Audra McDonald

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Audra Ann McDonald (born July 3, 1970)<ref name=biography.com>Template:Cite web</ref> is an American singer and actress. Primarily known for her work on the Broadway stage, she has won six Tony Awards, more performance wins than any other actor, and is the only person to win in all four acting categories.<ref>Best Leading Actress in a Play, Best Leading Actress in a Musical, Best Featured Actress in a Play, and Best Featured Actress in a Musical. Template:Cite web</ref> As of the 78th Tony Awards, she has earned a record-breaking eleven nominations.

In addition to her six Tony Awards, she has received numerous accolades including two Grammy Awards and an Emmy Award. She was honored with the National Medal of Arts in 2016 from President Barack Obama, and was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2017.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref>

She has performed in musicals, operas, and dramas. She has received six Tony Awards for her roles in Carousel (1994), Master Class (1996), Ragtime (1998), A Raisin in the Sun (2004), Porgy and Bess (2012), and Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill (2014). Her other Tony-nominated roles were in Marie Christine (2000), 110 in the Shade (2007), Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune (2020), Ohio State Murders (2023), and Gypsy (2025).

On television, she portrayed Dr. Naomi Bennett in the ABC series Private Practice from 2007 to 2011, and Liz Lawrence in The Good Wife and its spinoff series The Good Fight. She received Primetime Emmy Award nominations for her roles in Wit (2001), A Raisin in the Sun (2008), and Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill (2016). She won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Program for hosting Live from Lincoln Center (2015). On film, she has acted in Ricki and the Flash (2015), Beauty and the Beast (2017), Respect (2021), and Rustin (2023).

As a classical soprano, she has performed in staged operas with the Houston Grand Opera and the Los Angeles Opera, and in concerts with symphony orchestras like the Berlin Philharmonic and New York Philharmonic. Her recording of Kurt Weill's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (2008) with the Los Angeles Opera won the Grammy Award for Best Classical Album and the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording. She maintains an active concert and recording career throughout the United States performing genres ranging from jazz standards to musical theatre.

Early life and education

Audra McDonald was born in West Berlin, West Germany, the daughter of American parents, Anna Kathryn (Jones), a university administrator, and Stanley James McDonald Jr., a high school principal.<ref name=fdr1>Stated on Finding Your Roots, April 27, 2021</ref> At the time of her birth, her father was stationed with the United States Army. McDonald was raised in her father's native Fresno, California, the elder of two daughters; her sister, Alison, writes and directs for television and film. McDonald graduated from the Roosevelt School of the Arts program within Theodore Roosevelt High School in Fresno.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

She got her start in acting with Dan Pessano and Roger Rocka's Good Company Players, beginning in their junior company. In a feature article about her written when she was a child, she said that she knew she wanted to be involved in theater "when I had my first chance to perform with the Good Company Players Junior Company". She also said that the people who have had the most impact on her life are "Good Company director Dan Pessano and my mother".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She studied classical voice as an undergraduate under Ellen Faull at the Juilliard School,<ref name="sfgate">Green, Blake. "Never Short of Breath", sfgate.com (originally in the San Francisco Chronicle), July 16, 2000</ref> graduating in 1993.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Career

1992–1999: Early work and breakthrough

McDonald in 1998

McDonald made her Broadway debut as a replacement portraying Ayah in the musical The Secret Garden in from 1992 to 1993. For her role as Carrie Pipperidge in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel (1994), she won her first Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. The following year she played Sharon Graham in the Terrence McNally play Master Class (1995) earning her second Tony Award, this time for Best Featured Actress in a Play. Between 1996 and 1998 she played Sarah in the musical Ragtime, first at the Ford Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto, from December 1996 to August 1997, and then at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts in New York from December 1997 to December 1998. For her performance in Ragtime, which had a book written by McNally, McDonald won her third Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. In 1999 she played Marie Christine L'Adrese in the musical Marie Christine on Broadway and The Beggar Woman in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

McDonald has also made many television and film appearances, both musical and dramatic. In 1996 she made her film acting debut in Seven Servants by Daryush Shokof.<ref name="imdb.com">[https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 0567653 

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}}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:IMDb name with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|showblankpositional=1| 1 | 2 | id | name | section }}</ref> After being cast in The Object of My Affection and Cradle Will Rock, in 1999, she appeared on the television series Homicide: Life on the Street; in television remake of Annie as Daddy Warbucks's secretary & soon-to-be wife, Miss Farrell; and in the television film Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years. In 2000, McDonald acted in two episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and in the television film The Last Debate.

