Audra McDonald Quotes

Music is not simply an orchestration of something, but it's also not something as trivial as honesty.

Singing is about telling a story. When you are onstage, you get to be your own self... When acting, you're someone else.

I don't steer towards anything. I steer towards character and truth. If it's funny then so be it. If it's dramatic, so be it. I just steer towards characters.

Acting is about finding truth and finding the way to convey the truth.

If I was an actor, it would be like a part that was me. It has to be real to me. I have to make it mine. I really enjoy taking a song I feel that way about, and sometimes it can take a long time to come up with just the right touch. I think that's really my greatest talent, interpreting.

Acting is all about truth and honesty, and the sensitivity that's capable of transporting you.

Dance is one of the most revealing art forms.

Doing a scene truthfully is very similar to doing a song truthfully. They're really parallel.

With every character, I just bring something that I can make my own.

Since obscenity is the truth of our passion today, it is the only stuff of art - or almost the only stuff.

When you're playing a romantic version of a real person, you're playing a version of the truth.

Art is more engaging that propaganda.

The main factor in any form of creativeness is the life of a human spirit, that of the actor and his part, their joint feelings and subconscious creation.

With Whitney she has such a unique sound and powerful instrument that she made those songs her own. She might as well have written them because she brought such a power and passion to them that were very unique. She has a great gift.

A good actor is somebody who can be truthful and fascinating and interesting and enlightening.

For all the acting you can do, the actual soul of someone does somehow permeate through their work.

I'd love to be remembered as a character actor who brought illumination to roles in wonderful plays and who delivered performances that made people think and rethink those roles.

The best thing an actor can bring to a role is himself - that's no secret.

Acting is an expression of imagination. No firsthand knowledge is necessary.

Theatre is all about the process and the sense of community that is created. You have weeks of rehearsal, time to explore your character and get to know the other actors. There is opportunity to try off-the-wall ideas, to find layers and nuance over weeks. You become like a second family with your cast.

I love, love, love Lauryn Hill's 'MTV Unplugged.' It just helps relax me. I love just where she was in her space with that album and the truth that she was telling.

I am not really into paintings, to be honest, but for me, the art I love is when I see singers putting their heart into their song, actors giving the performance of their lives, and books and movies that make me feel something I never thought I could; there's art in everything as long as it's made with soul.

I'm not interested in how well someone can sing. It's what you're singing that interests me.

People think acting is just memorizing lines and doing facial expressions. No it's about traveling along a path of discovery, intention and connection.

Dancing is the personification of music, and music is an abstract expression of the human spirit. But still it's the act of communication, of making one feel. Otherwise it would just be gymnastics.