Audra McDonald: American Songbook

I have a special fondness for "I Am" songs -- where a character simply indicates one or two facts about her mental state. Among my favorites is "Will He Like Me," from "She Loves Me." You can feel the anxiety in the air.

Another favorite is "My Man's Gone Now," from "Porgy and Bess." Here the message is this: "I'm miserable." But Audra never says, "I'm miserable." Instead, she tells a story. Once, she enjoyed the company of "my man." But now he is absent; he has been replaced. In his stead is "Old Man Sorrow," who whispers beside Audra, "when I say my prayers."

This astounding aria reproduces Audra's anguish. We know exactly what Sorrow is whispering. "You lost your man." We know how relentless the whispering is, because Audra ends with repetition:

Old Man Sorrow--telling me I'm old now--

Since I lose my man.

The melody eventually becomes wordless wailing--and then Audra leaves the stage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT6LDh7cO1g

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