2000–2010: Broadway stardom and acclaim

McDonald was a three-time Tony Award winner by age 28 for her performances in Carousel, Master Class, and Ragtime, placing her alongside Shirley Booth, Gwen Verdon and Zero Mostel by accomplishing this feat within five years. She was nominated for another Tony Award for her performance in Marie Christine before she won her fourth in 2004 for her role in A Raisin in the Sun, placing her in the company of then four-time winning actress Angela Lansbury. She reprised her Raisin role for a 2008 television adaptation, earning her a second Emmy Award nomination. McDonald would later score her fifth Tony Award win for her portrayal of Bess in Broadway's The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess, thus tying Angela Lansbury and Julie Harris,<ref>Gans, Andrew. "Chenoweth, Dench, Linney, McDonald, Rashad Nominated for Emmy Awards", Playbill, July 17, 2008, retrieved February 5, 2017</ref> and her 2014 performance as Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill would earn McDonald her sixth Tony award and make her the first person to win all four acting categories.

In 2001, she received her first Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for the HBO film Wit, which starred Emma Thompson and was directed by Mike Nichols.<ref>Jones, Kenneth. "Emmy Noms Go to 'Wit,' 'South Pacific,' 'Laughter on the 23rd Floor' and More", July 12, 2001</ref> In 2003, McDonald starred as Sarah Langley in It Runs in the Family,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and as Jackie Brock in nine episodes of short-lived Mister Sterling.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> From 2005 to 2006, she acted in several television series and films, such as The Bedford Diaries and Kidnapped, while from 2007 to 2013 she played Dr. Naomi Bennett in Private Practice, a spinoff of Grey's Anatomy, replacing Merrin Dungey, who played the role in the series pilot.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She sang with the New York Philharmonic in the annual New Year's Eve gala concert on December 31, 2006, featuring music from the films; it was televised on Live from Lincoln Center by PBS.<ref>Gans, Andrew. "PBS to Broadcast Audra McDonald's New Year's Eve Concert", Playbill, November 29, 2006</ref>

She has a close working relationship with composer Michael John LaChiusa who has written several works for her, including the Broadway musical Marie Christine, the opera Send (who are you? i love you), and The Seven Deadly Sins: A Song Cycle. With her full lyric soprano voice,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> McDonald appeared as Lizzie in the Roundabout Theatre Company's 2007 revival of 110 in the Shade, directed by Lonny Price at Studio 54, for which she shared the Drama Desk Award for Best Actress in a Musical with Donna Murphy.<ref>Gans, Andrew. "Utopia and Spring Awakening Win Top Honors at Drama Desk Awards", Playbill, May 17, 2009, retrieved February 5, 2017</ref> On April 29, 2007, while she was in previews for the show, her father was killed when an experimental aircraft he was flying crashed north of Sacramento, California.<ref>Jones, Kenneth. "Stanley McDonald Jr., Father of Tony-Winner Audra McDonald, Dies in Air Crash", Playbill, April 30, 2007, retrieved February 5, 2017</ref>

McDonald is known for defying racial typecasting in her various Tony Award-winning and -nominated roles. Her performances as Carrie Pipperidge in Nicholas Hytner's 1994 revival of Carousel, Lizzie Curry in Lonny Price's 2007 revival of 110 in the Shade, and Rose in George C. Wolfe's revival of Gypsy have made her the first Black woman to portray those traditionally white roles in a major Broadway production. Of her groundbreaking work in encouraging diversity in musical theatre casting, she said in an interview for The New York Times, "I refuse to be stereotyped. If I think I am right for a role I will go for it in whatever way I can. I refuse to say no to myself. I can't control what a producer will do or say but I can at least put myself out there."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In a Talk of the Nation interview on NPR, Asian-American actor Thom Sesma said McDonald's performance in Carousel "transcended any kind of type at all", proving her to be "more actress than African-American."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

McDonald has also performed in opera. In 2006 she made her opera debut at the Houston Grand Opera performing Francis Poulenc's La voix humaine and the world premiere of Michael John LaChiusa's one-woman opera Send (who are you? I love you).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She had previously performed in the world premiere of John Adams' I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky which was given in concert, and can be heard on the 1997 recording of the opera. In 2007 she performed the role of Jenny Smith in Kurt Weill's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny at the Los Angeles Opera.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Her performance was recorded and won the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording in 2009. In 2008, McDonald starred as Ruth Younger in the critically acclaimed television film A Raisin in the Sun,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and was nominated at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and at the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

