Reprise Theatre Company Presents Audra McDonald in Concert at UCLA's Freud Playhouse, 2/1

Reprise Theatre Company presents Audra McDonald in Concert for one performance only on Monday, February 1 at 8:30 pm, at UCLA's Freud Playhouse. Audra McDonald is the latest in Reprise Theatre Company's tradition of presenting Broadway stars in concert, which have included Patti LuPone, Carol Burnett, Ben Vereen, Kristin Chenoweth, and Brian Stokes Mitchell.

Earning an unprecedented three Tony Awards before the age of 30 (Carousel, Master Class, and Ragtime) and a fourth in 2004 (A Raisin in the Sun), singer and actress Audra McDonald is frequently compared to legendary performers such as Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand. But like all great artists, she is a unique force, blending a luscious, classically-trained soprano with an incomparable gift for dramatic truth-telling. In addition to her theatrical work she maintains a major career as a concert and recording artist appearing regularly on many of the great stages of the world.

Audra McDonald opened the 2008-2009 season of the Los Angeles Philharmonic with a gala concert at Disney Hall, celebrating Esa-Pekka Salonen's final season as music director. During the summer of 2009, she returned to the New York stage as Olivia in The Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park production of Twelfth Night, directed by Daniel Sullivan. She was also heard performing a new song by Stephen Flaherty in the Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular, broadcast live on NBC. Along with her live performances, Ms. McDonald maintains a thriving television career, earning an Emmy nomination for her role in the made-for-television movie version of A Raisin in the Sun on ABC, alongside hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs, her co-star from the 2004 Broadway revival. Returning to ABC in the fall of 2009, Ms. McDonald can be seen as Dr. Naomi Bennett in the third season of the hit television series Private Practice. Her most recent recordings are Kurt Weill's The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny-winner of two 2009 Grammy Awards-and a new studio recording of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Allegro, released on the Sony MasterWorks Broadway label in February 2009.

During the 2007-2008 season, Audra McDonald appeared with the New Jersey Symphony, conducted by frequent collaborator Ted Sperling, as well as in concerts at Cal Performances, the Gilmore Festival, the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts, the Savannah Music Festival, the Purchase Performing Arts Center, the Thomasville Entertainment Foundation, the Shedd Institute for the Arts, the Ferst Center for the Performing Arts, the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, and a special Juilliard gala opposite Barbara Cook.

In September 2006, Audra McDonald released her first solo album in four years-Build a Bridge-on Nonesuch Records. Her fourth solo recording for the label, Build a Bridge looks beyond her usual repertoire and explores music written by contemporary singer/songwriters, including Elvis Costello, Nellie McKay, John Mayer, Randy Newman, Laura Nyro, Neil Young, Rufus Wainwright, and two songs by her longtime collaborator, musical-theater composer Adam Guettel. She embarked on a U.S. tour, stopping in Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Fresno, and San Francisco to perform selections from Build a Bridge. In New York, she appeared at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Allen Room as part of the American Songbook series in a concert that was broadcast nationwide on PBS's Live from Lincoln Center. These programs also featured her customary offering of Broadway favorites and songs from the contemporary musical-theater repertoire.

The 2006-2007 season also saw the soprano return to the New York Philharmonic for a New Year's Eve concert (also broadcast live on PBS); a performance with the Philadelphia Orchestra in a tribute to Sidney Poitier; and duo concerts with Barbara Cook in Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and Orange County. Ms. McDonald concluded the season with a highly-anticipated return to Broadway, going on to receive a sixth Tony nomination for her performance as Lizzie Curry in the Roundabout Theatre's revival of 110 in the Shade, directed by Lonnie Price.

Audra McDonald made her Los Angeles Opera debut in February 2007 as Jenny in John Doyle's production of Kurt Weill's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, conducted by James Conlon. This marked the second operatic engagement of her career; she made a highly-praised debut at Houston Grand Opera in March 2006 in a double-bill featuring Poulenc's famous monodrama La Voix Humaine, coupled with the world premiere of Send, a companion piece to the Poulenc written by one of McDonald's frequent collaborators, Michael John LaChiusa.

Audra McDonald has sung regularly with all the major American orchestras, including the Boston Symphony, the Chicago Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the National Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the San Francisco Symphony, under many of the world's greatest conductors, such as John Adams, Sir Simon Rattle, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Leonard Slatkin, and Michael Tilson Thomas. In the spring of 2005 she "previewed" a scene from John Adams's not-yet-premiered opera, Doctor Atomic, for the New York Philharmonic, with the composer conducting. Earlier she was the muse behind the Ellington Suite, a unique set of arrangements of favorite Duke Ellington tunes created by several of America's top arrangers and commissioned jointly by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the San Francisco Symphony. Overseas she is a returning guest at the BBC Proms (where she was only the second American in over 100 years to solo on the famed "Last Night of the Proms"), with the London Symphony Orchestra, with the Berlin Philharmonic, and at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.

