Audra McDonald

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Audra McDonald

Born Audra Ann McDonald
July 3, 1970 (1970-07-03) (age 37)
Berlin, Germany
Occupation actress, singer
Spouse(s) Peter Donovan (2000–present)

Audra Ann McDonald (born July 3, 1970) is an American four-time Tony Award-winning actress and singer. She currently stars in the ABC television drama Private Practice as Dr. Naomi Bennett.[1]

Contents

[edit] Biography

Born in Berlin, Germany and raised in Fresno, California, the elder of two daughters, she began to study acting at a young age to counteract her diagnosis as "hyperactive." McDonald graduated from the Roosevelt School of the Arts program within Theodore Roosevelt High School in Fresno.[2] She studied classical voice as an undergraduate at the Juilliard School of Music, graduating in 1993.

McDonald became a three-time Tony Award winner by the age of 28 — for her performances in Carousel, Master Class, and Ragtime — placing her alongside Shirley Booth, Gwen Verdon and Zero Mostel by accomplishing this feat within five years. She was nominated for another Tony Award for her performance in Marie Christine before she won her fourth in 2004 for her role in A Raisin in the Sun, placing her in the company of other four-time winning actresses Angela Lansbury, Gwen Verdon and Mary Martin. She reprised her Raisin role for a 2008 television adaptation.

Throughout her career McDonald has maintained ties to her classical training and repertoire. In 2005 The Seven Deadly Sins: A Song Cycle was commissioned for and performed by her at Carnegie's Zankel Hall. She sang two solo one-act operas at the Houston Grand Opera in 2006: Francis Poulenc's La Voix Humaine and the world premiere of Michael John LaChiusa's Send (who are you? I love you). In 2007, McDonald starred with Patti LuPone in the Los Angeles Opera production of Kurt Weill's opera Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny directed by John Doyle.

McDonald has also made several television appearances, both musical and dramatic. In 2001, she received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or TV Movie for the HBO film Wit starring Emma Thompson and directed by Mike Nichols. She also has appeared on Homicide: Life on the Street, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years, the short-lived Mister Sterling, The Bedford Diaries, and Kidnapped, and in the 1999 television remake of Annie as Daddy Warbucks' secretary Miss Farrell. She rang in 2007 with the New York Philharmonic in a concert of music from the movies televised on Live from Lincoln Center by PBS.

On the big screen, McDonald has appeared in Best Thief in the World (2004), It Runs in the Family (2003), Cradle Will Rock (1999), The Object of My Affection (1998), and Seven Servants (1996).

McDonald has recorded four solo albums for Nonesuch Records. Her first, the 1998 Way Back to Paradise, featured songs written by a new generation of musical theatre composers who had achieved varying degrees of prominence in the 1990s, particularly Michael John LaChiusa, Adam Guettel and Jason Robert Brown. Her subsequent albums, How Glory Goes and Happy Songs, have featured more traditional theater and cabaret songs along with some songs by these new composers. Her fourth album, Build a Bridge, features songs from the jazz/pop canon, from composers as diverse as Laura Nyro, Elvis Costello, Nellie McKay, Neil Young, Rufus Wainwright, John Mayer and Randy Newman. She frequently appears in concert and has performed with a number of the most prestigious orchestras world-wide.

McDonald married bassist Peter Donovan in 2000. They have one daughter, Zoe Madeline.

McDonald appeared as Lizzie in the Roundabout Theatre Company's 2007 revival of 110 in the Shade, directed by Lonny Price at Studio 54, for which she shared the Drama Desk Award for Best Acress in a Musical with Donna Murphy. In May, while she was in previews for the show, her father was killed when an experimental aircraft he was flying crashed north of Sacramento.

McDonald appears as Naomi Bennett, ex-wife of Sam, portrayed by Taye Diggs, in Private Practice, a spinoff of Grey's Anatomy. She replaced Merrin Dungey, who played the role in the series pilot.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Solo Recordings

  • Way Back to Paradise (1998)
  • How Glory Goes (2000)
  • Happy Songs (2002)
  • Build a Bridge (2006)