2011–2019: Career expansion

McDonald appeared in a revised version of George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess, at the American Repertory Theatre (in Cambridge, Massachusetts) from August through September 2011, and recreated the role on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, which opened on January 12, 2012, and closed on September 23, 2012.<ref>"Porgy and Bess Broadway", Playbill, (Vault), retrieved February 5, 2017</ref> For this role, McDonald won her fifth Tony Award and her first in a Leading Actress category.<ref>Jones, Kenneth and Hetrick, Adam. 2012 "Tony Awards Nominations Announced; Once Earns 11 Nominations" Template:Webarchive. Playbill.com, May 1, 2012</ref> This American Repertory Theater production was "re-imagined by Suzan-Lori Parks and Diedre Murray as a musical for contemporary audiences."<ref>Gans, Andrew and Hetrick, Adam. "Norm Lewis-Audra McDonald Porgy and Bess Will Play Broadway's Richard Rodgers Theatre" Template:Webarchive playbill.com, June 29, 2011</ref>

McDonald portrayed Billie Holiday on Broadway in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill (2014)

Since 2012, McDonald has served as host for the PBS series Live from Lincoln Center,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Program with the show's producers for Sweeney Todd, airing in 2015.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2013, McDonald appeared in the HBO documentary Six by Sondheim,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and she played Mother Abbess in the 2013 NBC live television production of The Sound of Music Live!.<ref>Audra McDonald, Laura Benanti and Christian Borle Join Cast of NBC's Sound of Music Template:Webarchive Playbill, Retrieved September 16, 2013</ref><ref>"Sound of Music Live! with Carrie Underwood: NBC announces more cast, releases poster", Entertainment Weekly, retrieved September 16, 2013</ref> In 2014, she was featured in Lynn Nottage's short play Poof!, alongside Tonya Pinkins. It was produced for radio and podcast by Playing On Air.<ref>Template:Cite podcast</ref>

McDonald played Billie Holiday on Broadway in the play Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill in a limited engagement that ended on August 10, 2014.<ref name="artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com">Template:Cite web</ref> After previews that began on March 25, 2014, the play opened at the Circle in the Square Theatre on April 13, 2014.<ref name="artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com"/> Of the play, McDonald said in an interview, "It's about a woman trying to get through a concert performance, which I know something about, and she's doing it at a time when her liver was pickled and she was still doing heroin regularly...I might have been a little judgmental about Billie Holiday early on in my life, but what I've come to admire most about her – and what is fascinating in this show – is that there is never any self-pity. She's almost laughing at how horrible her life has been. I don't think she sees herself as a victim. And she feels an incredible connection to her music – she can't sing a song if she doesn't have some emotional connection to it, which I really understand".<ref name="artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com" />

McDonald won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for this role, making her the first person to earn six Tony Award wins for acting (not counting honorary awards) and the first person to win a Tony Award in all four acting categories.<ref>"Audra Mcdonald Nets a Record Sixth Win", NPR, June 9, 2014</ref> In her acceptance speech, "she thanked her parents for encouraging her to pursue her interests as a child."<ref>Purcell, Carey. "Gent's Guide, All The Way, Hedwig And the Angry Inch, Raisin in the Sun Win Top Prizes at 68th Annual Tony Awards" Template:Webarchive playbill.com, June 8, 2014</ref> She also thanked the "strong and brave and courageous" African-American women who came before her, saying in part, "I am standing on Lena Horne's shoulders. I am standing on Maya Angelou's shoulders. I am standing on Diahann Carroll and Ruby Dee, and most of all, Billie Holiday. You deserved so much more than you were given when you were on this planet. This is for you, Billie."<ref>"Audra McDonald Wins 6th Tony Award Makes Broadway History" essence.com, June 8, 2014</ref> This performance was filmed at Cafe Brasil in New Orleans and broadcast on HBO on March 12, 2016.<ref>Gans, Andrew. "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill Debuts on HBO Tonight", Playbill, March 12, 2016</ref> McDonald received critical acclaim and was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for her role in the broadcast.<ref>Clement, Olivia. "Audra McDonald, Viola Davis, Bryan Cranston Among 2016 Emmy Nominees", Playbill, July 14, 2016</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She lost to Sarah Paulson playing Marcia Clark in The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story. She was also nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

