Because NC passed its bathroom law, I get to see Audra McDonald and the SF Symphony tonight. The symphony was supposed to be in NC, but has instead chosen to celebrate LGBT pride in SF with a gala concert. Thank you, NC legislators, I guess. It’s the only time, though, that you’ll get thanks from me.

This will be somewhere around the seventh time I’ve seen Audra. I guess I’m semi-officially an Audra groupie. My wife says Audra might be the only person I’d leave her for. She might be right! I used to feel the same way about Alfred Brendel, but my wife never worried about him.

FWIW here are my Audra chronicles.

1994, Lincoln Center, Carousel, I walk out of the theater and go on and on about, “Who was that?”

2000, w/San Francisco Symphony, I walk out of the concert hall and go on and on about how wonderful she is.

2004, w/Boston Pops, I walk past a symphony hall on my way to a business meeting and I hear her booming voice. I had no idea she was in town. I say screw the meeting and hear her rehearse. Then I go to the box office. Do you have any tickets? I ask. One at a table, I’m told. I buy the ticket. I sit next to a Boston Brahmin. Twenty minutes into the outstanding show, the Brahmin leans over and whispers to me, “If she wasn’t black, she’d be as good as Garland.” I think he’s intentionally trying to get me to strangle him.

2004, a sort of Audra meet. I run into a marvelous singer. I ask where she’s from. Fresno, she says. Oh, Audra’s town, I say. She turns bright red. Don’t ever say that name to me, she says. Why not? I ask. I was in high school with her, she says. “Do you have any idea what it would be like to audition for parts and compete against her? For years, I thought I had no talent.” I express condolences, but think, well, she’s good, but she’s no Audra.

2005, Mountain View. My wife says there’s a benefit for a charity she likes. Audra is performing. Do I want to go? I scream for joy. She expresses her opinion that I just might leave her for Audra if given a chance. I think she might be right. The concert is actually mediocre, but hey no one is perfect.

2015, Broadway, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill. I love those recordings of Billie Holiday when her voice is shot and she has one foot in the grave. Poignant stuff. So this is a special night for me. Audra doing Billie in decline. I’m in town on business. No way am I not going to see this. But I’m worried. This could be a train wreck. It is in fact jaw droppingly good. The audience, I can tell, knows nothing about Billie Holiday or Audra. They have no idea Audra is singing poorly on purpose.

And now, tonight!