The Drama League Awards, created in 1935, honor distinguished productions and performances both on Broadway and Off-Broadway, in addition to recognizing exemplary career achievements in theatre, musical theatre, and directing. Each May, the awards are presented at the Annual Awards Luncheon with performers, directors, producers, and Drama League Members in attendance.

Katharine Cornell was the recipient of the first award in 1935, for Distinguished Performance.

The awards ceremony for the 2010-11 season was held on May 20, 2011 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel (New York City).^[1] The awards ceremony for 2011-2012 was held on May 18, 2012 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel, with Stockard Channing and John Larroquette as hosts.^[2]

Categories of awards[link]

• Distinguished Production of a Play
• Distinguished Production of a Musical
• Distinguished Revival of a Play
• Distinguished Revival of a Musical
• Distinguished Performance

Additionally, an award may be given in the following categories:

• Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre
• Unique Contribution to the Theatre
• The Founders Award for Excellence in Directing

List of winners[link]

Winners 2011-2012

^[2]

• Other Desert Cities - Distinguished Production of a Play
• Death of a Salesman - Distinguished Revival of a Play
• Once - Distinguished Production of a Musical
• Follies - Distinguished Revival of a Musical
• Audra McDonald - Distinguished Performance Award
• Alan Menken - Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre Award
• Rosie O'Donnell - Unique Contribution to the Theatre Award
• Diane Paulus - The Founders Award for Excellence in Directing (formerly the Julia Hansen Award)

Winners 2010-2011

^[1]

• War Horse - Distinguished Production of a Play
• The Book of Mormon - Distinguished Production of a Musical
• The Normal Heart - Distinguished Revival of a Play
• Anything Goes - Distinguished Revival of a Musical
• Mark Rylance (Jerusalem and La Bête) - Distinguished Performance Award
• Whoopi Goldberg - Unique Contribution to the Theatre Award
• Liza Minnelli - Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre Award
• Susan Stroman - Julia Hansen Award for Excellence in Directing.

Winners 2009-2010

^[3]

• Sondheim on Sondheim - Distinguished Production of a Musical
• Red - Distinguished Production of a Play
• La Cage aux Folles - Distinguished Revival of a Musical
• A View from the Bridge - Distinguished Revival of a Play
• Alfred Molina - Distinguished Performance Award
• Nathan Lane - Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre Award
• Kenny Leon - Julia Hansen Award for Excellence in Directing
• Macy's Parade and Entertainment Group - Unique Contribution to the Theatre

Winners 2008-2009

^[4]

• God of Carnage, by Yasmina Reza - Distinguished Production of a Play
• Billy Elliot The Musical, Music by Elton John; Book and Lyrics by Lee Hall - Distinguished Production of a Musical
• Blithe Spirit, by Noel Coward - Distinguished Revival of a Play
• Hair, Music by Galt MacDermot; Book, Lyrics by Gerome Ragni, James Rado - Distinguished Revival of a Musical
• Geoffrey Rush - Exit the King - Distinguished Performance Award
• Elton John - Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre Award
• Arthur Laurents - Julia Hansen Award for Excellence in Directing
• Angela Lansbury - Unique Contribution to the Theatre
• Herb Blodgett - The 75th Anniversary Leadership Award

Winners 2007-2008

^[5]

• August: Osage County by Tracy Letts - Distinguished Production of a Play
• A Catered Affair, Book by Harvey Fierstein; Music and Lyrics by John Bucchino - Distinguished Production of a Musical
• Macbeth by William Shakespeare - Distinguished Revival of a Play
• South Pacific , Book by Joshua Logan and Oscar Hammerstein II, Music by Richard Rodgers; Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II - Distinguished Revival of a Musical
• Patti LuPone, Gypsy - Distinguished Performance Award
• Paul Gemignani - Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre Award
• Bartlett Sher - Julia Hansen Award for Excellence in Directing
• Ellen Stewart - Unique Contribution to the Theatre

