Audra McDonald - What Can You Lose?/Not A Day Goes By

[freakmuvizu]

I dont think she captures the emotion of the song at all, i think the duet in dick tracy is just so subtle and heartfelt and less is so often better than more. Great voice but shes just belting it out.

[UnicornsVsNarwhal]

She's great, but I like Bernadette Peters better when she's singing Not A Day Goes By

[EileenMGray]

I think I'm in heaven...

[soccerforever94]

i had no idea that she sings!

[ExtremePersuasion]

@soccerforever94 Thank goodness for youtube. Sharing the amazingness of Audra McD one gleek at a time.

[PattiwhackPics]

I was standing in the wings watching this next to Barbara Cook, who was humming along as Audra was singing... Bliss. When she noticed I was watching her watch Audra she said, "she's breathtaking." High praise.

[barose1]

8 people are vegetables.

[rogharm]

this is ROGHARM why did i get a complaint from someone about audra. see my comment from 8 months ago. i love audra. she is great. i never would negatively cricize her. i have all her posts. who is CHAMPZBOY. what is the problem? received e-mail from CHAMPZBOY there is a cure for aids it is written in a book from the orient. aids is a poison in the body. through fasting and eating very little food aids can be cured. the book recommends 8 pounds of grapes to cleanse the body and plenty of liquids.

[SopranoOfTheNight]

@rogharm Ha, either you don't know what you're talking about or you're trying to kill off people who are infected with AIDS. AIDS is a virus which attacks the immune system, so people don't die directly of AIDS, they die of diseases they get when their immune system has shut down. Fasting would only make the immune system weaker. So keep your medieval "cures" to yourself.

I don't see how this is relevant to Audra's amazing performance anyway.

[SopranoOfTheNight]

@rogharm Actually, HIV is the virus that causes AIDS, which is a syndrome. Everything else I said is still true. Anyway, shut up and listen to the pretty music.

[JohnHatesUnicorns]

I love her.

[tonywrestles2]

There's only one thing wrong with this video. "What Can You Lose" is one of my favorite ballads, and I so seldom hear it alone--I would have really enjoyed hearing it without "Not a Day Goes By."

[conniesmarykay]

What a great voice.

[tonywrestles2]

@conniesmarykay

And she makes it look so completely effortless...

[leflyscot]

madonna sang it a million times better, more sincere, less hammy, wistful and simple

[AtLastOnTheGround]

@leflyscot

...You're kidding, right?

[wormyeyes]

Julie athertons new album - NO SPACE FOR AIR - available on 06.06.10

Only a few spaces left for her launch concert at the Delfont Room, Prince of Wales Theatre - 7pm - 6th June 2010.

[battlegirldeb]

I think she is one of the best and she need to be back on BROADWAY!!!!!!

[tonywrestles2]

@battlegirldeb

It's not like there's much on Broadway these days that's worthy of her...

[SoYahYah]

I want to see her in ragtime on broadway :( its a wish

[Mimri9]

I agree about the vibrato...just a little too ripe. But she does blend registers nicely - the passagio, you know?

[showtunesman89]

When Audra belts out those last few notes at the end of "Not A Day Goes By", I go totally crazy.

[rogmofreakymar]

I can't even count the times i've sat in front of my computer watching this.  her voice is just TOO MUCH TO HANDLE. i melt every time.

[rogharm]

@rogmofreakymar AGREE 10,000% audra is audaciously great. the song is new to me. great performance!!!!!!*****ROGHARM

[johni0666]

Billy Porters original version of this medley is AMAAAAZING, Better than either Bernadette's or Audra's ( & that's saying something!!!)

[Judill]

I can't get over this recording. It's really one of the most incredible things I've ever heard.

[asmileisspecial]

Why is Audra so breathtakingly amazing? Her voice makes me want to cry.

[lizawangfan]

she is beautiful! and her voice is amazing!

[stageweight]

What an extraordinary talent! I saw her on Broadway a few years back in "110 in the shade". She returned to work just a couple of days after her father died in a plane crash and gave an incredibly courageous and moving performance, all the more heartbreaking as the show centred around the relationship between a father and his daughter. It was spellbinding and the audience gave her a 5 minute standing ovation at the end. She is a great role model for any youngster looking to work in theatre.

[operarus33184]

This voice has driven me damn near into frenzy since stumbling upon it some ten years ago. Her innate musicality, interpretive prowess and deep humanity combine to form a sound that is at once so unguarded, so honest-heaven is singing.

[Sshelly34213]

I hate audiences.

Really always clapping and coughing in the middle of a performance.

