McDonald News

Twenty-eight performers selected to compete for a chance to win top prizes of $20,000, $15,000, and $10,000; total prizes to exceed $75,000; an all-star team of musical theater, opera, and Kurt Weill experts to adjudicate semifinals and finals.

Just last night, Williamstown Theatre Festival celebrated its annual Gala: "An Evening with Audra McDonald" honoring WTF Board Chairman Matt Harris with special appearances by Eden Espinosa, Jessica Hechtand Martyna Majok. Check out photos from inside the special night below!

Theatrical powerhouse duo Jane Joseph and Chantelle Nolan are marking 20 years in charge of St Helens Theatre Royal.

A Nebraska Wesleyan University theatre professor and alumnus will return to the stage to portray 20 characters in 90 minutes in his play, "One-Ham Manlet."

If you want to spend 90 minutes with good music, bad rollerskating, and silly fun, this is for you.

Five-time Grammy Award-winner Michael McDonald performs at the Majestic Theatre (224 E. Houston St.) in San Antonio, TX on July 10, 2019 at 8PM. Tickets go on sale this Friday, February 15 at 10AM.

On March 4, 2019 Tony, Grammy and Emmy Award-winner Audra McDonald will receive the 2019 Stephen Sondheim Award, to be presented at a black-tie Gala Benefit at the Embassy of Italy. The award, established in 2009 in honor of America's most influential musical theater writer and composer, benefits Signature's artistic, education and community programs. Broadway stars Cynthia Erivo and Heidi Blickenstaff will perform in Audra's honor along with Washington's own Tracy Lynn Olivera and Nova Y. Payton.

 Continuing its standing as the definitive home of the most iconic natural history programming on U.S. television, BBC AMERICA announced today two Emmy®-winning and globally renowned series loved by millions will return – Planet Earth III and Frozen Planet II. BBC AMERICA is the U.S. home and co-producer of groundbreaking series Planet Earth II, Blue Planet II, Dynasties and the most recently announced upcoming Sir David Attenborough-narrated series One Planet: Seven Worlds (w/t). The commissions demonstrate the BBC'S unprecedented commitment to natural history of the highest quality. The rare and highly coveted series Planet Earth III will have a truly global scale with crews staying longer in the field than ever before and new technology will be central to its approach. Collectively, these shows will ensure that BBC AMERICA remains the definitive home of natural history programming in the U.S. for the next five years.  

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Welcome to a new week full of Broadway goodness! Catch up on the latest news below!

GHOSTLIGHT DELUXE, an imprint of Ghostlight Records, has announced the release of For Centennial Reasons: 100 Year Salute to Nat King Cole - the new album from the JOHN PIZZARELLI TRIO - in physical, digital and streaming formats today, Friday, February 8. Following high-profile collaborations with Sir Paul McCartney and Michael McDonald, Pizzarelli returns to his roots to honor his hero, the legendary jazz/pop vocalist and pianist Nat King Cole, whose centennial is being celebrated around the world this year with various concerts, books and recordings. For Centennial Reasons completes an epic trio of Pizzarelli albums saluting Cole, starting with Dear Mr. Cole, which helped put Pizzarelli on the map as an influential jazz guitarist and singer in 1994, and continuing with P.S. Mr. Cole, which cemented his legacy five years later. To order the album, please visit ghostlightrecords.lnk.to/pizzarelli-natkingcole

Well, my little piggies and wolves, the next CDs I'm eliminating from my apartment are all the recordings of all the versions of Into The Woods. I'm talking London cast, movie version, Broadway revival and ouch, the one that's gonna leave a gaping hole in my heart, that beautiful Original Broadway Cast Recording starring Joanna Gleason, Chip Zien, Tom Aldredge, Robert Westenberg and above them all as the Witch (receiving the deal-breaking top billing the producers previously refused Patti LuPone when they offered her the role) Bernadette Peters.

Lights. Camera. Cure. - a special theatrical event held on Wednesday, February 6, that featured classic film hits as sung by local performers at The Village Theater at Cherry Hill - was a sell-out success with a capacity crowd of 400 patrons. The show raised over $20,000 for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life Canton-Plymouth.

59E59 Theaters presents the New York premiere of SMART BLONDE written by Willy Holtzman and directed by Peter Flynn.

The Des Moines Community Playhouse presents Judy Moody & Stink: The Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Treasure Hunt, Feb. 22-Mar. 10, 2019. Tickets may be purchased online at dmplayhouse.com, by phone at 515-277-6261, or at the Playhouse ticket office, 831 42nd St. Judy Moody & Stink: The Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Treasure Hunt is sponsored by Nationwide.

Multi-GRAMMY®-winning artists and current GRAMMY nominees Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Phillip Sweet, and Jimi Westbrook of Little Big Town have been announced as hosts of the 2019 MusiCares®Person of the Year tribute concert honoring Dolly Parton on Feb. 8. GRAMMY winner Yolanda Adams, current GRAMMY nominee Jon Batiste, past GRAMMY nominee Cam, current GRAMMY nominee Brandi Carlile, GRAMMY winner Jennifer Nettles, and current GRAMMY nominee Margo Price will join the performance lineup at the star-studded annual fundraiser for MusiCares, the signature health and human services charity founded by the Recording Academy. Previously announced performers include Leon Bridges, Garth Brooks & Trisha Yearwood, Miley Cyrus, Lauren Daigle, Vince Gill, Don Henley, Norah Jones, Shawn Mendes, Kacey Musgraves, Willie Nelson, Katy Perry, Linda Perry, P!NK, Mark Ronson, Mavis Staples, and Chris Stapleton. GRAMMY winner Dolly Partonwill close the evening's performances. Greg Phillinganes will be the musical director.

"Lights. Camera. Cure." is a special theatrical event to be held Today, February 6, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. (doors open at 6 pm) - a musical fundraiser featuring classic film hits as sung by local performers at The Village Theater at Cherry Hill.

The Town Hall Presents the internationally acclaimed Broadway @ concert series, hosted and music directed by SiriusXM Radio star Seth Rudetsky and produced by Mark Cortale, at The Town Hall (123 W. 43rd Street) on Monday, March 11 at 8pm with Tony Award-nominee Jeremy Jordan.  

Singer/songwriter and five-time Grammy Award winner Michael McDonald is set to hit the road this summer for a co-headlining U.S. tour with R&B legend Chaka Khan. Tour highlights include performances at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and Chicago's Ravinia Festival. Prior to the start of the tour with Chaka Khan, McDonald will headline a number of venues including the Fountainebleau Hotel in Miami and Family Gras in New Orleans (alongside John Oates and Brett Eldredge); see below for a complete list of dates. American Express® Card Members can purchase tickets in select markets before the general public from now through February 7 at 10 p.m. local time.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic announces its 98th summer season at the Hollywood Bowl. The Hollywood Bowl summer season features world-class artists ranging from classical and pops to jazz, rock, and world music including the world premiere of two new LA Phil-commissioned works plus a fully-staged Broadway musical.

In time for Black History Month, BroadwayHD, the premiere streaming service for live theater in the US and countries across the globe, has pulled together a special playlist that honors African Americans on the stage. From Audra McDonald as Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill, to Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies, and the galvanizing drama Pipeline, by award-winning playwright Dominique Morriseau, BroadwayHD presents this month hours of exciting theater celebrating the writing, performances, and music of some of the most talented individuals to ever appear on the stage.