How Glory Goes

1	Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home 3:30
2	Bill 3:35
3	I Had Myself a True Love 3:55
4	I Hid My Love 2:50
5	Was That You? 2:41
6	I Won't Mind 4:04
7	A Sleepin' Bee 3:58
8	Come Down from the Tree 3:13
9	I Never Has Seen Snow 4:16
10	When Did I Fall in Love? 3:23
11	The Man That Got Away 3:52
12	Somewhere 2:31
13	How Glory Goes 3:35
14	Lay Down Your Head 2:24

Barnes & Noble

Few recent recordings have been as eagerly awaited as Audra McDonald's second album. Simply put, How Glory Goes comes through with flying colors on all counts. It's certainly no retread of the brilliant singer's debut Way Back to Paradise, which audaciously concentrated solely on the work of new theatrical composers. How Glory Goes tips the balance in favor of classic Broadway songwriters and trademark tunes, including four by Harold Arlen -- "Anyplace I Hang My Hat Is Home," "A Sleeping Bee," "I Had Myself a True Love," "I Never Has Seen Snow," and "The Man Who Got Away " -- Jerome Kern's "Bill," and Leonard Bernstein's "Somewhere." Although she consciously places herself in comparison with two beloved divas who previously recorded incomparable versions of some of these songs -- Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand -- McDonald comes out smelling like roses, bringing her own personality to gleaming interpretations that highlight her faultless technique and judicious balance of poise and exuberance. McDonald still champions new generation composers. Among the newer songs, Adam Guettel's "How Glory Goes" (from the acclaimed musical "Floyd Collins"), and Jeff Blumenkrantz's "I Won't Mind" are beautiful and affecting songs made even more rewarding by McDonald's heartfelt performances. There's been plenty of praise and hype heaped on McDonald's shoulders lately: How Glory Goes confirms that she's worthy of every bit of both. Steve Futterman

All Music Guide

On her debut album, Way Back to Paradise, Audra McDonald made a point of championing the work of a new generation of musical theater composers. Having made her point, she turned, on her second album, How Glory Goes, to a mixture of the same kind of material and older songs by established theater talents, particularly Harold Arlen. Her performances of Arlen's "Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home," "I Had Myself a True Love," "A Sleepin' Bee," "I Never Has Seen Snow," and "The Man That Got Away" confirmed that Arlen had found yet another champion among great women singers. McDonald's versions of the songs didn't make you forget those of predecessors such as Barbra Streisand and Judy Garland, but they had a theatrical precision and art-song esthetic those showier singers could never touch. McDonald brought the same attributes to musical theater standards like "Bill" from Show Boat and "Somewhere" from West Side Story, as well as less-well-known but worthy selections such as "Come Down from the Tree" from Once on This Island and "When Did I Fall in Love?" from Fiorello! She reserved five spaces on the album for contemporary composers, notably Adam Guettel whose "Was That You?" and "How Glory Goes" got sympathetic readings. The album's most moving song was "I Won't Mind," which treated the unusual subject of the love felt for a child by a family friend. It was such songs, on this and McDonald's previous release, that made listeners want to hear the whole scores of the works from which they were excerpted, or even see productions of them -- and, of course, that was the idea. William Ruhlmann

Entertainment Weekly

As on her excellent first album, MacDonald boldly introduces a collection of little-known theater songs by contemporary composers. Daniel Okrent