Broadway Legend Audra Mcdonald

My favorite kind of music is Broadway, so I was in heaven at UCSB Arts & Lectures (A&L) last Granada performance for the season highlighting the world-renowned soprano Audra McDonald. She is the winner of a record-breaking six Tony Awards, two Grammy Awards, and an Emmy Award, not to mention being named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people, plus having received a National Medal of Arts. And she can act. She’s been on Broadway, in opera, film, and television and has a major career as a concert and recording artist.

McDonald was born in Germany but grew up in Fresno, California, saying, “You have to go through there to get somewhere.” Her classical vocal training was at Juilliard School in New York City. Only a year after graduating, she won her first Tony in Carousel at Lincoln Center Theater. She’s also won for Master Class and Ragtime. All this before age 30. One of her biggies was portraying Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill.

Audra didn’t disappoint this night, especially when she sang her finale Climb Every Mountain from The Sound of Music. It sent chills when she reached her high ending note. She had played the Mother Abbess in NBC’s live telecast watched by an estimated 18.5 million across America.

Besides being a superstar, she talked about her family including two daughters and two stepsons. She joked, “ We have teenagers and then we have one wild child that is two. A really wild child. We’re saving money for three college educations and bail money for one.”

After the curtain call, McDonald joined the Producers Circle for wine and bites in the Founders Room, graciously posing for photos for all who wished. If vibrant cultural engagement is part of why you call Santa Barbara home, then join the A&L Producers Circle and connect with people like you. Their contributions make A&L possible, they help underwrite world-class programming, support extensive education programs, and inspire our community. To learn all the benefits, call (805) 893-3465.