FLASH FRIDAY: The Queen Reigns Supreme! Welcome Audra McDonald Back To Broadway
By: Pat Cerasaro Mar. 13, 2015
Today we are celebrating this week's hot news of Audra McDonald's big Broadway return next season! Migratory VI
There can only be one all-time champion - the singular individual who dominates a particular category and thereby owns it. As far as TONY AWARDS for actors and actresses are concerned, Audra McDonald is the absolute queen, with six competitive statuettes to her name so far in her career. Looking back at where it all began, having earned audience accolades immediately following her Juilliard graduation for a replacement role in THE SECRET GARDEN on Broadway, McDonald soon created her first mainstage featured part in the Lincoln Center Theater revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein's CAROUSEL for which she received her first Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress In A Musical - and took home the trophy, too. The very next year, McDonald followed that classic musical up with a brand new Broadway drama, embarking on the premiere Broadway production of Terrence McNally's opera-focused play MASTER CLASS where she was nominated for the first time in her career in the Best Featured Actress In A Play category at the 1996 TONY AWARDS - and, as we all know, she won that, too. It would be nearly three years before McDonald made another appearance on the Great White Way, but when she arrived again it was more than merely worth the wait - the production was landmark new musical RAGTIME and the role was the unforgettable Sarah Brown Eyes, for which McDonald claimed her third and final Tony Award of the 1990s. Closing out the decade with the very last musical to open on Broadway in the 20th century, McDonald received her first Best Actress In A Musical nod for her work in Michael John LaChiusa's MEDEA-inspired MARIE CHRISTINE, as well.
With the dawning of a new millennium came the opportunity for McDonald to spread her wings even further and explore her considerable talent to an even fuller extent, recording a series of solo albums to follow up 1998's modern classic WAY BACK TO PARADISE with 2000's HOW GLORY GOES, 2005's HAPPY SONGS, 2006's BUILD A BRIDGE and 2013's GO BACK HOME - each accompanied by concert appearances and a handful of televised specials, as well. Film roles intervened, too - ranging from Rob Marshall's small screen ANNIE and Mike Nichols's HBO adaptation of WIT on either side of 2000 all the way to feature films such as THE OBJECT OF MY AFFECTION, RAMPART and more, not to mention her leading role in the TV series PRIVATE PRACTICE. Yet, theatre is where McDonald has always felt most at home - and where she shines most brightly, and brilliantly.
2003 saw McDonald tackle her first Shakespeare turn on Broadway via Jack O'Brien's Lincoln Center production of HENRY IV, while the next year she earned rave reviews and received her fourth Tony Award for the Sean Combs-led revival of Lorraine Hansberry's classic race relations drama A RAISIN IN THE SUN, which she also committed to the small screen in a television film directed by Kenny Leon. A leading role in Jones & Schmidt's 110 IN THE SHADE was next, along with yet another Best Actress Tony nom, while TWELFTH NIGHT found her exploring the Bard once more as part of the Shakespeare In The Park mounting in 2009. Then, history was made as McDonald brought a dynamic and controversial new production of the iconic DuBose Heyward/George & Ira Gershwin PORGY & BESS to Broadway under director Diane Paulus - and, as a reward for her efforts McDonald won her first Best Actress In A Musical Tony Award. Following that up in 2014, McDonald laid claim to her sixth Tony Award to date as Best Actress In A Play via Lonny Price's production of LADY DAY AT EMERSON'S BAR & GRILL in which she portrayed famed and troubled jazz legend Billie Holliday.
So, what's next? It was announced yesterday that McDonald will lead the intriguingly titled new Broadway musical based on the backstage stories surrounding the 1920s stage hit SHUFFLE ALONG, titled SHUFFLE ALONG, OR, THE MAKING OF THE MUSICAL SENSATION OF 1921 AND ALL THAT FOLLOWED, conceived by Flournoy Miller and Aubrey Lyles with music and lyrics by Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle, set to be directed by George C. Wolfe and choreographed by Savion Glover. Will this garner McDonald lucky Tony #7? Stay tuned to see - after all, if anybody can break her own record, it's Audra.
See What I Wanna See
Now, let's take a look back at some career highlights showcasing Audra McDonald.
First, Audra McDonald takes home her first Tony Award 20 years ago, in 1994, for CAROUSEL.
See a vintage vid of her charming "Mister Snow" from the era, as well.
Next, view Audra's 1996 MASTER CLASS Tony Award acceptance speech.
Also, Audra McDonald shines in RAGTIME opposite Brian Stokes Mitchell.
Now, McDonald claims her 1998 Tony Award for RAGTIME.
Don't miss Audra stopping the show in MARIE CHRISTINE.
Peruse Audra McDonald showing off another skill - piano!
Get a look at McDonald's work in A RAISIN IN THE SUN.
Plus, she takes home Tony #4 for her work in the play.
Sample McDonald's Tony-winning performance in PORGY & BESS.
Lastly, get a glimpse of Audra in LADY DAY..., coming to HBO soon!
As a special bonus, enjoy Audra McDonald with some other dynamite divas and fellow DREAMGIRLS.
So, what is your absolute favorite Audra McDonald performance to date? Furthermore, what role would you like to see her do most sometime some season in the future, near or far? Given that she is this astonishingly versatile and this fearlessly committed to her craft, the possibilities of what she is able to achieve are endless - and impossibly exciting to consider. All hail!
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