Audra McDonald Will Headline Shea's Performing Arts Center 2020 Black-Tie Gala

By: Nov. 14, 2019
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Audra McDonald Will Headline Shea's Performing Arts Center 2020 Black-Tie Gala

Shea's Performing Arts Center is announced Six-Time Tony Award-Winning Broadway Star, Audra McDonald will be headlining Shea's Black-Tie Gala on Saturday, April 25, 2020!

Audra McDonald is unparalleled in the breadth and versatility of her artistry as both a singer and an actress. The recipient of a record-breaking six Tony Awards, two Grammy Awards, an Emmy Award, and a 2015 National Medal of Arts bestowed on her by President Barack Obama, Audra McDonald has distinguished herself as the most decorated performer in American Theater. Blessed with a luminous soprano and an incomparable gift for dramatic truth-telling, she is as much at home on Broadway and Opera stages as she is in roles on film and television. In addition to her theatrical work, she maintains a major career as a concert and recording artist, regularly appearing on the great stages of the world.

"Audra McDonald is one of the most dynamic and multi-faceted performers to take the stage on Broadway," said Michael G. Murphy, President of Shea's. "To have someone of her exceptional talent and extraordinary artistic ability perform at Shea's Gala is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that we are honored to present."

In addition to her Tony-winning performances in Carousel, Master Class, Ragtime, A Raisin in the Sun, The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess, and Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill-the role that also served as the vehicle for her 2017 debut on London's West End (2018 Olivier Award nomination)-she has appeared on Broadway in The Secret Garden, Marie Christine (Tony nomination), Henry IV, 110 in the Shade (Tony nomination), and Shuffle Along, Or, The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed, and she recently starred in Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune.

The Juilliard-trained soprano's opera credits include La voix humaine and Send at Houston Grand Opera, and Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny at Los Angeles Opera. On television, she was seen by millions as the Mother Abbess alongside Carrie Underwood in NBC's The Sound of Music Live! and played Dr. Naomi Bennett on ABC's Private
Practice. She won an Emmy Award for her role as host of PBS's Live From Lincoln Center and has received nominations for Wit, A Raisin in the Sun, and Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill. Having first appeared as Liz Lawrence on CBS's The Good Wife, she can now be seen on CBS's The Good Fight.

On film, she has appeared in Seven Servants, The Object of My Affection, Cradle Will
Rock, It Runs in the Family, The Best Thief in the World, She Got Problems, Rampart,
Ricki and the Flash, and Disney's live-action movie, Beauty and the Beast.

"We could not be more excited to host Audra McDonald at Shea's Performing Arts Center," John Schaller, Shea's Director of Development. "To have one of the most accomplished and timeless talents in theatre, television, film and music here in Buffalo to help support the arts, means a lot to Shea's and this community."

The Shea's 2020 Black-Tie Gala is being chaired by Dr. Raul and Toni Vazquez of G-Health Enterprises. Presented by Ticketmaster, Russell J. Salvatore, and M&T Bank and made possible through the generous support of The Mosey Family Foundation, Maxwell Murphy Attorneys at Law and G-Health Enterprises, it is the single most important fundraising event for Shea's Performing Arts Center.

For more information on attending, or to become an Honorary Sponsor, call (716) 829-1170. And you can follow the excitement leading up the event and the evening of April 25, 2020, by using #Sheas2020Gala on social media.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Broski



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