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Bear with me: Sun Bear @ParkTheatre

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If The Light House is an uplifting tale of survival, Sarah Richardson’s Sun Bear gives a contrasting take on this. Sarah plays Katy. We’re introduced to Katy as she runs through a list of pet office peeves with her endlessly perky coworkers, particularly about coworkers stealing her pens. It’s a hilarious opening monologue that would have you wishing you had her as a coworker to help relieve you from the boredom of petty office politics.  But something is not quite right in the perfect petty office, where people work together well. And that is her. And despite her protesting that she is fine, the pet peeves and the outbursts are becoming more frequent. As the piece progresses, maybe the problem lies in a past relationship, where Katy had to be home by a particular hour, not stay out late with office colleagues and not be drunk enough not to answer his calls. Perhaps the perky office colleagues are trying to help, and perhaps Katy is trying to reach out for help. It has simple staging

Its all about Audra: Audra McDonald @lsqtheatre


It is fair to say that Audra McDonald with her multiple Tony awards and unique voice and personality is a living Broadway legend. You shouldn't miss any opportunity to see her on stage and she is in town for few days performing at the Leicester Square Theatre.

She'll be back in London in the summer is reprising the Billie Holliday role in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill. As her West End debut this is shaping up to be a a much anticipated event. It was due to happen last year but had a postponement as she and husband Will Swenson were expecting a baby. Now these Leicester Square Theatre concerts will add to the buzz.

Now the baby is backstage it's time to get down to some fine music making. What is exciting about her is not only her musicianship and personality but her ability to champion new music. This has always come through in her recordings (of which I seem to have collected all of them - which probably makes me a bit of a fan).

The format of these shows is her long-time friend and accompanist Seth Rudetsky serves as the host and accompanist. They sing and then chat. It's simple yet effective.


During the course of the evening we learn about Audra McDonald's Juilliard School training. This helped her develop her incredible voice (and allowed her to maintain it). She also talks about being a mother, backstage gossip and her experiences. The stories are funny and she comes across as sincere.

Each night is likely to be different but on Wednesday she opened with the song "When Did I Fall in Love" from the musical Fiorello! There was a hilarious new Lieder inspired by listings on Craigslist. She also sung "Maybe This Time" from Cabaret layering it with extra desperation and loneliness.

But the highlights  were the songs that made the most of her vocal abilities. These included "Summertime" from the Gerswhin's Porgy and Bess and a post 9/11 song "I'll Be Here", by Adam Gwon from his new work Ordinary Days. Her stories about motherhood also gave new meaning the Sondheim song "The Glamorous Life" from A Little Night Music.

Catch it if you can. It's on for another three nights at the Leicester Square Theatre.

⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎


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