Song:Bess, You Is My Woman Now
Album:The Gershwins' Porgy & Bess: New Broadway Cast Recording
Audra McDonald is a classically trained soprano best known for her work on Broadway. She has won five Tony awards including one for the 2012 revival of Porgy & Bess. And she is currently nominated for a sixth Tony. She was born July 3, 1970 in Berlin, Germany where her father was stationed in the US Army. She grew up in Fresno, CA. Audra was in the 1992 national tour of The Secret Garden before she graduated from Juilliard with a BA in music. She moved to New York and won her first Tony for the 1994 revival of Carousel. She also won Tonys for Master Class in 1995, Ragtime in 1998 and A Raisin in the Sun in 2004. Audra signed a record deal with Nonesuch Records in 1998 and has recorded five albums. Her latest CD Go Back Home was released in 2013. Audra has appeared in some films but has appeared a lot on TV since 1999. She has headlined several PBS specials and in the TV productions of the musicals A Raisin in the Sun and The Sound of Music. And she was a regular on the ABC series Private Practice from 2007-13. Audra starred with Norm Lewis and David Alan Grier in the 2012 revival of Porgy & Bess. She won another Tony award. Now she could get a sixth Tony. She is nominated for playing Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill. This musical was first produced in the 80s starring the fabulous Lonette McKee. I would not be surprised to see Audra win a sixth Tony. Meanwhile Norm Lewis is starring as The Phantom in the current Broadway production of Phantom of the Opera. Both are very talented. Here's Norm Lewis & Audra McDonald performing Bess, You Is my Woman Now on WNYC Soundcheck at The Greene Space in New York City Jan. 2012.
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