She appeared at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Williamstown, Massachusetts, in Eugene O'Neill's play A Moon for the Misbegotten in August 2015, co-starring with her husband Will Swenson.<ref>"Audra McDonald and Will Swenson Star in Moon for the Misbegotten at Williamstown, Starting Tonight", Playbill, August 5, 2015</ref> In 2016, McDonald starred on Broadway as the vaudeville performer Lottie Gee in a new musical titled Shuffle Along, or, the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed about the making of the 1921 musical Shuffle Along.<ref>"Six-Time Tony Winner Audra McDonald Will Lead Shuffle Along Musical on Broadway", broadway.com, retrieved June 7, 2015</ref> Shuffle Along closed on July 24, 2016, and McDonald began a maternity hiatus at that time.<ref>Hetrick, Adam and Viagas, Robert. "Shuffle Along Sets July Broadway Closing", Playbill, June 23, 2016</ref><ref>Viagas, Robert. "Shuffle Along Plays Final Broadway Performance Today", Playbill, July 24, 2016</ref>

McDonald had planned to make her West End debut as Holiday in Lady Day in June through September 2016,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> but after becoming pregnant she postponed these plans.<ref name="Baby2People">Warner, Kara. "Baby on the Way for Will Swenson and Audra McDonald", People Magazine, May 10, 2016</ref> She performed in Lady Day in June 2017 through September 9, 2017, at the Wyndham's Theatre in the West End.<ref>Shenton, Mark. "Audra McDonald To Reprise Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill in the West End", Playbill, February 3, 2017</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2017, McDonald starred in Disney's live action remake film Beauty and the Beast (based on the 1991 animated film of the same name) as Madame de Garderobe, directed by Bill Condon, and co-starring with Emma Watson and Dan Stevens, earning a nomination at the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On August 1, 2017, it was announced that she had been added to the main cast for the second season of The Good Fight, reprising her role as Liz Lawrence from The Good Wife season 4.<ref name="mcdonald">Template:Cite web</ref> McDonald stayed in the cast for the remaining seasons, and was nominated twice for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2019 McDonald played Frankie in Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune at the Broadhurst Theatre,<ref name=":0" /> earning her ninth Tony Award nomination for her performance for Best Actress in a Play.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

2020–present

McDonald performing on the South Lawn of the White House in 2023

In 2021, McDonald portrayed Rachel Boutella in television series The Bite and hosted the television ceremony of the 74th Tony Awards.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2021, she appeared as Barbara Siggers Franklin in Aretha Franklin's biographical musical drama film Respect, earning a nomination at the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2022, she starred as Dorothy Scott in HBO's television series The Gilded Age.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> That year, she appeared in the Broadway production of Ohio State Murders, earning her tenth Tony Award nomination. In 2023, McDonald portrayed civil rights activist Ella Baker in the Netflix biographical drama Rustin.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> That same year she acted in the comedy Down Low and the Ava DuVernay directed drama Origin.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In May 2024, it was announced that McDonald would return to Broadway as Mama Rose in a revival of Gypsy, with previews beginning November 21.<ref>"Audra McDonald in Gypsy, gypsybway.com, 2024</ref> Her performance in Gypsy would earn her a record-breaking 11th Tony Award nomination, surpassing the previous three-way tie she had shared with Julie Harris and Chita Rivera.

Recordings and concerts

McDonald has maintained ties to her classical training and repertoire. She frequently performs in concert throughout the U.S.<ref>Gans, Andrew. "Audra McDonald to Offer Concerts Throughout U.S.", playbill.com, April 8, 2008</ref> and has performed with musical organizations such as the New York Philharmonic and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Carnegie Hall commissioned the song cycle The Seven Deadly Sins: A Song Cycle for McDonald, and she performed it at Carnegie's Zankel Hall on June 2, 2004.<ref>Gans, Andrew. "Audra McDonald Premieres The Seven Deadly Sins June 2 at Zankel Hall", Playbill, June 2, 2004</ref> She sang two solo one-act operas at the Houston Grand Opera in March 2006: Francis Poulenc's La voix humaine and the world premiere of Michael John LaChiusa's Send (who are you? I love you).<ref>Gans, Andrew. "Audra McDonald to Debut New LaChiusa Piece at Houston Grand Opera", Playbill, July 26, 2005</ref> On February 10, 2007, McDonald starred with Patti LuPone in the Los Angeles Opera production of Kurt Weill's opera Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny directed by John Doyle.<ref>Simonson, Robert and Gans, Andrew. "Doyle to Direct LuPone and McDonald in Mahagonny" Template:Webarchive, Playbill, January 16, 2006</ref> The recording of this production of Mahagonny won two Grammy Awards, for Best Opera Recording and Best Classical Album in February 2009.<ref>Gans, Andrew. "In the Heights Cast Recording Wins Grammy; Hudson and LuPone-McDonald Mahagonny Also Win" Template:Webarchive, Playbill, February 8, 2009</ref>

In September 2008, American composer Michael John LaChiusa was quoted in Opera News Online, as working on an adaptation of Bizet's Carmen with McDonald in mind.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

McDonald performing at the Wright Center in 2011

McDonald has recorded five solo albums for Nonesuch Records. Her first, the 1998 Way Back to Paradise, featured songs written by a new generation of musical theatre composers who had achieved varying degrees of prominence in the 1990s, particularly LaChiusa, Adam Guettel and Jason Robert Brown.

