Audra McDonald

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Audra McDonald is an American singer and four-time Tony Award-winning actress. While well known for her singing abilities, she has won acclaim for her dramatic performances as well.

Audra Ann McDonald was born on July 3, 1970 in Berlin, Germany, and was raised in Fresno, California.

The elder of two daughters, she began to study acting at a young age to counteract her diagnosis as "hyperactive." She studied classical voice as an undergraduate at the Juilliard School of Music, graduating in 1993.

McDonald became a three-time Tony Award winner by the age of 28, placing her alongside Shirley Booth, Gwen Verdon, and Zero Mostel by accomplishing this feat within five years. She received Tonys for her performances in "Carousel", "Master Class", and "Ragtime". She was nominated for another Tony Award for her performance in "Marie Christine" before she won her fourth Tony in 2004 for her role in A Raisin in the Sun. She is now in the company of other four-time Tony Award winning actresses Angela Lansbury, Gwen Verdon, and Mary Martin.

In 2001, she received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or TV Movie for the HBO film Wit starring Emma Thompson and directed by Mike Nichols.

She also appeared on the television series Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, the short-lived Mister Sterling, and in the television production of Annie (1999) in the role of Daddy Warbucks' secretary Miss Farrell.

McDonald has recorded four solo albums on Nonesuch Records. Her first album, 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 Michael John LaChiusa, Adam Guettel, and Jason Robert Brown. Her subsequent albums, How Glory Goes and Happy Songs have featured more traditional older theater and cabaret songs along with some songs by these new composers. Her fourth album, Build a Bridge, features primarily pop songs by such singer-songwriters as Elvis Costello, Nellie McKay, Neil Young, Rufus Wainwright, and Randy Newman.

She frequently appears in concert and has performed with a number of the most prestigious orchestras worldwide.

McDonald married bassist Peter Donovan in 2000. They have one daughter, Zoe Madeline, named after actresses Zoe Caldwell and (the late) Madeline Kahn.

McDonald is scheduled to perform as Lizzie in the Roundabout Theatre Company's revival of 110 in the Shade directed by Lonny Price at Studio 54 in the spring of 2007.

Contents 1 Broadway Productions 2 National Tours 3 Films 4 Notable Television Credits 5 Notable Recordings 6 Awards and nominations 7 External links

[edit] Broadway Productions

• Passion (Two Night Benefit) (2005)
• A Raisin in the Sun (2004)
• Henry IV, Part 2 (2003)
• Carousel in Concert (One Night Benefit) (2002)
• Dreamgirls (One-Night Benefit) (2001)
• Sweeney Todd (Three Night Benefit) (2000)
• Marie Christine (1999)
• Ragtime (musical) (1998)
• Master Class (1995)
• Carousel (1994)

[edit] National Tours

• The Secret Garden (1992)

[edit] Films

• Best Thief in the World (2004)
• It Runs in the Family (2003)
• Cradle Will Rock (1999)
• The Object of My Affection (1998)
• Seven Servants (1996)

[edit] Notable Television Credits

• The Bedford Diaries (2006)
• InnerVIEWS with Ernie Manouse: Audra McDonald (2006)
• Mister Sterling (2003)
• Wit (2001)
• Law and Order: Special Victims Unit (2000)
• Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years (1999)
• Annie (1999)
• Homicide: Life on the Streets (1999)

[edit] Notable Recordings

• Build a Bridge (2006)
• Happy Songs (2002)
• Dreamgirls in Concert (Concert Cast Recording) (2001)
• Bright Eyed Joy: The Songs of Ricky Ian Gordon (2001)
• How Glory Goes (2000)
• Sweeney Todd Live at the New York Philharmonic (2000)
• Marie Christine (Original Cast Recording) (1999)
• Wonderful Town (Studio Recording) (1999)
• Way Back to Paradise (1998)
• Ragtime (Original Cast Recording) (1998)
• Carousel (Broadway Revival Cast Recording) (1994)

[edit] Awards and nominations

• 2004 Drama League Award (A Raisin in the Sun) (nomination)
• 2004 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play (A Raisin in the Sun) (winner)
• 2004 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play (A Raisin in the Sun) (winner)
• 2004 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play (A Raisin in the Sun) (winner)
• 2001 Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie (Wit) (nomination)
• 2001 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Performance in a Variety Series/Special (Audra McDonald in Concert) (nomination)
• 2001 Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical (Marie Christine) (nomination)
• 1998 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Ragtime) (winner)
• 1996 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play (Master Class) (winner)
• 1995 Ovation Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play (Master Class) (winner)
• 1994 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical (Carousel) (winner)
• 1994 Theatre World Award (Carousel) (winner)
• 1994 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical (Carousel) (winner)
• 1994 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical ( Carousel) (winner)

[edit] External links

• [1]Audra McDonald's site at Nonesuch Records
• Audra McDonald at the Internet Movie Database
• Audra McDonald at the Internet Broadway Database
• Audra McDonald Downstage Center interview at American Theatre Wing
• InnerVIEWS with Ernie Manouse: Audra McDonald (TV Interview)
• Audra McDonald in Show Music Magazine[2]