Feisty Female Friday: Audra McDonald

The FFF this week is Audra McDonald.

Audra was born in Germany and raised in CA by a family of musicians. She began performing at a local dinner theatres when she was nine, sang lead roles in her high school musicals, and graduated from Julliard. 

Soon after graduating, she was cast in a touring production of The Secret Garden and in a revival of Carousel. Audra starred in Master Class and Ragtime, made her film debut in the drama Seven Servants, and starred on Broadway in a musical retelling of Medea, written especially for her. She continued with performances in Shakespeare, A Raisin in the Sun, Porgy and Bess, and starred in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, portraying singer Billie Holiday. Audra became the first person to win six Tony Awards.

She has given numerous solo performances at Carnegie Hall and was also a guest vocalist with the NY, LA, and Berlin Philharmonic orchestras. Audra has toured singing the songs from her solo albums and is an actress and singer whose melodious soprano voice and expressive stage presence made her a leading figure on Broadway and a hit with audiences everywhere. Her film credits  include Beauty and the Beast and the Aretha Franklin biopic, Respect. She is the most Tony-nominated performer in Broadway history and has also been awarded the National Medal of Arts, two Grammys, and an Emmy Award.

Audra supports Covenant House, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, is a youth homeless, LGBTQ, PFLAG, Eleventh Hour Rescue, Broadway Impact, ASPCA, Freedom to Marry, and HRC advocate. She and other professionals sponsor Black Theater United and has recorded Singing You Home, an album whose profits are assisting people migrating to the US.

She is married to fellow singer and actor, Will Swenson, has two daughters, and lives in NY.