Lin-Manuel Miranda, Audra McDonald Join ‘Entire Broadway Soundtrack From Memory’ Challenge

Stars weigh in on L.A.-based writer Kendra James’ million-dollar challenge

audra mcdonald lin-manuel miranda jane lynch broadway soundtrack from memory
Getty Images

It all started on Thursday with a single tweet, from L.A.-based entertainment writer Kendra James: “Someone has offered you $1,000,000 on the condition that you sing through an entire Broadway soundtrack from memory. It cannot be a show you’ve performed in. You cannot miss a single word. Which one you going with?”

Never mind that Broadway purists typically talk about “original cast recordings” instead of “soundtracks,” because within hours Tony-winning stars ranging from Lin-Manuel Miranda to Audra McDonald to Broadway fan Monica Lewinsky were weighing in on the question.

“Hamilton” creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda offered a list of five shows he knew by heart: “Rent,” “The Man of La Mancha,” “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” “A Chorus Line” and “Les Misérables” and then offered a somewhat boastful footnote: “I could get to the million on any of those, but Hedwig is the shortest distance.”

Monica Lewinsky’s list was similarly lengthy: “Guys and Dolls,” “Les Mis,” “Annie” and “Cats (maybe)”.

And Audra McDonald, a Broadway veteran with a record six Tony Awards sitting at home, offered just one choice: “Chicago.” (Admittedly, there’s a very good chance she’s performed in every other show named on the Twitter thread at some point in her career.)

Jane Lynch, who starred in a recent Broadway revival of “Annie,” suggested “Funny Girl.”

Two-time Tony nominee Alison Fraser picked “My Fair Lady” and added: “I didn’t realize I could until I saw the revival.”

Actor-filmmaker Alex Winter (“Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure”) had an impressively Sondheim-centric list of his own: “Sweeney Todd,” “Company,” “Sunday in the Park With George,” “West Side Story” and “Jesus Christ Superstar.”

See some of the additional responses below.

https://twitter.com/SassyMamainLA/status/1139319649806385152

Comments