[cbstrange4]

Sshelly, I was watching Jonathan Crombie (Gilbert Blythe from Anne of Green Gables) perform on stage, and when he was giving an AIDS speech at the end of the musical, people were WALKING OUT! On Gilbert Blythe. The nerve of some people. The rudeness of today's society. ;)

[Sshelly34213]

What? Seriously?

Um why would you do that? AIDS is an important issue, you can get it from something as simple as a blood transfusion at the hospital.

Not only are people assholes, they're morons.

[cbstrange4]

@rogharm Oh dear...I'm sure you don't have any loved ones with the AIDS virus, or you would be more understanding. Remember that homosexuals are not the only people to contract AIDS, and one can contract it by other ways than sex. Children can be born with the disease through no fault of there own. Rape victims can receive it from their attackers. If it was your little sister, father, or best friend who had AIDS, you would feel differently. Have some compassion.

[rogharm]

@cbstrange4 from ROGHARM i was a welfare supervisor and why is there a "gay men's health crisis?" i object to people who know better causing themselves to get aids. not innocent victims. as a taxpayer why should i pay for welfare for men who act inappropriately and get aids and i the taxpayer has to pay the bill. i have had over 50 blood transfusions and i could have gotten aids. BUT, it would not be my cause.also, i far eastern books which tell the cure for aids, no medicine needed. ask me.

[champzboy]

@rogharm you're a fool. how foolish to post something this ugly. how sad you must be.

[JJLovin]

I never thought I'd hear another version of "Not A Day Goes By" that I love as much as Bernadette's... but then again, this IS Audra we're talking about. :) LOVE HER.

I really like both their versions equally, though. I mean, if you're going straight for vocal technique, then of course it's Audra, and the emotion she's able to put into it while keeping her vocals perfect is amazing... but there's just some unspoken something special, that rings so true, about Bernadette's that is just stunning.

[drexina]

I was very blessed to be in the audience in an excellent box seat for this concert at the Hollywood Bowl back in 2005. Audra was heavenly. It was an almost unbelievably great performance. I'm so thrilled it was "captured", thank you!

[Chilair1]

she's also hot. never noticed before.

[randar03]

Snowydog...It is completely untrue that Bernadette does not have the technique Audra has...they both have terrific technique but Bernadatte is trained in belt and Audra is classically trained. They are stylistically different and you are correct that both are equally brilliant. But...just because techniques are different does not mean that one is better than the other. Btw...at least 10,000 of the views this video has gotten have been mine...I'm OBSESSED with it.

[emor3000]

this is absolutely AMAZING!!!!!!

[kongxyz89]

"what can you lose" is older then "defying gravity", like, more then a GENERATION apart, so lets abandon that comparrison

[ToxicPopsicle]

I think Schwartz may have been... "inspired" by What Can You Lose, considering how amazing a song it is.

[Snowydog123]

Addra's voice is not the voice that Sondheim hears when he writes, her vocal technique is simply flawless, yet she delivers his music brilliantly. The comment above that Bernadette Peter's does not have nearly the technique that Audra does is absolutely true. But, who would want to live in world that isn't big enough to have both Audra and Bernadette in it? Me, some days I reach for Bernadette's Sondheim etc, volume I or II, and sometimes I reach for one of Audra's recordings. Love them both

[cbstrange4]

Actually, I completely disagree. In my opinion, Bernadette Peters and Audra McDonald are almost polar opposites when it comes to style and tone of voice, but they have similar training and experience and they are equally talented. Obviously I love Audra more, but let's not begrudge dear Bernadette of her skill. :)

[biGwoMAaNn899]

brilliant beyond all words

[classydancer84]

You guys know she is on "Private Practice" on ABC on Thursdays? She is amazing!!

[banthonywhite]

If anyone wants to observe flawless vocal technique and delivery all they have to do is watch this video.

[cbstrange4]

Audra Audra Audra...my inspiration and joy to my heart. Perfect. And even though it is rather immature of me to say this, anyone who can look at Audra and not see that she has superior talent is just sadly ignorant.

[charlzcox]

thank u ... doesn't get any better ... thank u very much

[johnnylifelive]

Um, I guess that's how you sing.....

[hslevin]

Jesus woman!

[lorynxx]

The accompaniment really sounds like "wicked"

[nclysander]

Really? I didn't really care for the orchestration in Wicked, whereas this sounds fine to me.

[JillHill7]

perhaps Stephen Schwartz did the arrangement. i can hear his signature chords in there. it happens with composers we love to listen to. ^_^

[AtLastOnTheGround]

yeah I hear that Schwartz sound in there too.

[tinytimton]

I think it's gorgeous. But Schwartz did not do the arragnements--Paul Gemignani did.

