On December 12, Audra will perform as a part of My Favorite Things: The Rodgers & Hammerstein 80th Anniversary Concert at London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane – the same venue that premiered the original West End productions of Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific and The King and I.

Directed and staged by Tony Award–winning director and choreographer Christopher Gattelli, the celebration of the historic partnership of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II will showcase original arrangements of the pair’s most iconic songs.

Audra will perform alongside Michael Ball, Daniel Dae Kim, Julian Ovenden, Ashley Park, Lucy St. Louis, Aaron Tveit, Marisha Wallace and Patrick Wilson, with a 40-piece orchestra conducted by Simon Lee.

For more information and tickets, visit https://concert.rodgersandhammerstein.com/

Audra McDonald plays the role of civil rights leader Ella Baker in the new movie Rustin, which is now available for streaming on Netflix. Directed by George C. Wolfe and featuring a screenplay by Julian Breece and Dustin Lance Black, Rustin tells the story of civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, who helped Martin Luther King Jr. and others organize the 1963 March on Washington.

The film was produced by Barack and Michelle Obama‘s production company Higher Ground. Audra performs as part of a cast that includes Colman Domingo as Rustin as well as Chris Rock, Jeffrey Wright, Glynn Turman, Aml Ameen, CCH Pounder, Michael Potts, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and Bill Irwin. 

Rustin premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on August 31, 2023, and was released in select theaters on November 3 before its Netflix release on November 17.

Watch Rustin now

The Gilded Age returned for its second season on HBO on October 29, with Audra McDonald reprising her role as Dorothy Scott.

From Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes, The Gilded Age explores the social wars between old and new money in late-19th century New York City. The show also offers a rare depiction of New York’s Black elite of the time, including the Scott family of Brooklyn, of which Audra’s character Dorothy is the wife and mother.

In Season 2 of The Gilded Age, Dorthy’s daughter Peggy pursues her journalistic ambitions and travels South to document the creation of the Tuskegee Institute by Dr. Booker T. Washington, while the creation of the Metropolitan Opera brings tension to socialites back in Manhattan.

New episodes air every Sunday night through December 17.

Learn more about the season

This fall and winter, following sold-out shows at London’s Palladium and New York’s Carnegie Hall, she continues touring her “Evening with Audra McDonald” performances with orchestras around the country and in Canada, in cities including Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Toronto, a favorite location to which she returns after a prolonged absence.

Interspersed with her large-scale performances are a few more intimate concerts with piano only, including at New York’s 92NY. For two evenings at that venue, McDonald presents a career retrospective to celebrate the 30th anniversary of her professional debut in New York, incorporating conversation and storytelling with longtime music director and collaborator, leading Broadway conductor Andy Einhorn, as well as clips from past performances. Einhorn will be on the podium for orchestral performances throughout the tour, and will accompany on piano for all but one of the solo evenings.

Go to the full schedule.

Audra McDonald has been nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for her performance as Suzanne Alexander in Adrienne Kennedy’s play Ohio State Murders. This marks her tenth acting nomination and ties her with Chita Rivera and Julie Harris for the most Tony Award nominations received by a performer. Audra has won more Tony Awards than any other performer and is the only performer to have won the award in all four acting categories.

Audra also received nominations for Lead Actress in a Broadway Play from the Outer Circle Critics’ Awards, and Lead Performance in a Play from the Drama Desk Awards for the same role. This production of Ohio State Murders, which marked the 91-year-old Kennedy’s long-awaited Broadway debut, was also nominated by the Outer Circle Critics’ Awards and Drama Desk Awards for Best Revival of a Play. It was directed by Kenny Leon. 

“I am honored to have been nominated for Ohio State Murders,” said Audra. “Having the opportunity to work with Kenny Leon, and to be a part of Adrienne Kennedy’s long-overdue Broadway debut of her extraordinary, relevant, and powerful work, was one of the most important artistic experiences of my life.”

The Tony Awards will take place on Sunday, June 11 at 8 pm ET and will air live on CBS and Paramount+.  

On Thursday, March 30, the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation (AWMF) announced Audra as a 2023 Gracie Award winner for best actress in a supporting role – drama for her portrayal as Liz Reddick in The Good Fight on CBS.

The Gracies “recognize outstanding programming and individual achievement created by women, for women, and about women in all facets of media in news and entertainment.”

This year’s theme of  “Storytelling,” highlights and celebrates the narratives shared by the winners, which inform, inspire, captivate audiences, and enrich our collective comprehension of the world.