Audra McDonald shows love for Fresno, Good Company Players in rare hometown concert
Audra McDonald is a gift.
That’s a fairly safe assessment for critics and fans of the Broadway mega-star singer and actress. She is after all a six-time Tony Award winner who has been awarded the National Medal of Arts and asked to perform at the Met Gala and also on James Corden’s “Carpool Karaoke,” alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda.
On Sunday, the Fresno native presented herself as a literal gift to a sold-out crowd at the Warnors Theater.
The concert, in celebration of Good Company Players’ 50th anniversary, was her first in Fresno since 2018 and the first at the Warnors in more than decade — and it only happened because of McDonald’s relationship with the community theater company and managing director Dan Pessano.
McDonald, 52, got her first taste of the stage at 10 years old as part of Good Company’s Junior Players. Over the years, she starred in several Good Company productions and became close friends with Pessano and his family.
Everything she knows about the theater was “built, discovered and nurtured at Good Company Players,” she said during Sunday’s concert, as a way of introduction.
“Normally, I just start singing. But Dan has got me in a space,” she said.
A captivating presence
It is easy to see why McDonald is a star. During the 13-song set (which ran more than a hour and drew from the Great American songbook) the singer was captivating; emotive in both her body and voice with a commanding (and nuanced) control of pitch, volume and breath.
That was especially clear on “Summertime” from “Porgy and Bess,” the show that earned the singer her fifth Tony, and the super-speed version of “Can’t Stop Talking About Him” from the show “Let’s Dance.”
McDonald also proved herself a comedic presence, improvising ad libs within the songs; asking for a singalong during the song “Stars and the Moon,” for example, only to take it back, jokingly: “This is my concert. Don’t your dare.”
The crowd did get its singalong later, during the song “I Could Have Danced All Night.”
50 years of Good Company Players
The reach of Good Company Players was felt though out the performance. McDonald’s costumes from “The Wiz” and “Evita” were on display in the lobby next to a booth selling paper fans with Pessano’s face.
“Are you a Dan, fan?”
Prior to the performance, footage from past Good Company Player shows was screened on stage. Some of it had clearly been digitized from VHS.
The theater company’s actual anniversary is 8 p.m. Monday. That’s when the curtain went up on its first performance at the Fresno Hilton in 1973. The show was “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” and Pessano had the first line ever as a Good Company Player.
“I bid you welcome.”
But it wasn’t the most important line of that show.
Pessano borrowed the important line during his brief introduction Sunday afternoon, asking anyone with a connection to the theater company (be it former cast or crew members, or their parents) to stand up.
It was half the audience at least.
“And now, the entire company,” he said.
“We have been waiting for you for a long time.”
Other random observations
McDonald is a skilled storyteller and shined in the moments between the songs. She shared anecdotes and memories, but also some impassioned thoughts on life and politics. There was at least one “amen” from the crowd.
It should come as no surprise that a crowd that shows up to celebrate a theater company would be able to sing. Like, really belt it out. The singalong on “I Could Have Danced All Night” sounded like a choir (with a few people looking to take solos).
The Warnors Theater is magical and should stand as a call for meaningful historic preservation in Fresno. If you see a show there (and you should) go early, if just to stare up at the domed ceiling and ornate carvings on the proscenium arch.
Good Company Players opened its run of “Pride and Prejudice,” at 2nd Space Theatre on Friday.
Audra McDonald setlist, Warnors Theater Fresno, June 25, 2023
“I Am What I Am,” from “Cage aux Folles”
“(When I Marry) Mister Snow,” from “Carousel”
“Stars and the Moon,” from “Songs for a New World”
“Cornet Man,” from “Funny Girl”
“A Sleepin’ Bee,” from “House Of Flowers”
“Summertime,” from “Porgy and Bess”
“I Could Have Danced All Night,” from “My Fair Lady”
“Bein’ Green,” from “The Muppet Show”
“You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught/Children will Listen” medley, from “South Pacific” and “Into the Woods”
“Can’t Stop Talking About Him,” from “Let’s Dance”
“Before the Parade Passes By,” from “Hello Dolly”
“Make Someone Happy,” from “Do Re Mi”
Encore
“Life Is a Cabaret,” from “Cabaret”
