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[title]| Cherry Jones, The Glass Menagerie | Audra McDonald, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill | |||
| “I just tried to figure her out. And being Southern helped. I didn’t have any of the baggage of the stereotypical Amanda: the cloying, narcissistic, silly, flighty Southern belle that usually involves a particular kind of Southern accent. Amanda’s travails have made her a nervous wreck. Tennessee [Williams] says in the writing that she’s a noble woman. And he has her say ten different ways in that script how much she loves those children.” | On taking on an iconic role | “Over the past year and a half I’ve been studying Billie, talking to people who knew her. I even recently made contact with her godchild. And what I’ve discovered is that she was a remarkable woman, kind to a fault and vulnerable. So I kind of have a crush on Billie Holiday right now.” | ||
| “I grew up with elderly women who were Amanda’s age. I was in love with their accents, their outrageousness. They were all performers and charming as the day is long.” | Personal connection to the material | “I suffer from depression, and I had a suicide attempt back in 1990. I’ve talked about it before. That’s how I can sort of see what Billie dealt with, but in a different way. I had all the help that I needed, whereas she had no help ever. She medicated with drugs and alcohol to take away the pain.” | ||
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| “I felt I got Amanda by the last week in New York. There came a freedom and an ease and a depth. I don’t know who I am, as a person, really. So I don’t think my characters need to know either. But I know what she is feeling.” | On getting into character | “Dr. Maya Angelou, who knew Billie, told me she’d had a vocal coach who helped her place her voice in a ‘safe place’; she wasn’t a belter, and she didn’t have a big range. So I’ve found a way to imitate that. The hard part is making sure I never sound like me!” | ||
| “When a play’s running, I’m happy to do the dog and pony show. I want the audiences to come, so I go to every single event. And I have to say, it’s pretty darn exhausting for six weeks. You don’t get a day off. But when your show is closed, like mine, and you’re in previews for the next one [When We Were Young and Unafraid at Manhattan Theatre Club], I’ve just been given a great big pass!” | Tony campaign strategy | “There’s nothing you can do to win a Tony. When Shani Davis competes in the Olympics, he goes out there and skates and win that race. You can’t do that. I realize I have no control over it.” | ||
| “I was at the Outer Critics Circle event on my dinner break. And the first thing I said when I got the award was, ‘I want to thank the Outer Critics for putting Audra McDonald in the musical-theater category.’ [Laughs] They got a big kick out of that. And LaTanya Richardson Jackson [nominated for A Raisin in the Sun]! LaTanya waltzes into town, has ten minutes of rehearsal and gets a Tony nomination. I don’t know how the hell she did that. She must have balls that clank.” | Trash-talking the competition | “I love me some Cherry Jones. We were at the Tony nominee luncheon and one photographer wanted to get a picture of me with Cherry. I didn’t know she was standing catty-corner to me, and as a joke, I got a little ghetto and said, ‘Cherry Jones don’t wanna take no picture with me!’ And all of a sudden she poked her head out, and we just screeched and howled!” | ||
Did your Tony invite get lost in the mail? The 68th Annual Tony Awards air live from Radio City Music Hall Jun Sun 8 at 8pm on CBS.