The Drama of Being Mary J. Blige

"WE LOVE YOU, MARY!" The shouts float up from isolated pockets in the plush auditorium housed within Columbus Circle's glitzy Time Warner building. Mary J. Blige has just wrung every last drop of pain from 'Not Gon' Cry', the Babyface song she contributed to the 1996 film Waiting to Exhale, and it's left her lost and little-girlish on stage, unsure whether to replace the protective sunglasses she's briefly removed.