Film & TV NewsKennedy Center's 50th Anniversary Celebration Concert, Hosted by Audra McDonald, Presented September 14Tony nominee Joshua Bergasse directs and choreographs the evening featuring Kelli O'Hara, Joshua Henry, Tony Yazbeck, and more.
By
Andrew Gans
September 14, 2021
Audra McDonald
Joseph Marzullo/WENN
Six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald hosts the Kennedy Center’s 50th Anniversary Celebration Concert, which is held September 14 in the Concert Hall and will be subsequently broadcast October 1 on PBS as The Kennedy Center at 50.
Tony nominee Joshua Bergasse directs and choreographs the evening; conductors are JoAnn Falletta, Steven Reineke, and Thomas Wilkins.
The concert event features the talents of Tony winner Kelli O'Hara, Tony nominees Joshua Henry, Renée Fleming, and Tony Yazbeck, the cast of David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori’s Soft Power, Darren Criss, Common, DJ Jahi Sundance, D Smoke, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, Ray Chen, Robert Glasper, Bettye LaVette, Gaby Moreno, Kelly Marie Tran, Zhu Wang, Mo Willems, Herman Cornejo, Ben Folds, Randall Goosby, Christian McBride, Keb’ Mo’, Rachael Price, Punch Brothers, and Cassandra Trenary.
The celebration, which echoes An American Pageant for the Arts—the 1962 fundraising telecast for the National Cultural Center hosted by Leonard Bernstein—also features special guest Caroline Kennedy and the National Symphony Orchestra.