Winners 2006-2007

• The Coast of Utopia - Distinguished Production of a Play
• Spring Awakening - Distinguished Production of a Musical
• Journey's End - Distinguished Revival of a Play
• Company - Distinguished Revival of a Musical
• Liev Schreiber - Distinguished Performance
• John Kander and Fred Ebb - Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre
• Michael Mayer - Julia Hansen Award for Excellence in Directing
• Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids - Unique Contribution to the Theatre

Winners 2005-2006

• The History Boys - Distinguished Production of a Play
• Jersey Boys - Distinguished Production of a Musical
• Awake and Sing! - Distinguished Revival of a Play
• Sweeney Todd - Distinguished Revival of a Musical
• Christine Ebersole - Distinguished Performance
• Patti LuPone - Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre
• Marian Seldes - Unique Contribution to the Theatre
• Des McAnuff- Julia Hansen Award for Excellence in Directing

Winners 2004-2005

• Doubt - Distinguished Production of a Play
• Dirty Rotten Scoundrels - Distinguished Production of a Musical
• Twelve Angry Men - Distinguished Revival of a Play
• La Cage aux Folles - Distinguished Revival of a Musical
• Norbert Leo Butz - Distinguished Performance
• BMI Musical Theatre Workshop - Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre
• The Billy Rose Theatre Collection at the New York Public Library at Lincoln Center - Unique Contribution to the Theatre
• Mike Nichols - Julia Hansen Award for Excellence in Directing

For the list of winners, 1997 through 2007, see infoplease.com.

See also[link]

• Tony Award
• Drama Desk Awards
• Obie Award

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website

Patti LuPone
LuPone (left) with Chris Burke, February 2010
Born	Patti Ann LuPone (1949-04-21) April 21, 1949 (age 63) Northport, New York, U.S.
Education	Juilliard (BFA 1972)
Occupation	Singer, actress
Years active	1970s — Present
Spouse	Matthew Johnston (1988–present)
Children	Joshua Luke Johnston (b. 1990)
Website
PattiLuPone.net

Patti Ann LuPone (born April 21, 1949) is an American singer and actress, known for her Tony Award-winning performance as Eva Perón in the 1979 stage musical Evita and for her Olivier Award-winning performance as Fantine in the original London cast of Les Misérables.

Early life and training[link]

LuPone was born in Northport, New York, on Long Island, the daughter of Angela Louise (née Patti), a college library administrator, and Orlando Joseph LuPone, a school administrator.^[1] Her great-grand-aunt was the celebrated nineteenth-century opera singer Adelina Patti.^[2] Her brother Robert LuPone is an actor, dancer, and director who originated the role of Zach the choreographer in A Chorus Line. Her other brother William LuPone is a teacher. When they were young, they performed on Long Island as the LuPone Trio. She is of Italian/Abruzzese descent and a graduate of Northport High School, where she studied under the musical direction of voice coach Esther Scott.^[3]

LuPone was part of the first graduating class of Juilliard's Drama Division (1968-1972: Group 1),^[4] which also included actors Kevin Kline and David Ogden Stiers.^[5] She graduated from Juilliard in 1972 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.^[6]

Theatre[link]

In 1972, LuPone became one of the original members of The Acting Company, formed by John Houseman.^[7] The Acting Company is a nationally touring repertory theater company.^[8] LuPone’s stint with the company lasted from 1972 to 1976, and she appeared in many of their productions, such as The Cradle Will Rock, The School for Scandal, Women Beware Women, The Beggar’s Opera, The Time of Your Life, The Lower Depths, The Hostage, Next Time I’ll Sing to You, Measure for Measure, Scapin, Edward II, The Orchestra, Love’s Labours Lost, Arms and the Man, The Way of the World. She made her Broadway debut in the play The Three Sisters as Irina in 1973.^[9] For her work in The Robber Bridegroom (1975) she received her first Tony Award nomination, for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.^[10] The Acting Company honored Patti LuPone on March 12, 2012 in an event called "Patti's Turn" at the Kaye Playhouse.^[11]

In 1976, producer David Merrick hired LuPone as a replacement to play Genevieve, the title role of the troubled pre-Broadway production of The Baker's Wife. The production toured at length but Merrick deemed it unworthy of Broadway and it closed out of town.^[12]

