Hercules heads to Germany, Cheyenne Jackson’s knightly return, Audra McDonald steps into an iconic role
Welcome to The Callboard, Queerty’s curtain-raising theater news, where we share the latest news from Broadway and beyond. From casting announcements and openings to viral moments with our favorite stars, here’s a front-row seat to all the drama happening onstage and off!Subscribe to our daily newsletter for a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.The new year started with a spotlight on Audra McDonald, with rumors swirling that the six-time Tony winner will take on the iconic role of Mama Rose in yet another Broadway production of Gypsy.
That would make revival number SIX, with McDonald following in the footsteps of Ethel Merman (1954), Angela Landsbury (1974), Tyne Daley (1989) — headed back to Broadway this season in a revival of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Doubt) — Bernadette Peters (2003), and Patti LuPone (2008).
And we can’t forget Betty Buckley’s tour de force at Papermill Playhouse (1998). McDonald, often categorized as a mezzo-soprano, might not be the first name that comes to mind for the role of Rose, known for its big belty numbers like “Some People, “Everything’s Coming Up Roses,” and “Rose’s Turn.”But the powerhouse performer, who slayed last season on Broadway in Ohio State Murders and can be seen in Max’s star-studded The Gilded Age, doesn’t buy into type.‘I have a chest voice and I can sing very low, but my tone, my timbre is more that of a lyric soprano,” McDonald told the New York Times. “I can’t stand categories.
I’m like always hopping around, I mean not for the sake of hopping around. I just don’t want to be boxed in.” An audio recording of a recent concert performance offers a hint of what McDonald’s Rose might sound like:What happens when your father dies, leaving an old plantation house filled with memories and macabre memorabilia?