[JillHill7]

AH! Paul Gemignani is amazing too! he must have been an influence for Schwartz. who knows? it still sounds epic! ^_^

[ToxicPopsicle]

It's just the last like... 15 seconds of the song that sound like the instrumental part in "Defying Gravity" right before the "Something has changed within me" part.

Oh lord, I'm almost sad I knew that.

[seventysevenplus]

I always cry watching this

[Lirit331]

Don't misunderstand me, because Bernadette Peters is still on my top 5 favorite list, but Audra McDonald's vocal technique would put Bernadette Peters to shame in the first 8 bars.

[tinytimton]

I agree. Audra is flawless in her delivery.

[justshowmehow]

You are forgetting Madonna's classic vocals on the Dick Tracy O.S.T.

LOL

Just kidding. Poor deluded scantily clad Madonna.

[szeiaan]

the bitch is flawless

[enolamsamoht]

@szeiaan Why does she have to be a "B" word

[TheCatgirl6]

@enolamsamoht Second that. Thank you.

[iloveinu2death]

@szeiaan Why did you call her a bitch?? :$ *scratches head* What is so hard about "Audra is flawless?" geez.

[singerbel]

i absolutely love this, she is beyond brilliant

[ak92092]

wow. that was amazing.

[liongenie]

wow~~agree!

[BrochtrupBean]

kills me.

[Sshelly34213]

wow as much as I love her voice the instrumental is just outstanding!!

[stageweight]

Magnificent! She is truly world class.

I saw Audra McDonald on Broadway in "110 in the shade" a year ago, returning to work just days after her father had been tragically killed in an air accident. The show, ironically, centres on a father/daughter relationship and that evening, she turned in one of the bravest performances I've ever witnessed. She's one hell of a pro and I will always go and see anything she's associated with.

[jtrudeau88]

Great performance. I never noticed how similar the first song is to "Our Little World," it's got a very similar chord progression.

[FunkyDazJazz]

Stunning! As a teacher of singing if I could only get all my adolescent girls to understand that this is how you sing well! She has a top on her voice and she is not trying to belt/screech in her chest register. Put simply, she sings with great technique and commendable artistry!

[colino72]

Wow - what a voice. I haven't seen anything of her before - i searched for what can you lose because I really like the song. Compared to Madonna (and Mandy Patinkin) on the soundtrack, this is great singing, even with pretty ordinary sound quality.

[corini3]

i love her.. xxxx

[alfieism]

OH MY GOD!

even on the 1000th time, I nearly piss myself.

ahmahzing.

[Havic366]

wow, thanks for putting this extended version up. i've never seen the last part. it usually cuts off after what can you lose.

[sondheimette]

Okay, don't say I'm lying cuz I''m telling the truth. I lived in New York when till I was 6 and Audra actually lived in my apartment building! I actually knew her personally and now she's one of my idols. When she was nominated for a Tony last year, I was like, "I know her!" I have video footage of me trick or treating at her door when I was little. Weird huh?

[CaroleLita]

Someone like Audra comes along once in a lifetime. I'm glad it was in MY lifetime. She puts so much emotion into a song and really understands Sondheim's magnificent lyrics (and music, of course) so that once she has sung a song, it becomes hers. Barbara Cook has that gift, too, with Sondheim's "Losing My Mind." We, in turn, are all blessed!

[Terdbomber]

If you know anything about Audra... she thinks about words/feelings/emotions driven into songs. People don't make medleys of songs for these reasons too often- especially someone who has as much insight into what they are singing as Audra. I saw/heard her sing this @ Kennedy Center- it was not only amazing emotionally but her voice was technically phenomenal.

[upthedownstaircase79]

I am sorry I LOVE Audra I do! but this is such an awkward performance and not really her fault but these songts don't mesh well and it was odly orchestrated to begin with. Not to mention that I feel like somone glued her arms to her sides, the whole thing is just awkward somehow.

[kongxyz89]

i disagree, the themes go along brilliantly, and the melodic themes are def seperate....but its a melody so you kinda expect that, still though i think the songs go well together, and i think her body language was great. As much as i love Bernsy, her flailing arms in a concert setting are a little bit silly

[blatella]

This is the kind of performance that brings me to the brink of tears of joy...

[kduff007]

now that's a little harsh disnylndmagicman

"and just wants to go on as before, as a friend nothing more, and closes the door" certainly sounds like it could be from "into the woods". obviously it's not...but dick tracy and merrily are some of sondheim's lesser known musicals and all that really matters is that audra is amazing.

