Audra McDonald
Sergio A. Mims forwards this release:
SIX-TIME TONY AWARD WINNER TO PERFORM IN THE DOWNSTAIRS THEATRE
CHICAGO (March 7, 2017) – Record-breaking six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald will perform at
Steppenwolf as a part of the LookOut
Series on Monday, May 22 for one night only. McDonald will be joined on
stage by host and pianist Seth Rudetsky,
who this past November starred in the five-star London premiere of his Broadway
musical, Disaster! The performance, produced by Mark Cortale, will also
include a special guest appearance by McDonald’s husband, Will Swenson, the Tony nominated star of Hair and Priscilla, Queen of
the Desert. The format of the evening will be a seamless mix of intimate
behind-the-scenes stories from one of Broadway’s biggest stars—prompted by Seth
Rudetsky’s probing, funny, revealing questions—and Audra McDonald singing some
of the biggest hits from her musical theatre repertoire.
This spontaneous evening of
hilarity and show-stopping songs takes place Monday, May 22 at 6:30pm (doors open at 6pm) in
Steppenwolf’s Downstairs Theatre, 1650 N Halsted. Tickets for Audra McDonald in Concert go on
sale Friday, March 10 at 11am
through Audience Services (1650 N Halsted St), 312-335-1650 and steppenwolf.org. A pre-sale to current Steppenwolf members and
subscribers begins today at 11am.
Tickets are $79-$99, with an additional limited number of $150 VIP
seats for sale in the main center of the house. Students may purchase $15 student rush tickets an hour before the
show, availability abiding. Anytime Steppenwolf Black Card Members may use
their credits for seats in the Balcony. ASL Interpretation and Open Captioning
will be available for this performance; visit steppenwolf.org/access for more information.
Audra McDonald holds
the record for more Tony Best Performance wins than any other actor in history,
and is the only person to win all four acting categories. She 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 won
her fourth in 2004 for her role in A
Raisin in the Sun, a role she reprised for a 2008 television adaptation,
earning her a second Emmy Award nomination. On June 10, 2012, McDonald scored
her fifth Tony Award win for her portrayal of Bess in Broadway’s The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess thus tying
a record held by Angela Lansbury and Julie Harris for most Tony Awards won by
an actor. This past June she made history by winning her sixth Tony Award for
her role as Billie Holiday in Lady Day at
Emerson’s Bar and Grill. She also maintains her ties to classical
repertoire with an active concert and recording career, performing song cycles
and operas as well as concerts throughout the US. Her many television
appearances include four seasons as Naomi Bennett in Private Practice, as well as Homicide:
Life on the Street, Law & Order: SVU, Having Our Say, Mister
Sterling, The Bedford Diaries, Kidnapped, the TV remake of the musical Annie, and HBO’s Wit with Emma Thompson and more recently as a cast member of The Good Wife. In December 2013 Audra
won critical acclaim for her performance as the Mother Abbess in NBC’s live
telecast of The Sound of Music with
Carrie Underwood. Her film roles include Cradle
Will Rock, Object of My Affection,
It Runs in the Family, Best Thief in the World and Seven Servants. Ms. McDonald just
returned to the Broadway stage this spring and summer of 2016 with director
George C. Wolfe and dancer/choreographer Savion Glover in the musical Shuffle Along, Or, The Making of the Musical
Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed, a new retelling of an original
musical by Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle, for which she was nominated for a Tony
Award. Audra McDonald married Will Swenson in 2012, and this past October they
became new parents to a baby girl.
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