Audra McDonald News

Hotel Nikko San Francisco and Michael Feinstein are proud to welcome singer/songwriter John Bucchino to Feinstein's at the Nikko for one night only - Saturday, February 8 at 7 p.m. Called "a new American pop master" by the Houston Chronicle, Bucchino's songs have been performed and recorded by renowned pop (Art Garfunkel, Judy Collins), theatre (Liza Minnelli, Patti LuPone, Kristin Chenoweth, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Audra McDonald), cabaret (Barbara Cook, Michael Feinstein), and classical (Yo-Yo Ma, Deborah Voight, Nathan Gunn) artists as well as The Boston Pops, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in venues including Carnegie Hall, The Metropolitan Opera, The Hollywood Bowl, The Kennedy Center, The Sydney Opera House, London's O2 Arena and The White House. San Francisco audiences will have a rare opportunity to hear Bucchino perform his songs in an intimate setting, and share stories of what inspired them. Buchhino will be joined by two guest singers: Nanci Zoppi and Maggie Hollinbeck. Tickets for John Bucchino range in price from $25-$35 and are available now by calling 866.663.1063 or visiting www.ticketweb.com.

Five-time Tony Award-winning Broadway regular and small screen star Audra McDonald will bring her exemplary performance skills to a series of upcoming concert appearances on both coasts according to a new listing on her official website.

A "dream team of opera singers" (New York Times) will light up TV screens across the country on Friday, January 10 at 9 p.m. EST (check local listings) in the national broadcast of "Richard Tucker at 100: An Opera Celebration." Hosted by Audra McDonald for PBS's Emmy Award-winning Live From Lincoln Center, the telecast captures the Richard Tucker Music Foundation's recent gala concert at Avery Fisher Hall, which honored the legendary tenor's centennial. Isabel Leonard, the 2013 Richard Tucker Award-winner and a rising star in the U.S. and abroad, joined many of today's biggest names in opera-Stephanie Blythe, Stephen Costello, Joyce DiDonato, Renee Fleming, Susan Graham, Greer Grimsley, Angela Meade, Eric Owens, Ailyn Perez and Matthew Polenzani-for arias and ensembles by Verdi, Rossini, Donizetti, Puccini, Offenbach and more with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the New York Choral Society led by Maestro Riccardo Frizza.

Audra McDonald (Porgy & Bess, Ragtime, 110 in the Shade), who portrayed Mother Abbess in NBC's live broadcast of THE SOUND OF MUSIC has received a 2014 Black Reel Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress, TV Movie or Mini-Series.

On Tuesday, January 28, 2014 at 7:30pm at Opera America's National Opera Center, New York Festival of Song opens the 2013-14 edition of its forward-looking NYFOS Next series with MARK ADAMO & FRIENDS.

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. It's the Mosh Pit's 'Top Ten Hot Topix' for the second half of 2013!!

While more than 50 InDepth InterViews were conducted in the 2013 calendar year and it is impossible to choose favorites, today we are highlighting some of the most uniquely arresting and singularly revealing conversations featured in BroadwayWorld's most popular and expansive interview series - including Patti LuPone, Darren Criss, Josh Groban, Audra McDonald, Cameron Mackintosh, Stephen Sondheim, Joan Rivers, Jeremy Jordan, Megan Hilty, Bebe Neuwirth and many more!

Historic adaptation of PORGY AND BESS returns to National Theater.

Today, check out some of BWW's most read news stories from 2013, featuring favorites from our readers and editors, and catch up on anything that you might have missed within the last 12 months!

Today, check out BWW's 20 most popular videos from 2013, including favorites from our editors and readers, and catch up on anything that you might have missed within the last 12 months!

For the past week, BroadwayWorld has been counting down the final days of 2013 with video tributes to our 13 favorite musical moments of this year. Now that the ball has dropped and 2014 has officially arrived, we shift gears and look ahead to what is to come in 2014. Below, we count-up to the 14 theatrical events of 2014 that we are most excited for!

In “live plus seven day” results, NBC's Dec. 5 telecast of “The Sound of Music Live” delivered a 5.62 rating in adults 18-49 and 21.837 million viewers overall

Jim Caruso's Cast Party, Birdland's 'extreme' open mic, is proud to announce the upcoming MENTOR MONDAYS segment, which takes place on the last Monday of every month. MENTOR MONDAYS pairs up-and-coming singers and composers with established artists to create a featured performance for the historic Birdland stage. MENTOR MONDAYS gives emerging young performers the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to collaborate with some of New York's most talented musical theater songsmiths, including Adam Guettel, Lisa Lambert, Frank Wildhorn, Amanda Green, John Bucchino and Georgia Stitt, as well as singers Jane Monheit and Billy Porter.

Coming up this week, 54 BELOW, the performance venue located just below the legendary Studio 54 at 254 West 54th Street, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz and beyond, including Jennifer Holliday, Chita Rivera, Jeff Daniels, Steve Kazee, After Midnight Swings the Holiday and more. Details below!

Last night I had the pleasure of speaking to two of the hottest producers in Hollywood and on Broadway all about their recent smash hit December with the ratings bonanza of NBC's live presentation of Rodgers & Hammerstein's THE SOUND OF MUSIC as well as the three-network tent-pole two-night TV event, BONNIE & CLYDE - the peerless Craig Zadan and Neil Meron. Discussing all aspects of the unprecedented live presentation, Zadan and Meron outline the process of bringing the gigantic production to the small screen and grant us a vivid look behind the scenes of the big show. Additionally, Zadan and Meron comment on the social media frenzy that occurred during the 25+ million-viewed telecast as well as their reaction to criticism of country music superstar Carrie Underwood in the starring role, as well as their longstanding relationship with NBC in general. Plus, Zadan and Meron also clue us in on what elements they seek out in special events such as this as we look ahead to next year's confirmed major live musical - whatever could it be?! Besides all about THE SOUND OF MUSIC, Zadan and Meron also offer us the 411 on a number of other projects immediately upcoming in 2014 and far beyond, with a special focus on their just-announced Harvey Weinstein collaboration on a feature film version of Stephen Schwartz's beloved PIPPIN, as well as first news on a forthcoming original Beach Boys jukebox musical currently in development and preliminary information on the pilot for a new musical series inspired by Grammy Award-winning songwriter Diane Warren titled SONGBYRD, set to shoot in January. All of that, reflections on last year's sensational Academy Awards broadcast hosted by the controversial Seth MacFarlane and a look ahead to this year's Zadan & Meron-produced Oscars show - set to be hosted by daytime queen Ellen Degeneres - as well as stories from their early years producing cabaret showcases and penning books on theatre as well as much, much more in this all-encompassing conversation with the most important men in movie musicals.

Today we bring you a roundup of all twelve performances featured on the list, including songs from White Christmas, Annie, Promises, Promises and A Christmas Story, and carols sung by Jeremy Jordan, Bernadette Peters, Angela Lansbury, Megan Hilty, Michael Crawford, Mandy Patinkin, Matthew Morrison and Audra McDonald.

Featured today is Audra McDonald's performance of 'Go Tell It on the Mountain.' Click below to check it out!