[disnylndmagicman]

Wow Laramis and Theatre4him you both couldn't be more wrong! these two songs were from merrily we roll along (not a day goes by) and The dick tracy Movie ( What can you lose) they weren't combined until the sondheim tribute concert when billy porter first sang this version that he arranged. These songs were NEVER EVER!!! in Into the Woods! You should not be in musical theatre if you mixed that up! Thats all....

[encorebc]

What good did that do anyone?

[disnylndmagicman]

Actually, it did a lot of good. Dick Tracy was a big budget movie staring Madonna, who sang what can you lose in the film, produced by a subsidiary of the Disney company. If you were alive in the early 90s, you should know it.

As for Merrily We Roll along, while it may be a lesser known show, NEITHER song is written in the Into the Woods style. What Can You Lose? is obviously written in the 20s/30s jazz lounge style and Not A Day Goes By is composed in a more classical setting.

[BestArts]

Wonderful! 5 stars...

[laramis]

Is "what can you lose" from Dick Tracy? I thought it was from "into the woods".

[theatre4Him]

I think this was a performance that was part of Dick Tracy. I'm pretty sure it was in "Into the Woods". I remember it being preformed when I was in the show.

[kmarshall222]

It definitely sounds like "No one is alone," or "No More," but it certainly was never ever performed in the show. It just sounds similar because it's the same composer.

[kmarshall222]

It definitely sounds like "No one is alone," or "No More," but it certainly was never ever performed in the show. It just sounds similar because it's the same composer.

[alfieism]

audra was made for these power house ballads.

[playingintomyhands]

She's at her best here.

[elizabuff72]

Nor can I! Great arrangement - the two songs go so well together and Audra sings the heck out them both. Bless Sondheim and Audra!!!

[lisadreamin]

seriously, can't stop watching/listening to this, just breath taking!

[msumedanthro]

god, she's incredible. I feel a little lighter and closer to my humanity when I listen to her sing. wow.

[norinana]

My role model....absolutely amazing!

[whyyim]

I've watched this like 10 million times.

I LOVE HER.

She's amazing.

[divawriter]

BRAVO~!

[ruckub]

Great arrangement! And she's brilliant, too!

[Chaadi87]

Audra played The Ayah on the tour of Secret Garden RIGHT AFTER she got out of Juilliard.

LOVE HER!!

[msumedanthro]

ah so that's where she got her training. I imagine she was a shining star, a standout even when she was at Julliard - I can't even imagine what her classmates must've thought at that time.

[Havic366]

awesome. Hey what are some other songs like this to sing? i just found out about the song What will I do from the commercial

[Havic366]

what's she singing before "what can you loose?"

[pete422188]

She sings a few bars of "Not a Day Goes By"... it's part of the arrangement to tie the two songs together. (This is one of my favorite arrangements EVER, by the way... I saw her do it live on her "Build a Bridge" tour and it was so breathtaking.)

[bobfarock]

Audra is what singing is all about. She is an actress, singer and a giving person. She was "110 In The Shade!" I could hear her sing forever. She grabs you and does not let go. Perfection.........

[joelweisberg]

Audra reaches into my heart and squeezes it a little

with every song she sings. All that's right in the

world is present in her voice. Can't say anymore. I love her deeply. Joel B.

[HLMorello]

Audra McDonald - AMAAAAAAAZING!!!!!

[ShapeShifting]

an overrated bitch?! you need to shut the hell up and put a video of yourself singing up here, and then winning at LEAST one tony, and then being the most beautiful woman alive. THEN you can talk. until then.  shut your mouth.

[musiq1281]

the second song she sings......one of my favorites

[dawgguh592]

No way is she overrated. I dont think that she gets enough credit. She grew up as the big, ugly, black girl. She wanted to do this and she did. I think that she is someone to look up to.

[sleeplacker]

Wow... I so love Audra...

[Jmillzx]

If she is an overrated bitch, then I want to be one too... And I'm a guy.

[quinnstorm]

audra is the most overrated bitch alive.

[ktrent]

Go to hell!!!!!!!! :)

[jdeslauriers]

jealous? lol

[Misty15big]

Wat do u think gives you the right to cal her an overrated bitch?! I don't see you up there singing!

[tgawron]

Now ladies ladies, let us not argue. LOL. We all agree that she is brilliant. How she got there, who she is better/worse than, or trying to bridge other singers to her is irrelevant. She, like Bernadette or Madonna, has made her contribution to the musical community. I mean, thats what we clearly all care about, right?

[leadingbyxample]

Tgawron, you are right. I want to be clear that my comments take nothing away from Audra McDonald's art. I'm crazy about her. I wish people would stop giving the schools credit, and start giving the artist credit. There are thousands of brilliant voices out there that have never stepped foot inside a university studio. And I will say it again, the best voices this world has to offer are usually the ones we never hear about.