Since 1977, LuPone has been a frequent collaborator with David Mamet, appearing in his plays The Woods, All Men are Whores, The Blue Hour, The Water Engine (1978),^[13] Edmond and The Old Neighborhood (1997).^[14] The New York Times reviewer wrote of LuPone in The Old Neighborhood "Those who know Ms. LuPone only as a musical comedy star will be stunned by the naturalistic fire she delivers here. As Jolly, a part inspired by Mr. Mamet's real-life sister and his realized female character, Ms. LuPone finds conflicting layers of past and present selves in practically every line. She emerges as both loving matriarch and wounded adolescent, sentimental and devastatingly clear-eyed."^[15] In 1978, she appeared in the Broadway musical adaptation of Studs Terkel’s Working, which ran for only 24 performances.^[16]

In 1979 LuPone starred in the original Broadway production of Evita, the musical based on the life of Eva Peron, composed by Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Tim Rice, and directed by Harold Prince.^[17] Although LuPone was hailed by critics, she has since said that her time in Evita was not an enjoyable one. In a 2007 interview, she stated " 'Evita' was the worst experience of my life," she said. "I was screaming my way through a part that could only have been written by a man who hates women. And I had no support from the producers, who wanted a star performance onstage but treated me as an unknown backstage. It was like Beirut, and I fought like a banshee."^[18] Despite the trouble, LuPone won her first Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical.^[19] LuPone and her co-star, Mandy Patinkin, remained close friends both on and off the stage.

In May 1983, founding alumni of The Acting Company reunited for an off-Broadway revival of Marc Blitzstein’s landmark labor musical The Cradle Will Rock at the American Place Theatre. It was narrated by John Houseman, with LuPone in the roles of Moll and Sister Mister.^[20] The production premiered at The Acting Company's summer residence at Chautauqua Institution, toured the United States, including an engagement at the Highland Park, Illinois' Ravinia Festival in 1984, and played London's West End.

When the run ended, LuPone remained in London to create the role of Fantine in Cameron Mackintosh’s original London production of Les Misérables, in 1985, which premiered at the Barbican Theatre, home of the Royal Shakespeare Company.^[21] LuPone had previously worked for Mackintosh in a short-lived Broadway revival of Oliver! in 1984, playing Nancy opposite Ron Moody as Fagin.^[22] For her work in both The Cradle Will Rock and Les Misérables, LuPone received the 1985 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical.^[23][24]

She returned to Broadway in 1987 to star as nightclub singer Reno Sweeney in the Lincoln Center Theater revival of Cole Porter’s Anything Goes. She starred opposite Howard McGillin, and they both received Tony Award nominations for their performances.^[25][26] The Lincoln Center cast reassembled for a one-night-only concert performance of Anything Goes in New York in 2002. ^[27]

In 1993, LuPone returned to London to create the role of Norma Desmond in the original production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard at the Adelphi Theatre. There was much anticipation of LuPone appearing in another Lloyd Webber musical, the first since her performance in Evita. Her time in the show was difficult and she was abruptly fired by Lloyd Webber and replaced by Glenn Close who opened the show in Los Angeles and eventually on Broadway.^[28][29]

In November 1995 LuPone starred in her one-woman show, Patti LuPone on Broadway, at the Walter Kerr Theatre.^[30] For her work, she received an Outer Critics Circle Award. The following year, she was selected by producer Robert Whitehead to succeed his wife, Zoe Caldwell in the Broadway production of Terrence McNally’s play Master Class, based on the master classes given by operatic diva Maria Callas at Juilliard.^[28] LuPone received positive reviews, with Vincent Canby writing "Ms. LuPone really is vulnerable here in a way that wasn't anticipated: she's in the process of creating a role for which she isn't ideally suited, but she's working like a trouper to get it right."^[31] She appeared in the play in the West End. In November 2001, she starred in a Broadway revival of Noises Off, with Peter Gallagher and Faith Prince.^[32]

