Audra McDonald: Audra Goes to Hollywood

“A defining voice of our time.” — The New York Times

That’s right. We’re closing our incredible 2026-2027 with Broadway’s all-time most decorated performer!

Juilliard-trained soprano Audra McDonald, whom Time magazine called “the greatest living stage actor,” has won a record six Tony Awards — for her roles in Carousel, Master Class, Ragtime, A Raisin in the Sun, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, and Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill. She’s been nominated for a record eleven Tonys in total. She’s also won two Grammys and an Emmy. She was included in the Time 100 list of the world’s most influential people of 2015. And in 2016, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama.

In addition to her Emmy-winning turn as host of PBS’s Live From Lincoln Center, McDonald’s work on TV has included Emmy-nominated roles in Wit, A Raisin in the Sun, and Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill. She’s also been a member of the cast of such shows as Private Practice, The Good Wife, The Good Fight, and The Gilded Age. And she’s appeared in such films as 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, Beauty and the Beast, the movie-musical Hello Again, Down Low, and Respect.

On the Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall stage, McDonald will sing us into the summer with a selection of beloved songs from the silver screen. We can’t wait to see you there!