Her next album, How Glory Goes (2000), combined both old and new works, and included composers Harold Arlen, Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Kern.<ref name=sfgate /> Her third album, Happy Songs (2002), was big band music from the 1920s through the 1940s.<ref>Simonson, Robert. "Audra McDonald Sings Composers of Today and Future at Joe's Pub", Playbill, May 22, 2002</ref> Her fourth album, Build a Bridge (2006), features songs from jazz and pop.<ref>Suskin, Steven. "On The Record: A Complete Cabaret With Judi Dench, and Audra McDonald's "Build a Bridge", Playbill, November 12, 2006</ref>

In May 2013, Audra McDonald released her first solo album in seven years, Go Back Home, with a title track from the Kander and Ebb musical The Scottsboro Boys. To coincide with the album's release, McDonald performed a concert at Avery Fisher Hall in New York City that aired on the PBS series Live from Lincoln Center titled Audra McDonald In Concert: Go Back Home.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

At the 2010 BCS National Championship Game on January 7, McDonald sang America the Beautiful for the sold-out stadium fans to celebrate the final game of the college football season.<ref>Moon, Josh. "Alabama wins 13th national championship" Template:Webarchive montgomeryadvertiser.com, January 8, 2010</ref>

In May 2000, Audra McDonald appeared as "The Beggar Woman" in Lonny Price's concert version of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, performed at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, New York, with the New York Philharmonic with George Hearn and Patti LuPone. She reprised the role in some performances of the March 2014 Lincoln Center concert production, again directed by Price, this time opposite Bryn Terfel and Emma Thompson. She performed three concerts, titled "Audra McDonald Sings Broadway", in the Sydney Opera House in November 2015, which also included "The Facebook Song" by Kate Miller-Heidke.<ref>"Audra McDonald review: reviving the fading art of singing" by John Shand, The Sydney Morning Herald, November 6, 2015</ref> In late December 2023, McDonald was a guest narrator at Disney's Candlelight Processional at Walt Disney World.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life

McDonald married bassist Peter Donovan in September 2000.<ref name=sfgate/> They have one daughter, Zoe Madeline Donovan, named after McDonald's close friend and Master Class co-star Zoe Caldwell and the late Madeline Kahn. McDonald became close friends with Kahn after they filmed a TV pilot together, and she found out she was carrying a girl the same day she sang at Kahn's memorial.<ref>Rudetsky, Seth. "How Audra McDonald Handled a Ringing Cell Phone in Character As Billie Holiday" Playbill, April 18, 2017</ref> McDonald and Donovan divorced in 2009.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

She married Will Swenson on October 6, 2012.<ref>Jones, Kenneth. "Audra McDonald and Will Swenson Get Married" Template:Webarchive, playbill.com, October 7, 2012</ref> On October 19, 2016, she gave birth to their daughter, Sally James McDonald-Swenson.<ref>Gans, Andrew. "Audra McDonald and Will Swenson Welcome a Baby Girl", Playbill, October 20, 2016</ref> She is the stepmother to Swenson's two sons from his previous marriage.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

McDonald attended Joan Rivers' funeral in New York on September 7, 2014, where she sang "Smile".

As of 2014, McDonald resides with her family in Croton-on-Hudson, New York.<ref name="gisin">Template:Cite webGisin, Matthew. "Three Westchester Natives Up For Tony Awards" Westchester Magazine, Retrieved October 2, 2014</ref>

Activism and charitable work

In October 2020, McDonald joined many other Broadway stars in a virtual voter education and letter-writing party sponsored by VoteRiders to raise awareness about voter ID requirements.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In June 2020, McDonald and a coalition of professionals from across the theatre industry launched Black Theatre United, an organization whose mission is to inspire reform and combat systemic racism within the theatre community and throughout the nation. Emphasizing four goalsTemplate:Sndawareness, accountability, advocacy, and actionTemplate:SndBTU works at the community and national levels to elevate anti-racist causes and support the Black community through various resources and initiatives.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

McDonald joined other Broadway stars including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Josh Groban, Idina Menzel, Laura Benanti, and Kristin Chenoweth in 2018 to record Singing You Home, a bilingual children's album designed to benefit organizations that aid families separated at the border.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

