

amazing !!!!!

[jenson7720]

f^%k me pink shes wonderful!

[pinkfloyd797]

omg



[BillyHarveyster00]

Nobody else's version can compare to that of Audra's...

Simply beautiful...!

[Pillow351]

I love this song!!! I wish I could sing it with her strength and passion.

[dimitrovajunkie]

I'm probably in the minority here, but I like Betty Buckley's version better. She really seems to rock the song and savor it more and bring out the irony in a terser, wittier way. Ms. McDonald's version is technically correct but somehow too studied with too much emphasis in the wrong places. She always seems like she's trying so hard to impress (and perhaps takes herself too seriously?). But that's just me.

[carr0760]

@dimitrovajunkie I like Betty's version as well, however I feel that Audra owns it. I find that Betty's is too fast...and considering that the composer is on the piano here, I would tend to think that this is the tempo that was intended. He obviously approves of this interpretation or he would have changed it...

[LisaMackXx]

What a cute wee song, sung by a stunning voice! :)

[chiavone8654]

SHES SO INCREDIBLEEE!!!!! i cant take it!!!

[leannejytsang]

I feel a bit disgusted at myself for only knowing her from Private Practice...

[ChicagoSouthDan]

@leannejytsang Hey, I used to think that Brian Stokes Mitchell was just the shallow boyfriend of one of the characters on The Fresh Prince of BelAir.

[ChicagoSouthDan]

@ChicagoSouthDan He portrayed the boyfriend of Hillary Banks, the older daughter.

[votecoldplay]

Very lovely voice, but so very fast, that lovely voice would be nicer if it went on longer

[ChicagoSouthDan]

@votecoldplay It has to do with the song in question. This particular song is sung at a faster pace. I would recommend that you hear her renditions of Edelweiss, Someone to Watch Over Me, and various other songs that she sings at a slower pace because those songs are usually sung at a slower pace. You can find them on Youtube.

[living2love2sing]

Wow. I got chills throughout the entire song. She is amazing!

[TDELH713]

Audra gets points, major points!!!!

Also, unlike Chenowith, she isn't singing on her show like 3 episodes into the show.

[freezersnout]

WOW! She can pump out an amazing amount of clear, clean, controlled sound from those lungs. It's stunning.

[KHASTE]

She is one of my favorite people of all time

chills all over!!!!!!

[survivor297]

what the hell is WRONG with her?! And by "what the hell is wrong with her", I mean "Dear god, I hope one day I can turn my stupid coloratura soprano voice into the fierce belt she's able to do."

[flipdude808]

@survivor297 what belt?! she belts for like 5 seconds of this entire video. the rest of the time, she is the mayor of mix city.

[imarockchick]

@survivor297 are you kidding? i'd kill for a higher voice... alto feels so limited & man-ish sometimes... be thankful for your lovely soprano voice :)

[LoversAlwaysLeave]

Absolutely amazing.

[terry46619]

BRAVO!!!!!!!!

[rabbitfish63]

Literally sitting here covered in goosebumps.

[jaspar38]

Is it just me, or does Jason look like Schroeder at the beginning? I think it's the way he's sitting. Also, I love the bongos. Oh yeah, the singing is good, too. :-P

[LadySpoCoy]

This sends shivers down my spine every time I listen to it. I love Audra!

[puckhiggins]

No one knows how to capture life in a song like Jason Robert Brown. And Audra is amazing as always.

[ChicagoSouthDan]

Unfortunate that this has about 12,000 views when a song by Miley Cyrus has about 45,000,000, but such is the way of youtube, which is a young person's medium.

[edmcatee]

I like how JRB is playing the piano with her

[kkhatfield]

I love Audra. And I love JRB. AND I'm obsessed with her "just uh-warm summer rain!" Uhh... it's mind-blowing.

[darksideofcat]

amazing lyric

[liman42]

Does this sound like Sondheim to anyone?

[ChicagoSouthDan]

@liman42 Not really, but there are a lot of Sondheim musicals I have not seen. I don't think it sounds like one of his mournful ballads, like Too Many Mornings from Follies. Perhaps you are referring to a song that alternates between talking and singing, like "Another Hundred People Just Got off of the Train" from Company. Although this does have parts where she talks more than sings, I don't think this sounds like one of Sondheim's talking-singing songs.

[liman42]

It was more the lyrical, jazzy quality of the song to me as well as the humor. Reminded me of "Finishing the Hat" in tone combined with the humor of "Sunday in the Park With George" or perhaps "The Glamorous Life". Its clever (like Sondheim), insightful (like Sondheim) and has a memorable melody (like many of Sondheim's). But no matter what, "The Stars and Moon" IS a beautiful song.

[ChicagoSouthDan]

@liman42 As I said, there are a lot of Sondheim musicals I have not seen. I've heard of Sunday in the Park but never seen it.  I have heard "The Glamorous Life", and I see your point. Yes, a beautiful song.

[liman42]

First Sondheim musical I saw was Sunday In The Park. Turned me into a Sondheim fan immediately. I highly recommend it.

[liman42]

Forgot something. I don't know if its still up but Sunday in the Park was on YouTube. Someone posted the entire play. the original with Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters is the one you should see.

[ChicagoSouthDan]

@liman42 To expand on my previous point, Sondheim's talking-singing songs tend to be much faster paced than this, as in the "Hundred People" song and "I'm not Getting Married Today" from Company. Also, they have more talking than singing, whereas, this has more singing than talking. Was there a specific Sondheim song you think this sounds like?

[ChicagoSouthDan]

I like them both, and Mandy Patinkin went to my high school, Chicago's South Shore about the same time I did, although I do not know him. He is class of 1970 and I am class of '69. He transferred to another school for his last year or two, I think in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood.

[ChicagoSouthDan]

In the Related Videos on the right, the top video is a rendition of this song by Audra that has gotten about 20 times as many views. However, I like this version better. The one with more views is a little overly dramatic for my tastes. This has more variety and contemplation to it and thus makes the ending more powerful, in my view.

[MissBroadwayDork]

@ChicagoSouthDan She's older here and has more experience.

[ChicagoSouthDan]

@MissBroadwayDork I didn't realize that. Thanks.

[disneyfan715]

Woah! Mind=blown. Her performance was amazing. But when she said that was Jason Robert Brown I was just like Mind=blown AGAIN!!!! Wow. Simply stunning. Gotta love it. :))))

[MaryBridget12]

holy crap....

Wow

[cerabeara26]

I'm totally and completely in love with this song!

[Misty15big]

I love her voice :) i watched this on pbs when she was promoting her build a bridge album and was mesmerized :) she's fantastic!

[stevenswindells]

Perfection

[LoveAudraMcDonald]

I agree...Audra McDonald is simply perfect!!

[broadwaybaby05]

I LOVE HER!

[ActingGeek73]

me 2 she quite the vocalist

[biGwoMAaNn899]

define perfection?!!?!?

audra mcdonald

[LoveAudraMcDonald]

I totally agree,she definitely is my favorite singer!!

[JKim1013]

My goodness, Audra's interpretation and musicality is impeccable. Brava! Thanks for posting this :)