The releases of Way Back To Paradise (named Adult Record of the Year by the New York Times) in 1998, and the best-selling How Glory Goes in 2000, launched Ms. McDonald's solo recording career. Happy Songs, her third disc under her exclusive contract with Nonesuch, was primarily comprised of classics by Harold Arlen, Duke Ellington, and the Gershwins. Her other discs include a live concert recording of Dreamgirls (featuring Lillias White and Heather Headley) on Nonesuch; the original cast recordings of Ahrens & Flaherty's Ragtime and Michael John LaChiusa's Marie Christine on RCA Victor; revival cast recordings of Carousel on Broadway Angel and 110 in the Shade on PS Classics; John Adams's I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I saw the Sky, conducted by the composer on Nonesuch; Sweeney Todd: Live at the Philharmonic, conducted by Andrew Litton; Leonard Bernstein's Wonderful Town conducted by Sir Simon Rattle on EMI; Adam Guettel's Myths and Hymns and Ricky Ian Gordon's Bright Eyed Joy on Nonesuch; and Rodgers & Hammerstein's Allegro and the original film soundtrack of Tim Robbins's Cradle Will Rock on BMG.

CBS's Peabody Award-winning "Having Our Say: The Delaney Sisters' First 100 Years" introduced Audra McDonald to television audiences as a dramatic actress. She went on to co-star with Victor Garber and Kathy Bates in the critically lauded ABC/Disney production of "Annie." Following her Emmy-nominated performance in "Wit," the HBO film of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play directed by Mike Nichols and starring Emma Thompson, Audra McDonald returned to network television in the political drama "Mister Sterling," produced by Emmy Award-winner Lawrence O'Donnell, Jr. ("The West Wing"), and starring Josh Brolin. In 2006-2007 she had a recurring role on NBC's television series Kidnapped. She has also been profiled by "60 Minutes" and "The Today Show," was a frequent guest on "The Rosie O'Donnell Show," and was a guest co-host of "The View" with Barbara Walters.

Born into a musical family, Audra McDonald grew up in Fresno, California. She received her classical vocal training at The Juilliard School.

About Reprise Theatre Company

Since its inception in 1997, Reprise Theatre Company has been a focus of the Los Angeles musical theatre community, producing productions of great American musicals, and a wide variety off concerts, staged-readings, special events and outreach programs.

In May 2007, Jason Alexander became Artistic Director and he was joined by Susan Dietz, Producing Director.

Since its inaugural production of Burt Bacharach and Hal David's "Promises, Promises," which starred Mr. Alexander, Reprise has brought to the stage vibrant productions from all eras of American musical theatre including the Gershwins' "Of Thee I Sing" and "Strike Up the Band," Cole Porter's "Anything Goes," and Rodgers and Hart's "The Boys from Syracuse" and "Babes in Arms," as well as Richard Rodgers' later "No Strings." The "Golden Era" has been well represented - Burton Lane and E.Y. Harburg with "Finian's Rainbow," Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe with "Brigadoon," Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden and Adolph Green with "On the Town" and "Wonderful Town," Irving Berlin with "Call Me Madam," Robert Wright and George Forrest with "Kismet," both of the Richard Adler and Jerry Ross musicals "The Pajama Game" and "Damn Yankees," Johnny Mercer and Gene dePaul with "Li'l Abner," Jule Styne with "Bells are Ringing," and Frank Loesser with "The Most Happy Fella."

Musical theatre reached a new peak of popularity in the sixties, along with new creative talents, and Reprise has presented shows by many of them including Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick with "She Loves Me," Gerome Ragni, James Rado and Galt MacDermot's "Hair," Sherman Edwards and Peter Stone with "1776," Charles Adams and Lee Strouse with "Applause," Stephen Schwartz with "Pippin," Cy Coleman with "On the Twentieth Century" (libretto by Betty Comden and Adolph Green) and "City of Angels" (lyrics by David Zippel), Jerry Herman with "Mack and Mabel," and three Stephen Sondheim musicals - "Company," "Sweeney Todd," and "Sunday in the Park with George."

Many of the great stage performers working today, as well as those who make their residence in primarily in Los Angeles, have appeared in Reprise shows including Scott Bakula, Christine Baranski, Brent Barrett, Orson Bean, Jodi Benson, Stephen Bogardus, Dan Butler, Len Cariou, Carolee Carmello, Vicki Carr, Anthony Crivello, Jason Danielely, Lea DeLaria, Clevant Derricks, Manoel Feliciano, Rodney Gilfry, Kelsey Grammer, Harry Groener, Bob Gunton, Sam Harris, Gregory Harrison, Mimi Hines, Judy Kaye, Jane Krakowski, Marc Kudish, Judith Light, Rebecca Luker, Maureen McGovern, Joey McIntyre, Donna McKechnie, Andrea Marcovicci, Marin Mazzie, Karen Morrow, Burke Moses, Kelli O'Hara, Ken Page, Robert Picardo, David Hyde Pierce, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Roger Rees, Charles Nelson Reilly, Cathy Rigby, Douglas Sills, Rex Smith, Steven Weber, Marisa Jaret Winokur, Lillias White, Fred Willard, and Rachel York.

Tickets for Audra McDonald in concert go on sale Friday, January 8 at 10:00am. For tickets, priced at $95 (there is also premium seating), please call the UCLA Central Ticket Office at 310/825-2101 or visit www.reprise.org.

 

To post a comment, you must register and login.