She joined the Covenant House board of Directors in 2014. Covenant House oversees programs for homeless youth in 27 cities in six countries across the United States, Canada, and Latin America. Audra was the recipient of their 2018 Beacon of Hope Award.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Acting credits

Key
Template:Dagger Denotes works that have not yet been released

Film

Year Film Role Notes
1996 Seven Servants Opera Singer
1998 The Object of My Affection Wedding Singer
1999 Cradle Will Rock Blitzstein – "Joe Worker" Singer
2003 It Runs in the Family Sarah Langley
Tea Time with Roy & Sylvia Sylvia Short film
2004 The Best Thief in the World Ruth
2009 She Got Problems Herself Short film
2011 Rampart Sarah
2015 Ricki and the Flash Maureen Brummel
2017 Beauty and the Beast Madame de Garderobe also voice <ref name="btva">Template:Cite web A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.</ref>
Hello Again Sally
2020 Song of Rapa Nui Narrator Voice; documentary
2021 Respect Barbara Siggers Franklin
2023 Down Low Patty
Rustin Ella Baker
Origin Miss Hale
Whitney Houston in Focus Narrator Voice; documentary short

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1999 Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years Young Bessie Delany Television film
Homicide: Life on the Street Teresa Giardello Episode: "Forgive Us Our Trespasses"
Annie Grace Farrell Television film
2000 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Audrey Jackson 2 episodes
The Last Debate Barbara Manning Television film
2001 Wit Susie Monahan Television film
2003 Mister Sterling Jackie Brock Main cast (9 episodes)
2005 Passion: Live From Lincoln Center Clara Television special
2006 The Bedford Diaries Professor Carla Bonatelle 8 episodes
2006–2007 Kidnapped Jackie Hayes 3 episodes
2007–2013 Private Practice Dr. Naomi Bennett Main cast (77 episodes)
2007–2024 Great Performances Herself 9 episodes
2008 A Raisin in the Sun Ruth Younger Television film
2009 Grey's Anatomy Dr. Naomi Bennett Episode: "Before and After"
The Music Instinct: Science and Song Narrator Voice; television documentary
2010 Submissions Only Tracy Mintzer Episode: "Dangerous Anaesthesia"
2012–2013 Sesame Street Chicken 3 episodes
2013 It Could Be Worse Sharon Episode: "Starring Veronica Bailey"
The Good Wife Liz Lawrence Episode: "Runnin' with the Devil"
Audra McDonald: Go Back Home Self Television special
The Sound of Music Live! Mother Abbess Television special
The Ordained Anthea Television film
2014 Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Lucy Barker Television special
2015 Doc McStuffins Itty Bitty Bess Voice, episode: "Itty Bitty Bess Takes Flight"<ref name="btva" />
2016 Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill Billie Holiday Television special
Once Upon a Sesame Street Christmas Caroler Television special
2017 Saving My Tomorrow Narrator Voice, episode: "Kids Who Love the Earth"
2018 RuPaul's Drag Race Herself (Guest Judge) Episode: "Snatch Game"<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2018–2019 BoJack Horseman Mother Superior Voice, 2 episodes
2018–2022 The Good Fight Liz Lawrence-Reddick Main cast (47 episodes)
2019 An Emmy for Megan Herself Episode: "New Minimum Length"
2020 American Experience Additional Voices Episode: "The Vote Part 2"
Central Park Ashley Voice, episode: "A Fish Called Snakehead"
Vampirina Medusa Voice, episode: "Vee and the Family Stone"
2021 The Bite Rachel Boutella Main cast (6 episodes)
74th Tony Awards Herself (host) Television special
2022–2025 The Gilded Age Dorothy Scott 14 episodes

Theatre

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Role Notes
1992 The Secret Garden Ayah (replacement) St. James Theatre
1992 – January 3, 1993
1994–1995 Carousel Carrie Pipperidge Vivian Beaumont Theater
February 18, 1994 – January 15, 1995
1995 Master Class Sharon Graham Philadelphia Theatre Company
March 1995
Something Wonderful Performer Gershwin Theatre
July 12, 1995
1995–1997 Master Class Sharon Graham John Golden Theatre
October 26, 1995 – June 29, 1997
1996–1999 Ragtime Sarah Ford Centre for the Performing Arts (Toronto)
December 8, 1996 – August 31, 1997 <ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Ford Center for the Performing Arts (Broadway)
December 26, 1997 – October 29, 1999
1999 Marie Christine Marie Christine L'Adrese Vivian Beaumont Theater
October 30, 1999 – January 9, 2000
2000 Ragtime Sarah Ford Center for the Performing Arts

