Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Despite Last-Minute Changes, Senate Bill Deals Big Blow to Renewable Energy

10 hours ago

Trump-Backed Tax-Cut and Spending Bill Passes US Senate

11 hours ago

Homeland Security Secretary Noem Says CNN May Be Prosecuted Over Report on Migration App

12 hours ago

Israeli Officials to Hold Ceasefire Talks in Washington Amid Military Escalation in Gaza

13 hours ago

Trump Escalates Feud With Musk, Threatens Tesla, SpaceX Support

13 hours ago

Musk Vows to Punish Lawmakers Who Back Trump’s Spending Bill

1 day ago

Will Valadao Spoil Trump’s Plan for July 4th ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Signing?

1 day ago

Shaver Lake and Reedley 4th of July Shows Are Wednesday. Who Else Is Celebrating?

1 day ago
What's the Next Gig for Fresno's Audra McDonald?
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 4 years ago on
November 2, 2021

Share

NEW YORK — Audra McDonald is going from host of the Tony Awards to another stage role.

The six-time Tony-winner will return to Broadway in the play “Ohio State Murders” by Adrienne Kennedy, directed by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon. Dates and the creative team will be announced later.

The play takes the form of a lecture given by the character Suzanne Alexander, a well-known African American writer who has accepted an invitation to return to her alma mater, Ohio State University, to talk about her work. It twists into a murder mystery that unfolds over the course of the lecture Alexander rehearses late at night deep in the stacks of the Ohio State University library.

Kennedy will make her Broadway debut with this production at age 90.

Originally commissioned by Great Lakes Theatre Festival in Cleveland, “Ohio State Murders” received its world premiere there in 1992 staring Ruby Dee, a year after a workshop production at the Yale Repertory Theatre.

McDonald’s Tony Awards

McDonald won a Tony in 2014 playing Billie Holiday in “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill.”

She also won Tonys for “Carousel,” ”’Master Class,” ”’Ragtime,” ”‘A Raisin in the Sun,” and “The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess.”

Audra McDonald Way in Downtown Fresno

In 2018, the city of Fresno renamed M Street between Inyo and Ventura “Audra McDonald Way” in honor of the Roosevelt High School graduate. The Saroyan Theatre, Valdez Hall, and Selland Arena line the block of Audra McDonald Way.

On television, McDonald portrayed Dr. Naomi Bennett in ABC’s “Private Practice” from 2007 to 2011. She also starred in the fourth season of “The Good Wife,” a role that she reprises as a main cast member in the spinoff “The Good Fight.”

Primetime Emmy Winner

She won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Program in 2015 for hosting “Live from Lincoln Center.”

Her movie roles include portraying Maureen in “Ricki and the Flash” opposite Meryl Streep. She also portrayed Madame de Garderobe in Disney’s 2017 film musical “Beauty and the Beast.”

She has been nominated five times for the NAACP Image Awards for her work in television and film.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Trump Pulls Back 150 Guard Troops From Federal Duties in California

DON'T MISS

Trump Says Israel Has Agreed to Conditions to Finalize 60-Day Gaza Ceasefire

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Man Arrested for Suspected Arson Hours After Separate Wildfire

DON'T MISS

New California Environmental Rollbacks Could Boost Housing Projects in Fresno

DON'T MISS

Iran Made Preparations to Mine the Strait of Hormuz, US Sources Say

DON'T MISS

Fresno Unified’s Embattled Nikki Henry Exits. ‘I Own My Mistake. I Won’t Let It Own Me.’

DON'T MISS

Trump Floats Daughter-in-Law Lara Trump for Senate Run in North Carolina

DON'T MISS

Google Hit With $314 Million US Verdict in Cellular Data Class Action

DON'T MISS

Tulare County Wildfire Prompts Advisory in Three Rivers Area

DON'T MISS

O’Brien Launches Fresno County Schools Chief Campaign by Handing Out ‘Homework’

UP NEXT

Trump Says Israel Has Agreed to Conditions to Finalize 60-Day Gaza Ceasefire

UP NEXT

Fresno County Man Arrested for Suspected Arson Hours After Separate Wildfire

UP NEXT

New California Environmental Rollbacks Could Boost Housing Projects in Fresno

UP NEXT

Iran Made Preparations to Mine the Strait of Hormuz, US Sources Say

UP NEXT

Fresno Unified’s Embattled Nikki Henry Exits. ‘I Own My Mistake. I Won’t Let It Own Me.’

UP NEXT

Trump Floats Daughter-in-Law Lara Trump for Senate Run in North Carolina

UP NEXT

Google Hit With $314 Million US Verdict in Cellular Data Class Action

UP NEXT

Tulare County Wildfire Prompts Advisory in Three Rivers Area

UP NEXT

O’Brien Launches Fresno County Schools Chief Campaign by Handing Out ‘Homework’

UP NEXT

Trump Says US Could Reach Trade Deal With India, Casts Doubt on Deal With Japan

New California Environmental Rollbacks Could Boost Housing Projects in Fresno

5 hours ago

Iran Made Preparations to Mine the Strait of Hormuz, US Sources Say

5 hours ago

Fresno Unified’s Embattled Nikki Henry Exits. ‘I Own My Mistake. I Won’t Let It Own Me.’

5 hours ago

Trump Floats Daughter-in-Law Lara Trump for Senate Run in North Carolina

5 hours ago

Google Hit With $314 Million US Verdict in Cellular Data Class Action

6 hours ago

Tulare County Wildfire Prompts Advisory in Three Rivers Area

6 hours ago

O’Brien Launches Fresno County Schools Chief Campaign by Handing Out ‘Homework’

6 hours ago

Trump Says US Could Reach Trade Deal With India, Casts Doubt on Deal With Japan

6 hours ago

Jury Reaches Verdict on Some Counts at Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ Sex Trafficking Trial

6 hours ago

How Wimbledon Is Tackling Its Hottest Opening on Record

7 hours ago

Trump Pulls Back 150 Guard Troops From Federal Duties in California

LOS ANGELES — The Trump administration released about 150 National Guard troops on Tuesday in the first pullback since it dispatched a milit...

3 hours ago

3 hours ago

Trump Pulls Back 150 Guard Troops From Federal Duties in California

An Israeli military convoy manoeuvres near the Israel-Gaza border, as seen from Israel, July 1, 2025. (Reuters/Amir Cohen)
4 hours ago

Trump Says Israel Has Agreed to Conditions to Finalize 60-Day Gaza Ceasefire

Abel Joel Garcia Zarate, 39, of Biola, was arrested Sunday, June, 30, 2025, in Madera County on suspicion of starting a wildfire just hours after crews responded to a separate blaze sparked by farm equipment. (Madera County SO)
4 hours ago

Fresno County Man Arrested for Suspected Arson Hours After Separate Wildfire

5 hours ago

New California Environmental Rollbacks Could Boost Housing Projects in Fresno

An aerial view of the Iranian shores and the island of Qeshm in the strait of Hormuz, December 10, 2023. REUTERSStringerFile Photo
5 hours ago

Iran Made Preparations to Mine the Strait of Hormuz, US Sources Say

5 hours ago

Fresno Unified’s Embattled Nikki Henry Exits. ‘I Own My Mistake. I Won’t Let It Own Me.’

Lara Trump looks on during Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump's rally, at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., November 6, 2024. (Reuters File)
5 hours ago

Trump Floats Daughter-in-Law Lara Trump for Senate Run in North Carolina

A Google logo is seen at a company research facility in Mountain View, California, U.S., May 13, 2025. (Reuters File)
6 hours ago

Google Hit With $314 Million US Verdict in Cellular Data Class Action

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend