She’sjust

an O away from EGOT, with record-breaking Ts, and she’s a fervent queer advocate.

The Celestial Choir is in envious awe of Audra McDonald.

Every gay man has a female vocalist he admires/celebrates/worships. Our first icon was, of course, Judy.

Audra most definitely has the accolades to warrant my veneration.

As a Broadway luminary, she has six Tony statues on her fireplace mantel, more performance wins than any other actor and the only person to win in all four acting categories: musical, drama, leading role, and supporting role. It remains to be seen if this record-shattering achievement will ever be surpassed. Oh, and two Grammys and one Emmy.

She also has had plum screen roles: currently in “The Gilded Age” and “Rustin” (a must-see, stirring Netflix biopic of Bayard Rustin, a little-known queer activist who was a major March on Washington organizer alongside Martin Luther King, Jr.).

Audra has long been among the loudest entertainment-industry champions of LGBT rights, prominently honored by PFLAG and the Human Rights Campaign — and awarded the National Medal of Arts. When she joined Twitter, her handle was @AudraEqualityMc.

With seven solo CDs released, she maintains an active concert career, most recently with the Utah Symphony at Abravanel Hall. Finally, to the topic of this review. But I was compelled to acquaint her with the less-enlightened.

While Abravanel has 2,811 seats, she made the venue feel intimate with her innate charm and personal introductions to her repertoire of musical theater, jazz, and popular songs.

“I’m not going to sing country western,” she playfully announced.

This warm congeniality is a hallmark of her concerts, but also attributable in part to her feeling that she was in her “second home.” Her husband is Tony nominee Will Swenson, a Utah native, and his family operates the paramount Hale Center Theater Orem (where they have together performed a charity benefit. Fans eagerly anticipate another McDonald/Swenson benefit with the opening of the company’s long-awaited new theater in Pleasant Grove).

Beginning the evening was a vibrant orchestral “Carousel Waltz,” a nod to her first Tony win as Carrie Pipperidge. Under the nimble baton of her “work husband,” long-time music director/collaborator Andy Einhorn, the symphony was particularly majestic, with its brass section strong and buoyant.

With Audra’s first song, “I Am What I Am,” from Jerry Herman’s “La Cage aux Folles,” she celebrated living truly who we are and enjoying an authentic life. (Lyrics: It’s time to open up your closet / Life’s not worth a damn ’til you shout / Hey world, I am what I am.)

PHOTO BY IAN MOWER

When her eldest daughter Zoe was an infant, she told Audra her “singing made her ears cry,” and while tinkling on the piano, her youngest daughter at five months, Sally, slammed shut the keyboard lid, as soon as Audra joined her in a short verse of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.” With this tongue-in-cheek explanation, Audra was pleased to include lullabies, beginning with “Pure Imagination,” which premiered in “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” (the film version, not the recent weak stage adaptation). Followed by a smart linking of two songs sung as lullabies — Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught” and Sondheim’s “Children Will Listen” — into a comment about prejudice. Commenting, “Don’t we need that love and acceptance more than ever right now?”

She turned herself into a lovesick chatterbox with the hilarious “Can’t Stop Talking About Him,” the Frank Loesser patter ditty from “Let’s Dance.” And accelerated the tempo of “I Could Have Danced All Night,” the bubbly number from “My Fair Lady.” The Frederick Loewe-Alan Jay Lerner standard McDonald acknowledged is the kind of popular song she has tended to avoid.

“But I earned my Soprano card by performing it.” We were encouraged to sing along.

As a champion of less-familiar fare, she included Jule Styne’s “Cornet Man,” a sexy faux-blues cut from the film version of “Funny Girl.”

Each song was sumptuously sung, and she has said she can’t include a composition that she didn’t have a personal connection to, surprisingly excluding any song from any of her Tony-winning roles. No “Ragtime.” No “Lady Day.” No “110 in the Shade.” The only exception is “Summertime” from her role in “The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess,” powerfully sung sans-microphone, yet her vocals filled the hall.

An Audra concert is an experience approaching the divine. There isn’t a critic who doesn’t proclaim her artistry’s unparalleled breadth and versatility. Q

REVIEW BY TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER

‘Blood Sisters’

BY VANESSA LILLIE, 2023, BERKLEY, $27, 384 PAGES

It’s the truth. Scout’s honor.

Pinky swear. Spit on your palms, or prick your fingers, and shake hands. As a child, you had many ways to show that you intended to keep a promise when you made it, and your word was your bond, but you’ve grown up. Today, you cross your heart but, as in the new novel “Blood Sisters” by Vanessa Lillie, you hope no one has to die. She wasn’t looking for skeletal remains. For Bureau of Indian Affairs archaeologist Syd Walker, such a find was very unusual but not unknown. Odd things happen during geological surveys on tribal lands everywhere. Still, the gruesome recovery in Rhode Island wasn’t top on Syd’s mind. She’d gotten a call that her sister, Emma Lou, was missing in Oklahoma.

