Film & TV NewsThe Kennedy Center at 50, Hosted by Audra McDonald, Airs on PBS October 1Tony nominee Joshua Bergasse directed and choreographed the evening featuring Kelli O'Hara, Joshua Henry, Tony Yazbeck, and more.
By
Andrew Gans
October 01, 2021
Audra McDonald in The Kennedy Center at 50Scott Suchman
Six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald hosts The Kennedy Center at 50, which premieres on PBS stations around the country October 1 at 9 PM ET; check local listings. The evening, filmed September 14 in the Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall, will also be available at PBS.org and the PBS Video App.
Tony nominee Joshua Bergasse directed and choreographed the evening; conductors were JoAnn Falletta, Steven Reineke, and Thomas Wilkins.
The concert event, titled 50th Anniversary Celebration Concert, featured 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 echoed An American Pageant for the Arts—the 1962 fundraising telecast for the National Cultural Center hosted by Leonard Bernstein—also featured special guest Caroline Kennedy and the National Symphony Orchestra.