LuPone has performed in numerous New York concert productions of musicals including Pal Joey with Peter Gallagher and Bebe Neuwirth, Annie Get Your Gun with Peter Gallagher, Sweeney Todd with George Hearn in both New York and San Francisco, Anything Goes with Howard McGillin, Can-Can with Michael Nouri for City Center Encores!, Candide with Kristin Chenoweth, Passion with Michael Cerveris and Audra McDonald and Gypsy with Boyd Gaines and Laura Benanti for City Center Encores!. Her performances in Sweeney Todd, and Candide were recorded and broadcast for PBSs Great Performances and were released on DVD. The concert staging of Passion was televised as part of Live from Lincoln Center.

Since 2001, LuPone has been a regular performer at the Chicago Ravinia Festival. She starred in a six-year-long series of concert presentations of Stephen Sondheim musicals, which began in honor of his seventieth birthday. Her roles here have included Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd, Fosca in Passion, Cora Hoover Hooper in Anyone Can Whistle, Rose in Gypsy and two different roles in Sunday in the Park with George.^[33]

She returned to Broadway in October 2005, to star as Mrs. Lovett in John Doyle’s new Broadway production of Sweeney Todd. In this radically different interpretation of the musical, the ten actors on stage also served as the show’s orchestra, and LuPone played the tuba and the orchestra bells as well as vocally performing the score.^[34] For her performance, she received a Tony Award nomination as well as a Golden Icon Award for Best Female Musical Theater Performance.^[35] In August 2006, LuPone took a three week leave from Sweeney in order to play Rose in Lonny Price's production of Gypsy at Ravinia.^[33] Sweeney Todd closed in September 2006.

Following the Ravinia Festival production of Gypsy, LuPone and author Arthur Laurents mended a decade-long rift and she was cast in the City Center Encores! Summer Stars production of the show. Laurents directed LuPone in Gypsy for a 22 performance run (July 9, 2007 – July 29, 2007) at City Center.^[36] This production of Gypsy then transferred to Broadway, opening March 27, 2008 at the St. James Theatre.^[37] LuPone won the Outer Critics Circle Award, Drama League Award, Drama Desk Award, and Tony Award for her performance in Gypsy.^[38][39] It closed on January 11, 2009.

In August 2010, LuPone appeared in a three-day run of Irving Berlin’s Annie Get Your Gun, in which she played the title role opposite Patrick Cassidy, at the Ravinia Festival, directed by Lonny Price.^[40]

In 2010, LuPone created the role of Lucia in the original Broadway production of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, which opened at the Belasco Theatre on November 4, 2010, and closed on January 2, 2011, after 23 previews and 69 regular performances. LuPone was nominated for a Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, and an Outer Critics Circle Award for her performance (but did not win).

In 2011, LuPone played the role of Joanne in a four-night limited engagement concert production of Stephen Sondheim's 1970 musical Company at the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Sondheim expert Paul Gemignani. The production starred Neil Patrick Harris as Bobby. Harris had previously worked with LuPone in the 2000 and 2001 concert productions of Sweeney Todd. The cast of Company performed the song "Side by Side by Side" at the 65th Tony Awards on June 12, 2011.

LuPone made her New York City Ballet debut in May 2011 in a production of The Seven Deadly Sins, directed and choreographed by Lynne Taylor-Corbett. A piece she had previously performed, LuPone sang the role of Anna in the Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht score.^[41]

Patti LuPone on January 13, 2012, outside the Ethel Barrymore Theatre.

LuPone recently concluded a 63-performance Broadway engagement of her concert with former Evita co-star Mandy Patinkin, entitled An Evening with Patti Lupone and Mandy Patinkin. The run started on November 21, 2011 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, and ended on January 13, 2012.^[42]

Solo concerts and tours[link]

LuPone performs regularly across the country in her solo shows Matters of the Heart; Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda; and The Lady With the Torch^[43] which sold out at Carnegie Hall. For example, she performs her one-woman show The Gypsy In My Soul at the Caramoor Fall Festival, New York, in September 2010.^[44]

