Tony honoree Audra McDonald continually surprises
Vocalist Audra McDonald has always been adventurous. She received more than 20 major awards, including three Tony Awards for Outstanding Actress in a Musical, two for Outstanding Actress in a Play, and two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie, Surprise Everybody He passed.
Like her regular colleague, Dawn Upshaw, she stands up for new songwriters. His touch of fairy dust instantly launches them. Among those whose songs now have a firm place in his repertoire are Adam Guettel, Gabriel Kahane, Michael John LaChiusa, and Jason Robert Brown.
Even before graduating from Juilliard in 1993, he was touring “Secret Garden”; within a year, she was on Broadway as Carrie Pipperidge in “Carousel.” Befitting the impact of that debut performance, he won his first Tony Award, a Theater World Award, and a Drama Desk Award. His next Tony for Sarah on “Ragtime” was followed by one for “Marie Christine,” the LaChiusa musical based on the Greek legend of Medea set in the gay 1990s.
As a recording artist, McDonald appears on ten cast recordings and sixteen others, from a guest appearance with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir to the centennial celebration of Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess.” His four solo albums are a brilliant assortment of popular songs from new and old songwriters. In “Build a Bridge”, the most recent, he travels where least expected with obeisances to Kermit the Frog, Rufus Wainwright and Elvis Costello.
Eager for new perspectives, McDonald alternated musicals with serious dramas and took home her first Tony for Outstanding Actress as Sharon in “Master Class.” He repeated that feat with “A Raisin in the Sun”. His dramatic persona continued to thrive in the Lincoln Center production of Shakespeare’s “Henry IV” and on television. Until earlier this year, she played Dr. Naomi Bennett on ABC-TV’s “Private Practice.” His arduous schedule got in the way, and it’s no wonder.
Along with a solo performance at Carnegie Hall, he has been weaving gigs between the American Repertory Theater production of Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess” that just got the green light for Broadway. Although he has appeared in several operas, including Kurt Weill’s “The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahogany” for LA Opera and two one-act operas at Houston Grand Opera, the new “Porgy and Bess” may herald his future focus. . .
His favorite aspect of this contemporary version is the fact that it dates back to DuBose Heyward’s book. He researched newspaper articles about Charleston during that period and drew Porgy from the story of a beggar in the city. This and other clues added from his original book enhance the characters.
“This Bess is different because I am me, a filter of my own soul,” McDonald said. “I’m trying to understand her life as an addict and what someone goes through to overcome addiction.”
He likes Porgy’s new presentation because it forces his handicap. In other productions, he was on his knees, but now he struggles to move and fight for independence. Her disability is something that Bess doesn’t handle at first, but eventually she drags or carries Porgy to the safe house.