Again.

Fifteen years before, as Syd, Emma Lou, and Luna, who they’d considered a sister, were chilling in Luna’s family’s trailer, a group of men broke in. Wearing masks, the “devils” killed Luna and her parents, and the small town of Picher, was never the same. Neither were Emma Lou or Syd.

As a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, Syd was well aware of the problems near her hometown, the issues

Q Scopes

December

BY SAM KELLEY-MILLS

ARIES March 20—April 19

It’s time to reconnect with those who have fallen to the sidelines lately. There is certainly time for parties and festivities, but the best gift is that of connection and getting to know the past again. Nostalgia, it would seem, is supreme.

TAURUS Apr 20—May 20

While it has been a calmer season than most, lower expectations tend to lead to more rewards in the long run. Keep looking at simplifying your plans, and don’t give in to desires without ensuring the payoff first. Less is more!

GEMINI May 21—June 20

Your intentions are always pure, but that could lead to overconfidence. There’s certainly no harm in seeing the best in yourself, but don’t let your heart and head in- flate like a balloon. Keep your plans from popping, and take it easy.

CANCER June 21—July 22

For some reason, there seem to be more invites than you have time or energy for. Choose wisely and base decisions on quality over quantity. Your friends are likely to put pressure on you, so be honest and go with those who care.

LEO July 23—August 22

Have you ever felt as though confusion is more common than clarity? Is every thought formed in your mind as a question? Looking to end the cycle? The answer is simple –accept that some things are simply as they are. Stop overthinking.

VIRGO August 23—Sep 2

Family and friends are probably your main focus at the moment, and there is nothing that can stop that. But you might find a call for help, and answering it will be the best thing you

Native Americans had there with the BIA, and her own ancestors’ efforts to survive on land that was given and then snatched back. She also knew the fact that she had a wife at home in Rhode Island set her apart since she’d left. And drugs – too many people on tribal allotments were getting drugs too easily.

But someone wanted Syd to come home: a female skull was found in the crook of a tree with her old work badge in its mouth. Despite knowing that Syd had fled Oklahoma on purpose, her new boss at the BIA pulled strings to arrange the trip and assigned her the case.

Years ago, Syd had promised to protect Luna and Emma Lou.

One of them was already dead. The other was missing.

Was the skull a threat – or a warning?

Here is the best advice you’re going to get when you grab “Blood Sisters”: pay close attention to the minutiae. Without being a spoiler, little things mean a lot.

Unless you watch carefully, you’ll be cruising along at 200 miles an hour in a screaming run through pages and pages of barely-bearable excitement when suddenly, your brain will make that scratchy sound like a stopped record album. It’s there where author Vanessa Lillie drops three tons of TNT, right towards the almost-end of her story, and whoa, Nelly. If you’re not paying attention, you may have to read the chapter multiple times to cut your “What the….?” down to a manageable level.

Yeah, this is that kind of book, the kind that’s written with authenticity, an insider’s feel, and heightened tension that’ll keep you awake. The kind that you think you know how it’ll end, and you’re wrong. For mystery lovers or thriller fans, “Blood Sisters” is the kind of book you should scout out. Q can do. It’s better to give than receive, especially this season.

LIBRA Sept 23—October 22

Friends want more of you, which is a surprise since you feel you’ve given all you can. But feeling needed feels good right now. You could find there is more joy to pass out than you thought. Don’t hold anything back.

SCORPIO Oct 23—Nov 21

A surprise mutual attraction could lead to some good times. It’s always in your best interest to follow the path to pleasure, especially with those you can trust. Show caution when dealing with someone who has prior commitments.

SAGITTARIUS

Nov 22—December 20

Where the road is going, no one can say. But since it’s taking you in the generally correct direction, there’s no reason to make a major course change. Focus more on obstacles from those with selfish needs, but don’t overcorrect either.

CAPRICORN

Dec 21—Jan 19

Dive into work that satisfies your heart and soul. There is no need for monetary gain when the heart is feeling warm and fuzzy. The only thing you need to consider is the legacy you are hoping to leave behind. The joy comes from expression.

AQUARIUS Jan 20—Feb 18

Trying nothing is always better than doing something you don’t feel good about. It might be prudent to let the good times come to you and have faith that what you need isn’t far off. The passive way feels good for a while, so rest up.

PISCES Feb 19—Mar 19

The world seems to be more united in your mind than it really is. It’s a reflection of what you have in your mind. The calm you feel originates from understanding what hope feels like, and there’s no reason why you can’t spread it to others.