January 10–16, 2000

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Lucy Barker, The Beggar Woman Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center
May 4–6, 2000
2001 Dreamgirls Deena Jones New York Actor's Fund Benefit Concert
2002 Carousel Julie Jordan Carnegie Hall
June 6, 2002
2003 Passion Clara Ravinia Festival
August 22–23, 2003
2003–2004 Henry IV, Part 1 Lady Kate Percy Vivian Beaumont Theater
October 28, 2003 – January 18, 2004<ref>{{#if: 13517 {{#property:P1218}} 		13517|Template:First word}} {{#if:1| ​{{#if:Henry IV, Part 1|Henry IV, Part 1|Template:PAGENAMEBASE}}​ {{#if:|{{{description}}}}} }}] at the Internet Broadway DatabaseTemplate:EditAtWikidata{{#ifeq:0|0|{{#if:13517 }}}} {{IBDB title}} template missing ID and not present in Wikidata.{{#ifeq:0|0|}}

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2004 A Raisin in the Sun Ruth Younger Royale Theatre
March 30 – July 11, 2004
The Seven Deadly Sins: A Song Cycle Performer Carnegie Hall
June 2, 2004
R shomon Young Woman Williamstown Theatre Festival
July 21 - August 1, 2004 <ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Sunday in the Park with George Dot / Marie Ravinia Festival
September 3–4, 2004
2005 Passion Clara Lincoln Center
March 30 – April 1, 2005
Wonderful Town Eileen Sherwood Berlin Philharmonic
Anyone Can Whistle Nurse Fay Apple Ravinia Festival
August 26–27, 2005
2006 La voix humaine/Send (who are you? I love you) Singer Houston Grand Opera

March 2006

2007 Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny Jenny Smith Los Angeles Opera
February 2007
110 in the Shade Lizzie Curry Studio 54
April 13 – July 29, 2007
2009 Twelfth Night Olivia Delacorte Theater
June 25 – July 12, 2009
2011 Porgy and Bess Bess American Repertory Theater
August – September 2011
2011–2012 Richard Rodgers Theatre
December 17, 2011 – September 23, 2012
2014 Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Lucy Barker, The Beggar Woman Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center
March 5–8, 2014
Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill Billie Holiday Circle in the Square Theatre
March 25 – October 5, 2014
2015 A Moon for the Misbegotten Josie Hogan Williamstown Theatre Festival
August 2015
2016 Shuffle Along Lottie Gee Music Box Theatre
March 14 – July 24, 2016
2017 Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill Billie Holiday Wyndham's Theatre
June 27 – September 9, 2017<ref>Gans, Andrew. "Audra McDonald and Will Swenson Are Expecting a Baby", Playbill, May 10, 2016.</ref><ref>Marshall, Charlotte. "Audra McDonald's 'Lady Day' Postponed", officiallondontheatre.co.uk, May 11, 2016.</ref>
2019 Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune Frankie Broadhurst Theatre
May 4 – July 28, 2019<ref name=":0">Duboff, Josh. "Exclusive: Michael Shannon and Audra McDonald Smolder in First Look from 'Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune'" Vanity Fair, March 21, 2019.</ref>
2022–2023 Ohio State Murders Suzanne Alexander James Earl Jones Theatre
November 11, 2022 – January 15, 2023<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
2023 Ragtime Sarah Minskoff Theatre
March 27, 2023
2024 Gutenberg! The Musical! The Guest Producer James Earl Jones Theatre

January 28, 2024

2024–2025 Gypsy Rose Thompson Hovick Majestic Theatre
November 21, 2024 – August 17, 2025

Accolades and achievements

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Over her career she has received six Tony Awards out of eleven nominations (the most of any performer in the history of the Tony Awards), two Grammy Awards out of three nominations, one Emmy Award out of five nominations in addition to nominations for two Screen Actors Guild Awards. She was honored with the National Medal of Arts in 2016 from President Barack Obama, and was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2017. McDonald received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member General Colin Powell in 2012.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On September 22, 2016, Audra McDonald was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama for 2015. The Award states, in part: "for lighting up Broadway as one of its brightest stars.... In musicals, concerts, operas, and the recording studio, her rich, soulful voice continues to take her audiences to new heights."<ref>Dwyer, Colin. "At White House, a Golden Moment for America's Great Artists and Patrons", NPR, September 22, 2016</ref> In 2017, she was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.<ref name=":1" /> McDonald served as the grand marshal of the 2024 Tournament of Roses Parade.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Concerts