[tgawron]

Haha I'm glad you agree with me leadingbyxambple. Nice to see that you see where I'm coming from. And I totally agree...she is a goddess

[showtunesman89]

Audra McDonald is phenomenal. Her voice is big, booming, elegant, echanting, and passionate-- ALL at once.

[tubetoad]

@showtunesman89 Blessings, to us, and Blessings to Her.

[Gillis1984]

Audra blows my F....kin MIND!

[Ginaomibdwy]

audra is amazing...hands down...one of the best trained musical theater singers out there. She can sing classical and sing the crap out of broadway. Her acting is superb, you feel everything she feels. she emotes all of the music. perfect audra!

[senoramariposa]

How can anyone compare Madonna with Audra McDonald? Madonna doesn't belong on the same planet as Audra.

[Jmillzx]

And it's not even a matter of one being so much better than the other, they're completely different styles, different musical purposes. I agree completely, though.

[tmf866]

I'm not sure if it's still true, but it used to be the case that Madonna went to Bernadette Peters' voice coach, and they would meet as Ms. Peters was on her way out and Madonna was on her way in. And it was Sondheim that sent Madonna there.

[decoratingisfun]

It's not Audra, it's the songs. HIs stuff all sounds the same and is written to be overwrought. And Madonna emotional? The ice water in her veins prevents her from having any emotion other than disdain for everything and everyone.

[lifeoftheparty21]

Nobody should be criticizing a four-time Tony-Award Winner and Julliard graduate's for voice, to put ability to put emotion into a song or how well they can sing it.

[leadingbyxample]

Doesn't matter where she graduated from. There are singers out here who can sing just as well, if not better, than Audra. Singing is subjective. It is art! I've always said the best singers are the ones who remain unknown.

[FoggyRoad81]

Well thats pretty unfair to anyone who is successful. What about Streisand, Leontyne Price, etc. there are spectacular singers who remain such after they become famous. Audra is of course an example. Singing is about emotion, transmitting feeling, understanding lyrics and getting something across, Audra does that perfectly.

[lesila]

cool. Good job at trying to be deep...

[ohnoitwasntme]

I don't get how anyone can criticize Audra McDonald. At all. Her pitch is PERFECT every note, every time. She nails all of them so full on and with power power that opera singers would be jealous. And he inflecton is through the roof, what else do you want?

[InShapeEncourager]

More emotional doesn't necessarily mean better acted though. More often than not simple is more truthful and less "let me impress you 'cause I can cry on command."

[pete422188]

Thank you for that. I couldn't agree more. A lot of people don't understand that. (That's not to say that a full-blown "emotional" performance never works -- but it isn't always appropriate.)

[roncerod]

Madonna's version with Mandy Patinkin is more emotional though.

[Misty15big]

Could she be any more amazing!

[wickedphant0m]

Me love Audra McDonald LONG TIME!

[caliaid]

This is top notch. The musical suturing of the two songs (mostly by the instrumentation) is a little strange, but she emotes and sings the "s" out of this song!

[Jmillzx]

wowza.

[FoggyRoad81]

It's a little scary how awesome she is, LOVE!!!

[crazychel]

could she be any better?

[ktrent]

What can you say? She is the greatest thing on Broadway today. Hands down. It does not get any better than this.

[kitschnsync]

WOW.

[Hawnzz]

She's good... a wee bit too much vibrato for my taste.

[jonnylowell]

She has vibrato because she was trained in opera at Juilliard...most legit theatre singers have a strong vibrato.

[GEORGIAYAJ]

mind you she dropped out of Juilliard.

[gustof777]

no she didn't she took a leave of absence to tour in Secret Garden and then came back and finished her degree

[inlovewithJLT]

Who did she play in "The Secret Garden"?

[gustof777]

I believe she was just in the chorus...but I could be wrong

[pete422188]

She played Mary's Ayah, I think. (And I'm pretty sure she played the role on Broadway, not on the tour.) It's true that she almost didn't graduate from Juilliard (or so I've read), but it was because she doesn't particularly love classical music -- she wanted to do musical theatre. However, when you're getting a degree in vocal performance, there's a heavy emphasis on classical rep.

[Maxkustrap]

Audra!; PLEASE MARRY ME!!!

[nate11111]

She has an absolutely fantastic voice!

[boinxtdor]

omg. I was there and loved it then. Thnx so much for reminding me how gr8 she is.

[FoggyRoad81]

Aya!!! Audra McDonald is INCREDIBLE I love her so much!