[edit] Featured Recordings

  • Dawn Upshaw Sings Rodgers & Hart (duet on "Why Can't I?") (1996)
  • Leonard Bernstein's New York ("A Little Bit in Love" and "Tonight" duet with Mandy Patinkin) (1996)
  • George and Ira Gershwin: Standards and Gems ("How Long Has This Been Going On?") (1998)
  • George Gershwin: The 100th Birthday Celebration (Porgy and Bess selections) (1998)
  • Cradle Will Rock ("Joe Worker") (1999)
  • Myths and Hyms ("Pegasus") (1999)
  • My Favorite Broadway: The Leading Ladies ("The Webber Love Trio") (1999)
  • Broadway In Love ("You Were Meant For Me" from The Object of My Affection) (2000)
  • Broadway Cares: Home for the Holidays ("White Christmas") (2001)
  • ZEITGEIST ("Think Twice") (2005)
  • Barbara Cook at the Met ("When Did I Fall In Love?" and "Blue Skies") (2006)
  • Jule Styne in Hollywood ("10,432 Sheep") (2006)
  • The Wonder of Christmas ("Sweet Little Jesus Boy", "Children Go Where I Send Thee") (2006)
  • "Bright Eyed Joy" The Songs Of Ricky Ian Gordon (2001)

[edit] Cast Recordings

  • Carousel (1994 Broadway Revival Cast Recording) (1994)
  • Ragtime (Original Cast Recording) (1998)
  • I Was Looking at the Ceiling and then I Saw the Sky (Studio Cast Recording) (1998)
  • Wonderful Town (Studio Recording) (1999)
  • Marie Christine (Original Cast Recording) (1999)
  • Annie (1999)
  • Sweeney Todd Live at the New York Philharmonic (2000)
  • Dreamgirls in Concert (Concert Cast Recording) (2001)
  • 110 in the Shade (2007 Broadway Revival Cast Recording) (2007)

[edit] Bootleg Recordings

  • Only Heaven (Ricky Ian Gordon) 1997
  • Live at the Donmar, London (2000)
  • Creators at Carnegie: The Seven Deadly Sins: A Song Cycle (hour one) (2004)
  • Creators at Carnegie: Live At Carnegie Hall (hour two) (2004)
  • Send (who are you? i love you) (2006)
  • The Human Voice (2006)
  • Audra McDonald Sings the American Songbook Live from Lincoln Center (2006)
  • Audra McDonald Sings the Movies Live from Lincoln Center (2006)
  • Discoveries at Disney Concert Hall (2007)
  • Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (2007)

[edit] Audio Books

  • Alice Walker's By The Light of My Father's Smile (1998)
  • Connie Briscoe's A Long Way From Home (1999)
  • Rita Dove's Second-Hand Man (2003)

[edit] Awards and nominations

Awards
Nominations

[edit] References

  1. ^ "'Practice' is perfect for McDonald", The Hollywood Reporter, 2007. Retrieved on 2008-05-21. 
  2. ^ "Audra - Living Her Dream", The Fresno Bee, 15 January 1989. Retrieved on 2008-05-21. 

[edit] External links


Awards
Preceded by
Rachel York
for Putting It Together		 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress - Musical
1993-1994
for Carousel		 Succeeded by
Rachel York
for Victor/Victoria
Preceded by
Andrea Martin
for My Favorite Year		 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical
1994
for Carousel		 Succeeded by
Gretha Boston
for Show Boat
Preceded by
Lillias White
for The Life		 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical
1998
for Ragtime		 Succeeded by
Kristin Chenoweth
for You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
v • d • e
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play

Shirley Knight (1976) · Trazana Beverley (1977) · Ann Wedgeworth (1978) · Joan Hickson (1979) · Dinah Manoff (1980) · Swoosie Kurtz (1981) · Amanda Plummer (1982) · Judith Ivey (1983) · Christine Baranski (1984) · Judith Ivey (1985) · Swoosie Kurtz (1986) · Mary Alice (1987) · L. Scott Caldwell (1988) · Christine Baranski (1989) · Margaret Tyzack (1990) · Irene Worth (1991) · Brid Brennan (1992) · Debra Monk (1993) · Jane Adams (1994) · Frances Sternhagen (1995) · Audra McDonald (1996) · Lynne Thigpen (1997) · Anna Manahan (1998) · Elizabeth Franz (1999) · Blair Brown (2000)
v • d • e
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play

Blair Brown (2000) · Viola Davis (2001) · Katie Finneran (2002) · Michele Pawk (2003) · Audra McDonald (2004) · Adriane Lenox (2005) · Frances de la Tour (2006) · Jennifer Ehle (2007)
v • d • e
Private Practice
Episodes
Character
Cast
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Languages