She also appears at venues across North America in concerts with Mandy Patinkin, at such venues as the Mayo Center for the Performing Arts in September 2010.^[45][46]

Film and television work[link]

Among LuPone’s film credits are Fighting Back, Witness, Just Looking, The Victim, Summer of Sam, Driving Miss Daisy, King of the Gypsies, 1941, Wise Guys, Nancy Savoca's The 24 Hour Woman and Savoca's Union Square (in post-production, late 2010), Family Prayers, Bad Faith, and City by the Sea. She has also worked with playwright David Mamet on The Water Engine, the critically acclaimed State and Main, and Heist.^[47]

In 2011, the feature film Union Square, co-written and directed by the Sundance Film Festival's Grand Jury Award Winner, Nancy Savoca, is being premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. In it, Patti co-stars with Mira Sorvino, Tammy Blanchard, Mike Doyle, Michael Rispoli and Daphne Rubin-Vega.^[48]

She played Lady Bird Johnson in the TV movie, LBJ: The Early Years (1987).^[49][50]

LuPone played Libby Thatcher on the television drama Life Goes On, which ran on ABC from 1989 to 1993.^[51][52][53]

In the 1990s she had a recurring role as defense attorney Ruth Miller on Law & Order.^[54] She has twice been nominated for an Emmy Award: for the TV movie The Song Spinner (1995, Daytime Emmy Award nominee),^[55] and for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series on Frasier in 1998.^[56] She had a cameo as herself on a 1998 episode of Saturday Night Live hosted by Kelsey Grammer.

LuPone’s TV work also includes a recurring role on the last season of HBO’s series Oz (2003).^[57] She appeared as herself on a February 2005 episode of Will & Grace.^[58] She also appeared on the series Ugly Betty in March 2007 as the mother of Marc St. James (played by Michael Urie).^[59] Lupone guest-starred as Frank Rossitano's mother on an episode of 30 Rock which aired on March 6, 2009,^[60][61] and again on May 6, 2010 and in March 2012. LuPone appeared as herself in the season two finale of the television series Glee.

LuPone has been announced as joining the cast of the upcoming 2012 film Parker, an action-thriller.^[62]

Stance on distractions from audience members[link]

LuPone opposes recording, photographs, and other electronic distractions in live theatre. "Where's the elegance?", she asked in a blog post on her official site. "I mean, I'm glad they show up because God knows it's a dying art form and I guess I'm glad they're all comfortable, sleeping, eating and drinking, things they should be doing at home and in a restaurant. But it's just not done in the theatre or shouldn't be." LuPone has been the subject of some controversy due to the bluntness of her statements regarding this matter.^[63]

A related incident occurred at the second to last performance of Gypsy on January 10, 2009. Agitated at a man taking pictures with the use of flash, she stopped in the middle of "Rose's Turn" and loudly demanded that he be removed from the theatre. "You heard the announcement in the beginning, you heard the announcement at intermission! Who do you think you are?" she yelled at him. After he was removed, LuPone restarted her number. The audience applauded her stance.^[64][65] The event was recorded by another audience member, who released it on YouTube.^[66] She later claimed that such distractions drive "people in the audience nuts. They can't concentrate on the stage if, in their peripheral vision, they're seeing texting, they're seeing cameras, they're listening to phone calls. How can we do our job if the audience is distracted?", and also mentioned that "the interesting thing is I'm not the first one that's done it".^[67]

Memoir[link]

Ms. LuPone wrote a memoir, recounting her life and career from childhood to the present, which was released in September 2010. It was simply titled Patti LuPone: A Memoir, which was, according to LuPone, the winner of the competition she held to name the book.^[68][69]

Personal life[link]

LuPone is married to Matthew Johnston, whom she married on December 12, 1988. The couple were wed on the stage of the Vivian Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Center after filming the TV movie LBJ; Johnston was a cameraman.^[70] They have one child, Joshua Luke Johnston (b. November 21, 1990).^[52] The family resides in Connecticut^[71] and South Carolina.^[72]

Awards and nominations[link]

The Robber Bridegroom, 1976

• Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Nomination)
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical (Nomination)

