Audra Mc Donald

Audra McDonald's artistry is unmatched by her variety and breadth as a vocalist, and performer. Audra McDonald, winner of the prestigious six Tony Awards in a row and two Grammy Awards in 2015 was listed as one of the Time magazine's 100 Most Influential people. The president Barack Obama also awarded her the National Medal of Arts -the nation's most prestigious award to recognize excellence in the field. Her talents are equally at home on screen, in television and Broadway. Her stunning soprano makes her a natural on the stage. In addition to her work in the theatre, she maintains a major career as a recording and concert artist, regularly performing at world's foremost venues. McDonald was born in Fresno California, where she was raised by an extended family with musicians. At the Juilliard School in New York City, McDonald received training as an classical vocalist. She was awarded her first Tony Award in 1994 for the Best Performance of an actress who was featured in a musical called Carousel in the Lincoln Center Theater. In the following four years, she won two more Tony Awards for the category of the featured actress. She performed in Broadway premieres Terrence McNally's musical Ragtime as well as Terrence McNally's play Master Class in 1996. That was a staggering number of Tony Awards by the time she reached the age of thirty. She was awarded her fourth Tony for her performance in 2004 with Sean Diddy Combs in A Raisin in the Sun and In 2012. In 2012, she won five Tonys and her first award in the category of the leading actress for her part as Porgy and Bess in The Gershwins Porgy and Bess as the main character. As the Tony Awards' most decorated performer, she had the chance to set Broadway historical records when she won the sixth Tony Award portraying Billie Holiday as Lady Day at the Emerson's Bar & Grill. This role also provided the platform to make the Olivier Award nominee 2017 London West End debut. As well as setting records for the highest number of successful wins for an actor, she was also the first to win awards in every category of acting. McDonald's other theater credits are The Secret Garden (1993) Marie Christine (1999) Henry IV (2004) 110 in the Shade (2007) Twelfth Night (2009) which marked Twelfth Night (2009), which was her Public Theater Shakespeare in the Park debut, the show Shuffle Along or The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921, and all That Followed (2016) Frankie and Johnny in Clair de Lune (2019) as well as Ohio State Murders (2023). McDonald was first introduced to a television audience as a dramatic actor in Peabody Award winning CBS's Having Our Say The Delany Sisters first 100 years. After starring with Kathy Bates, Victor Garber and other actors in the highly acclaimed Disney/ABC remake Annie in 1999, she was the role of a regular in the NBC show Law & Order Special Victims Unit. After receiving the first Emmy nomination for her role in the HBO film adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Wit, written by Mike Nichols and starring Emma Thompson McDonald returned to the network's television program in 2003 with the political drama Mister Sterling, produced by Emmy Award winner Lawrence O'Donnell Jr. and starring Josh Brolin. Beginning in 2006 she was part of the crew of show on WB called The Bedford Diaries and over the following season, she played the role of a regular on NBC's popular television show Kidnapped. McDonald won a 4th Emmy for her portrayal of Lady Day in Emerson's Bar & Grill on HBO in the year 2016. In 2021, she starred with Taylor Schilling and Steven Pasquale in the film The Bite, a pandemic drama produced in collaboration with Spectrum Originals and CBS Studios. McDonald initially played U.S. lawyer Liz Lawrence (now Liz Reddick), in the CBS Legal drama The Good Wife, in 2009. In the year 2018, she reprised her role on The Good Fight for Paramount+ as a regular on the series. Her performance was recognized with three Critics Choice Award Nominations. She also appeared as a guest on Julian Fellowes' historical thriller The Gilded Age.