Sing Out, Louise!

How is that even possible?

There’s something about seeing talent, real talent, expressed and shared, nakedly, rawly, generously in abundance. Whether it’s performing arts or visual arts or athletic skills or academic greatness, real talent is a remarkable thing, something to respect on so many levels – the natural born gift, the discipline to develop that gift, the respect for what’s come before and the guts to go further.

This week we saw Audra McDonald in GYPSY on Broadway. And it was like something I’ve never seen.  And you don’t have to be a Broadway baby to be gob smacked by what takes place on stage. The show’s good and all that, but she...she is something else entirely. If you’re an athlete, the stamina alone will take your breath away, though it doesn’t seem to take hers. If you’re a visual artist, the transformation of her face and form to evoke age, mood and temperament is, well, transformative. And if you’re an academic, the representation of a start-to-finish deconstruction of an emotional Rubik’s cube is right there on display, showing just what a nervous breakdown looks like and feels like. Heartbreaking. Terrifying. And so very brave, against all odds.

Real talent, big talent is inspiring and awe-inspiring at the same time. And that’s what Audra McDonald did for me. I laughed. I cried. It became a part of me.

Thank you.

“Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.”

– Arthur Schopenhauer