As a classical soprano, she has performed in staged operas with the On film she is best known for her portrayals of Maureen in McDonald was a three-time Tony Award winner by age 28 for her performances in McDonald is known for defying racial typecasting in her various Tony Award-winning and -nominated roles. I just didn't think it through. And I get to Juilliard and I'm studying classical music. And, you know, I had boy trouble while I was there. One reason: Audra McDonald, Broadway’s greatest voice, is back. She continued to perform in high school, assuming the lead roles in several musicals, and pursued further vocal training at the Juilliard School in New York City (B.A., 1993). In 2016, Audra McDonald was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Obama. By JESSE GREEN. Photograph by Norman Jean Roy. "Listen to the full interview below to hear Audra's full story...Broadway Rewind: TITANIC Sails On Again in Concert!Broadway Rewind: PIPPIN Has Magic to Do on Broadway in 2013!Randy Rainbow (Re)Reads Patti LuPone's Autobio- Arthur LaurentsBroadway Rewind: MOTOWN Raises the Volume at Bryant Park in 2013Watch JAGGED LITTLE PILL's Lauren Patten Sing 'Your House'Improve Your Strength and Stability with MFF's Harold GibbonsThe Cast of BROOKLYNITE Pays Tribute to Nick CorderoKimberley Walsh Sings 'Outta My Hands' From SLEEPLESSOn This Day, August 5 - Jerry Seinfeld Makes Broadway LaughBroadwayHD Announces Lineup of Shows Available in the UK and Australia - LES MISERABLES, PHANTOM, CATS, and More! Audra McDonald came out of Juilliard in 1993, a twenty-two-year-old with a lyric soprano as pristine as sterling silver, and quickly forged one of the most celebrated careers in Broadway history. Primarily known for her work on the Broadway stage, she has won six Tony Awards, more performance wins than any other actor, and is the only person to win all four acting categories. She tells Baldwin of her time at Julliard: "I felt out of place artistically. The tour ended due to McDonald's show, 37 concerts; this tour marked her Australian debut. Surely I can audition for Broadway shows. And she feels an incredible connection to her music – she can't sing a song if she doesn't have some emotional connection to it, which I really understand.McDonald won the Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play for this role, making her the first person to earn six Tony Award wins for acting (not counting honorary awards) and the first person to win a Tony Award in all four acting categories.McDonald has maintained ties to her classical training and repertoire. 'I had a suicide attempt': Audra McDonald opened up about trying to end her life while studying at Juilliard during a talk on ABC's Popcorn With Peter Travers 'When I was [in … In 2006 she made her opera debut at the In 2014, she was featured in Lynn Nottage's short play She appeared at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, In 2016, McDonald starred on Broadway as the vaudeville performer Lottie Gee in a new musical titled It's about a woman trying to get through a concert performance, which I know something about, and she's doing it at a time when her liver was pickled and she was still doing heroin regularly...I might have been a little judgmental about Billie Holiday early on in my life, but what I've come to admire most about her – and what is fascinating in this show – is that there is never any self-pity. And I'm like this isn't what I want to do. By Lisa Capretto Audra McDonald has made history as the star with the most Tony Awards under her belt, but there was a time when the actress truly believed she would have to give up … I felt all my life growing up in Fresno, California, all I ever wanted to do was be on Broadway and I thought let me audition for Juilliard. Got in. 3 July 1970 (age 50) Audra Ann McDonald is a Tony Award-winning American actress and … The Award states in part, “for lighting up Broadway as one of its brightest stars…In musicals, concerts, operas, and the recording studio, her rich, soulful voice continues to take her audiences to new heights.” (Photo: Jesse Frohman) I don't think she sees herself as a victim. Her performances as Carrie Pipperidge in McDonald is also no stranger to the opera stage. everybody back at home is like "Wow, Audra got into Juilliard in New York. She's almost laughing at how horrible her life has been. She's gonna make it." You have to study..."She continues; "I'm open about it because I think I'm a case of it gets better. The lack of August shows was due to her run in In 2012, Audra McDonald received the Golden Plate Award of the On September 22, 2016, Audra McDonald was awarded the Best Actress in a Play, Best Actress in a Musical, Best Featured Actress in a Play, and Best Featured Actress in a Musical. Mini Bio (1) Born July 3, 1970 in West Berlin (now part of Berlin), Germany as Audra Ann McDonald, she is an actress and singer, best known for her many roles on the Broadway theatre stage. Audra McDonald, 1999. Audra McDonald is unparalleled in the breadth and versatility of her artistry as both a singer and an actress. McDonald began taking voice lessons and performing at a local dinner theatre when she was age nine. In 2001, she received her first McDonald played Mother Abbess in the 2013 NBC live television production of McDonald married bassist Peter Donovan in September 2000.23 concerts total; the gap between May and October 2013 is due to McDonald's work with television and her album coming out, causing the three and a half month gap. The winner of a record-breaking six …