Audra McDonald

Tony, Grammy and Emmy Award-winning singer and actor Audra McDonald is unparalleled in the breadth and versatility of her artistry as both a singer and an actor. The winner of a record-breaking six Tony Awards, two Grammy Awards and an Emmy, in 2015she was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people and received a National Medal of Arts—America’s highest honor for achievement in the field—from President Barack Obama. In addition to her Tony-winning performances inCarousel, Master Class, Rag time, A Raisin in the Sun, The Gershwins’ Porgy, and BessandLady Day at Emerson’s Bar& Grill—the role that also served as the vehicle for her 2017 debut in London's West End (2018Olivier Award nomination)—she has appeared on Broadway in The Secret Garden,Marie-Christine(Tony nomination), Henry IV,110 in the Shade(Tony nomination), Shuffle Along, or, The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That FollowedandFrankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune.A Juilliard-trained soprano, hero pera credits include La voix humaineandSendatHouston Grand Opera, andRise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny at Los Angeles Opera, where the resulting recording earned her two Grammy Awards. On television, she was seen by millions as the Mother Abbess in NBC’s The Sound of Music Live! and played Dr. Naomi Bennetton ABC’sPrivate Practice. She won an Emmy Award for her role as host of PBS’sLive FromLincolnCenterand has received nominations for Wit, A Raisin in the SunandLady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill. Having first appeared as Liz Lawrence on CBS’sThe Good Wife, she can now be seen on CBS All Access’sThe Good Fight. On film, she has appeared in Seven Servants, The Object of My Affection, Cradle Will Rock, It Runs in the Family, The Best Thief in the World, She Got Problems, Rampart, Ricki and the Flash, Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast, the movie-musical Hello Again, and MGM’sforthcomingAretha Franklin biopic, Respect.McDonald has released five solo albums on the Nonesuch label as well as Sing Happy, with the New YorkPhilharmonic, on Decca Gold. She also maintains a major career as a concert artist, regularly appearing on the great stages of the world and with leading international orchestras.A founding member of Black Theatre United, board member of Covenant House International,and prominent advocate forLGBTQAI+rights,her favorite roles are those performed offstage, as an activist, wife to actor Will Swenson, and mother