Evita, 1980

• Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical (WINNER)
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical (WINNER)

Les Misérables & The Cradle Will Rock, 1985

• Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical (WINNER)

Anything Goes, 1988

• Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical (Nomination)
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical (WINNER)

Sunset Boulevard, 1993

• Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical (Nomination)

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, 2006

• Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical (Nomination)
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical (Nomination)

Gypsy, 2008

• Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical (WINNER)
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical (WINNER)

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, 2011

• Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Nomination)
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical (Nomination)

The Gypsy In My Soul, 2011

• United Solo Theatre Festival - uAward (WINNER)^[73]

Recordings[link]

LuPone recorded a duet with Seth MacFarlane (who was in character as Glenn Quagmire) on the 2005 album Family Guy: Live In Vegas. A new CD of one of her shows, The Lady with the Torch, was released in 2006 on Sh-K-Boom Records. In December she released bonus tracks for that CD only available on iTunes and the Sh-K-Boom website.^[74]

Selected recordings include:

• The Baker’s Wife (Original cast recording)
• Evita (Original Broadway cast recording)
• The Cradle Will Rock (The Acting Company recording)
• Les Misérables (Original London Cast recording)
• Anything Goes (New Broadway Cast Recording)
• Heat Wave (John Mauceri conducting the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra)
• Patti LuPone Live (Solo Album)
• Sunset Boulevard (World Premiere/Original London Cast Recording)
• Matters of the Heart (Solo Album)
• Sweeney Todd (New York Philharmonic recording)
• Sweeney Todd (2005 Broadway Cast recording)
• The Lady with the Torch (Solo Album)
• The Lady With the Torch...Still Burning (Solo Album)
• To Hell and Back (Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra World Premier recording)
• Gypsy (2008 Broadway Revival Cast Recording)
• Patti LuPone At Les Mouches (Live Solo Recording of 1980 club act)^[75]
• Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Original Broadway Cast Recording)

Her live performance of "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" at the Grammy Awards was released on the 1994 album Grammy's Greatest Moments Volume IV.^[76]

In 2009 LuPone's 1985 recording of "I Dreamed a Dream" reached the UK Singles Chart^[77] as well as the Billboard magazine Hot Digital Songs and Hot Singles Recurrents charts in the US.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Patti LuPone’s Official Site
• Patti LuPone at the Internet Broadway Database
• Patti LuPone at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Patti LuPone at the Internet Movie Database
• Patti LuPone at People.com
• Patti LuPone on PlaybillVault
• Patti LuPone Interview
• InnerVIEWS with Ernie Manouse: Patti LuPone (TV Interview)
• Patti LuPone—Downstage Center interview at American Theatre Wing.org
• University of the Arts Show Music Magazine Database

Audra McDonald
Born	Audra Ann McDonald (1970-07-03) July 3, 1970 (age 41) Berlin, Germany
Occupation	Actress/Singer
Years active	1994–present
Spouse	Peter Donovan (2000–2009)

Audra Ann McDonald (born July 3, 1970) is an American actress and singer. She starred in the ABC television drama Private Practice as Dr. Naomi Bennett.^[1] She has appeared on the stage in both musicals and dramas, such as Ragtime and A Raisin in the Sun. She maintains an active concert and recording career, performing song cycles and operas as well as performing in concert throughout the US. She has won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress four times, twice each for plays and musicals.

Early life[link]

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 got her start in acting with Dan Pessano and Good Company Players, beginning in their Junior Company. "I knew I wanted to be involved in theater when I had my first chance to perform with the Good Company Players Junior Company." "The people who have had the most impact on my life: Good Company director Dan Pessano and my mother."^[3] She studied classical voice as an undergraduate under Ellen Faull at the Juilliard School,^[4] graduating in 1993.

