Audra McDonald (Master Class, Ragtime, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill) has won six Tony Awards--more performance wins than any other theater actor. (She's also won two Grammys and one Emmy along the way.) Still, each new role she takes scares her. In this episode from the fall of 2022, Audra told Guy why that fear is actually essential to her work, about her never-ending quest to know her characters better, and how it felt to have her friend and mentor Stephen Sondheim publicly pan one of her shows.

Links from the show:

Excerpts of Audra and Zoe Caldwell in Master Class
Audra singing "Summertime" from her role as Bess in The Gershwin's Porgy and Bess
Audra performing Billie Holiday's "God Bless the Child" from Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill
Audra performing the song "Say No to This" from Hamilton in the voice of Billie Holiday
Playbill pick of 13 Audra performances on the occasion of her birthday
2020 New Yorker interview with Audra
More on Audra's role in Ohio State Murders

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Audra McDonald: The Power of Taking On Work That Scares You (2022) 01:04:05 Share

The Great Creators with Guy Raz

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Audra McDonald: The Power of Taking On Work That Scares You (2022)