It’s This Lady’s Day! Audra McDonald Celebrates Her Birthday July 3 | Playbill

Photos It’s This Lady’s Day! Audra McDonald Celebrates Her Birthday July 3

Look back at the six-time Tony winner's Broadway career thus far.


Six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald celebrates her birthday July 3.

McDonald made her Broadway debut as a replacement for the role of Ayah in The Secret Garden. In the three decades since, she has enjoyed a history-making career, starring in an array of productions—from lush musicals like Carousel to searing dramas like A Raisin in the Sun. Known for her soaring soprano, McDonald has won a record-breaking six Tony Awards for her performances in Carousel, Master Class, Ragtime, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, A Raisin in the Sun, and Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill. She was last seen on Broadway in a revival of Terrence McNally's Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune with Michael Shannon.

In addition to her six Tonys, McDonald has won two Grammy Awards, an Emmy Award, and several other accolades. Some of her movie and TV roles include Madame Garderobe in the live-action Beauty and the Beast, Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music Live!, and Sally in Hello, Again. In 2017 she was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame.

Look back at highlights from McDonald's career below.

Carousel, 1994

Eddie Korbich and Audra McDonald in Carousel, 1994 Joan Marcus


Master Class, 1995

Zoe Caldwell and Audra McDonald in Master Class, 1995 Jay Thompson

Ragtime, 1998

Brian Stokes Mitchell and Audra McDonald in Ragtime, 1998 Catherine Ashmore

Marie Christine, 1999

Audra McDonald in Marie Christine, 1999

Henry IV, 2003

Audra McDonald and Ethan Hawke in Henry IV, 2003 Paul Kolnik

A Raisin in the Sun, 2004

Audra McDonald and Sanaa Lathan in A Raisin in the Sun, 2004

110 in the Shade, 2007

Audra McDonald and cast in 110 in the Shade, 2007

The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, 2012

Audra McDonald in The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess Michael J. Lutch

Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill, 2014

Audra McDonald in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill, 2014

Shuffle Along, or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed, 2016

Brandon Victor Dixon and Audra McDonald Julieta Cervantes

Frankie and Johnny in the Clair De Lune, 2019

Michael Shannon and Audra McDonald

See more of Audra McDonald's career highlights below:

Celebrating 6-Time Tony Award Winner Audra McDonald

 
Today’s Most Popular News:
 X

Blocking belongs
on the stage,
not on websites.

Our website is made possible by
displaying online advertisements to our visitors.

Please consider supporting us by
whitelisting playbill.com with your ad blocker.
Thank you!