Career[link]

Theatre

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 Gwen Verdon and Mary Martin. She reprised her Raisin role for a 2008 television adaptation, earning her a second Emmy Award nomination.^[5]

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 Actress in a Musical with Donna Murphy.^[6] On April 29, 2007, while she was in previews for the show, her father was killed when an experimental aircraft he was flying crashed north of Sacramento.^[7]

McDonald appeared in a revised version of Porgy and Bess, as "Bess", at the Loeb Drama Center (Cambridge, MA) in August through September 2011 and recreated the role on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, which opened on January 12, 2012 and is currently playing. For this role, McDonald was nominated for her third Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical.^[8] This American Repertory Theater production was "re-imagined by Suzan-Lori Parks and Diedre Murray as a musical for contemporary audiences."^[9]

Concerts

Throughout her career, McDonald has maintained ties to her classical training and repertoire. She frequently performs in concert throughout the US^[10] and has performed with musical organizations such as the New York Philharmonic and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Carnegie Hall commissioned the song cycle The Seven Deadly Sins: A Song Cycle for McDonald, and she performed it at Carnegie's Zankel Hall on June 2, 2004.^[11] She sang two solo one-act operas at the Houston Grand Opera in March 2006- Francis Poulenc's La Voix Humaine and the world premiere of Michael John LaChiusa's Send (who are you? I love you).^[12] On February 10, 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.^[13] The recording of the Los Angeles Opera production of Kurt Weill's opera Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, featuring McDonald and Patti Lupone, won two Grammy Awards, for Best Opera Recording and Best Classical Album in February 2009.^[14]

In September 2008, American musical theatre composer Michael John LaChiusa was quoted in Opera News Online, as working on an adaptation of Bizet's opera Carmen with McDonald in mind.^[15]

Television and film

McDonald has also made many television appearances, both musical and dramatic. In 2001, she received her first 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.^[16] She also has appeared on Homicide: Life on the Street (1999), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2000), Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years (1999), the short-lived Mister Sterling (2003), The Bedford Diaries (2006), and Kidnapped (2006–2007), and in the 1999 television remake of Annie as Daddy Warbucks' secretary & soon-to-be wife, Miss Farrell.^[17] She sang with the New York Philharmonic in the annual New Year's Eve gala concert on December 31, 2006, featuring music from the movies; it was televised on Live from Lincoln Center by PBS.^[18]

McDonald appeared as Naomi Bennett, ex-wife of Sam, portrayed by Taye Diggs, in the television drama Private Practice, a spinoff of Grey's Anatomy. She replaced Merrin Dungey, who played the role in the series pilot.^[19] McDonald left Private Practice at the end of season four.^[20][21]

In films, 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 by Daryush Shokof which was her film acting debut in (1996).^[17]

Recording

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 next album, How Glory Goes (2000) combined both old and new works, and included composers Harold Arlen, Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Kern.^[4] Her next album Happy Songs (2002) was big band music from the '20s, '30s and '40s.^[22] Her fourth album, Build a Bridge (2006), features songs from the jazz/pop canon, from composers as diverse as Adam Guettel (who wrote the title song), Laura Nyro, Elvis Costello, Nellie McKay, Neil Young, Rufus Wainwright, John Mayer and Randy Newman.^[23]

Other

At the 2010 BCS National Championship Game on January 7, McDonald sang America the Beautiful for the sold-out stadium fans to celebrate the final game of the college football season.^[24]

Personal life[link]

McDonald married bassist Peter Donovan in September 2000.^[4] They have one daughter, Zoe Madeline, who was born on February 14, 2001, and was named after McDonald's Master Class co-star and good friend Zoe Caldwell and actress Madeline Kahn. McDonald and Donovan divorced in 2009.^[25] She is engaged to Broadway actor Will Swenson.^[26]

Discography[link]

Solo Recordings[link]

^[27]

• Way Back to Paradise (NONESUCH, 1998)^[28]
• How Glory Goes (2000)^[29]
• Happy Songs (2002)
• Build a Bridge (2006)

Featured Recordings[link]

^[30]

• 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 Hymns ("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)
• Bright Eyed Joy: The Songs Of Ricky Ian Gordon ("Daybreak in Alabama", etc.) (2001)
• ZEITGEIST ("Think Twice") (2005)
• Guest Artist, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Christmas with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (2004)^[31]
• Barbara Cook at the Met ("When Did I Fall In Love?" and "Blue Skies") (2006)
• Jule Styne in Hollywood ("10,432 Sheep") (2006)^[32]
• Guest Artist, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir's The Wonder of Christmas ("Sweet Little Jesus Boy", "Children Go Where I Send Thee") (2006)^[33]
• New York Pops American River Suite (featured on "Prologue/Through The Mist/Half Moon") [Recording offered as a FREE download for a limited time on the official New York Pops website.]

