Life in fast forward

Young Chang

Audra McDonald brands herself a “slightly hyper person,” which makes

it easier to understand why critics resort to hyphenated hyperbole to

describe the performer’s explosive style on stage.

McDonald erupts emotionally and vocally. In lead roles in everything

from “Carousel” to “Master Class” to “Ragtime,” each of which won her a

Tony, the Broadway performer has dug deep into her characters and stayed

that way sometimes for two years in a row.

“I did ‘Ragtime’ for two years,” said the 31-year-old, who became a

Broadway record breaker with three Tonys before the age of 30. “So there

are nights that it’s very difficult to get out there and try and rev it

up, but you have to remind yourself that it’s the audience’s first time.”

McDonald said her energy comes from her hyperness. Her empathy comes

from delving into her characters until she understands them.

“Learning about them night after night,” said the soprano, who will

perform June 29 at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

Lauded in recent years for her portrayal of the title role in “Marie

Christine,” McDonald is also a prolific recording artist whose latest

album, “How Glory Goes,” made it onto the Billboard Top 200 chart. Her

solo recording from 1998, “Way Back to Paradise,” was also critically

acclaimed. Her new album, “Happy Songs,” is due out in August.

McDonald’s television-acting career includes parts in CBS’s “Having

Our Say: The Delaney Sisters’ First 100 Years,” “The Last Debate,”

several PBS productions and an upcoming NBC series called “Mr. Sterling.”

Her youth and versatility, not to mention her beauty, added Center

spokeswoman Angela Dickson, make her accomplishments even more stunning.

“She’s one of Broadway’s biggest stars, and we’re thrilled to have her

at the Center,” Dickson said.

McDonald started her musical career as a child -- she was 6 or 7 --

when doctors diagnosed her as very hyperactive and emotional.

“So instead of putting me on medication for it, the doctors suggested

they channel my energy,” she said. “That’s when [my parents] were like,

‘We know she’s musical.”’

She started voice, piano and dance lessons, performed in a theater

company in Fresno, where she grew up, and attended performing arts junior

high and high schools.

McDonald said the most important decision she ever made was to go to

the Juilliard School.

“I wanted more musical theater education,” the vocalist said. “I was

able to learn about the side of my voice that I didn’t know existed, the

operatic side.”

These days, McDonald has also gotten to know motherhood. With a

16-month old who’s already changed her life in “phenomenal” ways, the

performer says she’s experiencing a level of happiness she never knew

before.

“You also experience fatigue on a level you never knew,” the mother

said, laughing.

With three Tonys and an Emmy nomination -- for her performance in the

role of Susie Monihan in HBO’s “Wit” -- McDonald said her goals are the

same as they have always been.

“To cultivate and improve the gifts I’ve been given,” she said. “To

continue to move forward.”

FYI

WHAT: Audra McDonald performs

WHEN: 8 p.m. June 29

WHERE: Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive,

Costa Mesa

COST: $32-$62

CALL: (714) 740-7878