Audra McDonald in Concert (2013–14)

Date City State Venue
March 9, 2013 Chicago Illinois Lund Auditorium
March 16, 2013 Boca Raton Florida Mizner Park Amphitheater
April 6, 2013 Stamford Connecticut Palace Theatre
May 16, 2013 Norfolk Virginia Attucks Theatre
May 24, 2013 New York City New York Stern Auditorium<ref>As part of Audra McDonald: Go Back Home, which aired on Live from Lincoln Center</ref>
October 5, 2013 Colden Auditorium
October 10, 2013 Washington, D.C. Library of Congress
October 12, 2013 Chicago Illinois Symphony Center
October 19, 2013 Louisville Kentucky Brown Theatre
October 20, 2013 Austin Texas Michael & Susan Dell Hall
October 22, 2013 Las Vegas Nevada Reynolds Hall
October 25, 2013 San Diego California Balboa Theatre
October 26, 2013 Los Angeles Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
November 15, 2013 St. Louis Missouri Sheldon Concert Hall
November 16, 2013 Kansas City Muriel Kauffman Theatre
December 21, 2013 Mesa Arizona Ikeda Theater
January 5, 2014, &
February 26, 2014 		West Palm Beach Florida Dreyfoos, Jr. Concert Hall
January 18, 2014 Rohnert Park California Joan and Sanford Weill Hall
February 1, 2014 Washington, D.C. Library of Congress
February 22, 2014 Worcester Massachusetts Hanover Theatre
February 28, 2014 Visalia California L.J. Williams Theater
March 8, 2014 Atlanta Georgia Atlanta Symphony Hall

23 concerts total; the gap between May and October 2013 is due to McDonald's work with television and her album coming out, causing the three and a half month gap. The tour ended due to McDonald's show, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill opening on Broadway, but she picked up again with a new tour once the show closed.

An Evening with Audra McDonald (2014–15)

Date City Country Venue
December 2, 2014 Los Angeles United States Walt Disney Concert Hall
December 5, 2014 Rohnert Park Joan and Sanford Weill Hall
December 6, 2014 Berkeley Zellerbach Hall
December 12, 2014 New York City Stern Auditorium
January 8, 2015 Ft. Lauderdale Parker Playhouse
January 17, 2015 Rochester Kodak Hall
January 24, 2015 Naples Hayes Hall
February 6, 2015 Chapel Hill UNC Memorial Hall
February 21, 2015 Des Moines Des Moines Civic Center
February 27, 2015 Kohler Kohler Memorial Theatre
March 1, 2015 Boston Boston Symphony Hall
March 12, 2015 Richmond EKU Auditorium
March 15, 2015 Tucson Fox Tucson Theatre
March 21, 2015 Jacksonville Jacoby Symphony Hall
March 22, 2015 Sarasota Van Wezel Hall
March 24, 2015 West Palm Beach Dreyfoos, Jr. Concert Hall
March 27, 2015 Bethesda The Music Center at Strathmore
April 7, 2015 Indiana Indiana University Auditorium
April 15, 2015 Pittsburgh Byham Theater
April 17, 2015 Princeton McCarter Theatre
April 19, 2015 Newark Prudential Hall
April 23, 2015 Greenville Peace Concert Hall
April 29, 2015 New York City Stern Auditorium
May 8, 2015 Englewood Bergen Performing Arts Center
May 9, 2015 Greenvale Tilles Center Concert Hall
May 11, 2015 Pittsburgh Byham Theater
May 15, 2015 Norfolk Virginia Arts Festival
June 12, 2015 Saratoga Mountain Winery
June 22, 2015 Vienna Wolf Trap
July 19, 2015 Lenox The Shed
September 1, 2015, &
September 3, 2015 		Los Angeles Hollywood Bowl
October 1, 2015 Richmond Carpenter Theater
October 7, 2015 Philadelphia Merriam Theater
October 8, 2015 Storrs Jorgenson Center
October 13, 2015 Greenville Peace Concert Hall
October 31, 2015 Melbourne Australia Hamer Hall

37 concerts; this tour marked her Australian debut. The lack of August shows was due to her run in A Moon for the Misbegotten.

Other concerts

McDonald in the East Room of the White House, 2013

Discography

Solo recordings

Source:<ref>McDonald record listing nonesuch.com, retrieved January 8, 2010</ref>

Source:<ref>McDonald listing masterworksbroadway.com, retrieved January 8, 2010</ref>

Cast recordings

Video recordings

Audio books

Explanatory notes

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See also

References

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