Cast recordings[link]

• Carousel (1994 Broadway Revival Cast Recording) (1994)
• Ragtime (Original Cast Recording) (1998)
• I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky- by John Adams (Studio Cast Recording) (1998)^[34]
• 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 (2001 Concert Cast Recording) (released February 2002)^[35]
• 110 in the Shade (2007 Broadway Revival Cast Recording) (2007)
• Rodgers & Hammerstein's Allegro (First Complete Recording) (2009)^[36]
• The Gershwin's Porgy and Bess (New Broadway Cast Recording) (2012)^[37]

Video recordings[link]

• Audra McDonald - Live at the Donmar London, VHS (1999)
• My Favorite Broadway: The Leading Ladies("The Webber Love Trio"),DVD & CD (1999)
• Bernstein - Wonderful Town with Kim Criswell, Thomas Hampson, Wayne Marshall, Simon Rattle, and Berlin Philharmonic, DVD (2005)
• Christmas With the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square, DVD (2005)
• Weill - Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, DVD (2007)
• Sondheim! The Birthday Concert, Blu-ray DVD (2010)

Audio books[link]

• Alice Walker, By The Light of My Father's Smile (1998)^[38]
• Connie Briscoe, A Long Way From Home (1999)^[39]
• Rita Dove, Second-Hand Man (2003)^[40]

Work[link]

Feature films[link]

Television[link]

^[17]

Theater[link]

^[41]

Awards and nominations[link]

^[42][43]

Awards

• 1994: Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical – Carousel
• 1994: Theatre World Award – Carousel
• 1994: Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical – Carousel
• 1994: Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical – Carousel
• 1995: Ovation Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play – Master Class
• 1996: Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play – Master Class
• 1998: Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical – Ragtime
• 2004: Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play – A Raisin in the Sun
• 2004: Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play – A Raisin in the Sun
• 2004: Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play – A Raisin in the Sun
• 2007: Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical – 110 in the Shade - tied with Donna Murphy
• 2009: Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording and Grammy Award for Best Classical Album – Kurt Weill: Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny^[44]
• 2012: Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical – The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess
• 2012: Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance – The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess

Nominations

• 2000: Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical – Marie Christine
• 2001: NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Variety - Series or Special – Audra McDonald in Concert
• 2001: Primetime Emmy Award: Outstanding Supporting Actress In a Miniseries or a Movie for Wit (HBO)
• 2004: Drama League Award – A Raisin in the Sun
• 2007: Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical – 110 in the Shade
• 2008: NAACP Image Awards: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for Private Practice
• 2008: Primetime Emmy Award: Outstanding Supporting Actress In a Miniseries or a Movie for A Raisin in the Sun
• 2009: NAACP Image Awards: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for Private Practice^[45]
• 2010: NAACP Image Awards: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for Private Practice
• 2012: Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical – The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess

References[link]

• "A Return Home to Family and Stage". New York Times. May 10, 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/theater/theaterspecial/audra-mcdonald-once-again-a-tony-nominee.html?_r=1&smid=FB-nytimes&WT.mc_id=AR-E-FB-SM-LIN-ARH-051412-NYT-NA&WT.mc_ev=click. 

External links[link]

• Audra McDonald at the Internet Broadway Database
• Audra McDonald at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Audra McDonald at the Internet Movie Database
• Audra McDonald at PlaybillVault
• Audra McDonald at Nonesuch Records
• Audra McDonald - Downstage Center interview at American Theatre Wing.org
• Audra McDonald's February 5, 2007 interview on the Tavis Smiley Show (TV Interview)