Kennedy Center concert-goers are in for a treat when vocalist Audra McDonald performs one of her adventurous programs. The recipient of more than 20 major honors, including three Tony Awards for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, two for Best Featured Actress in a Play and two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie, she surprises at every turn. “I’m excited about going back to the Kennedy Center, the first time since I appeared there with Barbara Cook,” she said. ” The evening will be a mixture of things I love and adore. A couple are by Stephen Sondheim and one is a new song by Adam Guettel that I’ll play and sing.”
The piano accompaniment may be a first for the self-confessed hyperactive McDonald, who continually adds to her accomplishments. Even before she graduated from Juilliard in 1993, she was on tour in “Secret Garden;” within a year, she was on Broadway as Carrie Pipperidge in “Carousel.” Befitting the impact of that debut performance, she won her first Tony Award, a Theatre World Award and a Drama Desk Award. Her next Tony was for Sarah in “Ragtime,” followed by one for “Marie Christine,” LaChiusa’s musical based on the Greek legend of Medea set in the Gay Nineties.
| Onstage |
| Audra McDonald |
| Where: Kennedy Center Concert Hall |
| When: 8 p.m. Tuesday |
| Info: $25 to $85 at 202-533-1886 |
As a recording artist, she appears on ten cast recordings and is featured on sixteen others ranging from a guest appearance with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir to the 100th anniversary celebration of Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess.” Her four solo albums are a brilliant array of popular numbers from old and new composers. In “Build a Bridge,” the most recent, she journeys where least expected with bows to Kermit the Frog, Rufus Wainwright and Elvis Costello.
Eager to conquer new vistas, McDonald alternated musicals with serious drama and took home her first Tony for Best Featured Actress as Sharon in “Master Class.” She repeated that feat with “A Raisin in the Sun.” Her dramatic persona continued to thrive in the Lincoln Center production of Shakespeare’s “Henry IV” and on television. She also played Naomi Bennett on ABC’s “Private Practice.” Her arduous schedule got in the way, and no wonder.
Along with a solo performance at Carnegie Hall, she has been weaving concerts between the American Repertory Theater production of Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess” that just received the green light for Broadway.
“My favorite aspect of this contemporary version is the fact that it goes back to DuBose Heyward’s book,” she said. “He researched newspaper articles about Charleston during that period and drew Porgy from the story of a beggar around the town. This and other touches added from his original book enhance the characters. Maria hated Bess at first and tracked her relentlessly, but their feeling grew to friendship. ”
