Audra Macdonald Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

A smarter person than I said that prestige music biopics are superhero movies for boomers, and it’s a fine point. Like the Marvel or DC franchises, they’re marketing a familiar brand to an enthusiastic audience, which eagerly laps up what is, in essence, the same movie countless times over, working from a tightly constructed and unwavering structure.

Jennifer Hudson made a regal arrival to the premiere of Respect, held at Regency Village Theatre on Sunday (August 8) in Los Angeles.

EXCLUSIVE: For the first time in 75 years, New York’s Theatre World Awards honoring debut performances will bypass its annual awards ceremony this year – a reflection of the city’s absence of live shows during the 15-month Covid shutdown – and instead present a one-night-only virtual event honoring Broadway’s best, including special honorees Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald, and André De Shields.

“The Good Fight”  stars Christine Baranski and Audra McDonald were joined by series creators Robert and Michelle King for a virtual panel for the ATX Television Festival to discuss the upcoming fifth season of the spin-off of “The Good Wife”.

A new trailer has arrived for the upcoming fifth season of W Network’s “The Good Fight” , and fans of the hit legal series are in for a wild ride.

is finally back.

Jennifer Hudson becomes the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, in the brand new trailer for Respect.

bringing Aretha Franklin to our screens this year. Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson will play the iconic singer in “Respect,” and in a new trailer for the film, we see exactly why she was the perfect casting choice.The trailer opens on Aretha as a young girl singing with her mother — played by the incomparable Audra McDonald — at the piano.

We’ve had definitive biopics on legendary Black soul artists like James Brown (“Get On Up“), Miles Davis (“Miles Ahead“), Tina Turner (“What’s Love Got To Do With It“), and Ray Charles (“Ray“). And while she’s appeared in many films and there have been documentaries made about her, there’s never really been a definitive movie biopic about the Queen of Soul, at least one that’s stuck in the collective conscious.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorIt was this week a year ago that Christine Baranski, Meryl Streep and Audra McDonald went viral with their boozy rendition of “Ladies Who Lunch” during a virtual birthday celebration for Stephen Sondheim that raised money for Artists Striving to End Poverty.“It was a sloppy, drunken mess done in our back offices,” Baranski cracks.

NEW YORK -- What's better than a powerful voice from the Black theater community singing about change? How about 13 such voices?Vanessa Williams, Billy Porter and Audra McDonald and other founding members of Black Theatre United have recorded the song and video “Stand for Change,” with all proceeds donated to social justice efforts.

Meryl Streep, Mary-Louise Parker, Audra McDonald, Kevin Klein, Carla Gugino and Keanu Reeves have signed on to perform in a new virtual play series this spring while Broadway is closed.

NEW YORK -- Meryl Streep, Mary-Louise Parker, Audra McDonald, Kevin Klein, Carla Gugino and Keanu Reeves have signed on to perform in a new virtual play series this spring while Broadway is closed.The series kicks off Thursday with “The Thanksgiving Play” by Larissa FastHorse, directed by Leigh Silverman starring Reeves, Bobby Cannavale, Heidi Schreck and Alia Shawkat.The next show — on April 8 — will feature “Angry, Raucous and Shamelessly Gorgeous” by Pearl Cleage directed by Camille A.

Kathryn Hahn, Keanu Reeves, Debbie Allen, Ellen Burstyn and Bobby Cannavale are among the actors who’ll take part in this year’s virtual Spotlight on Plays series benefitting The Actors Fund.

The Iron Lady” or “Judy” is “The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” director Lee Daniels’ movie about the celebrated singer of “Strange Fruit.” The stunner is Andra Day, a musician who is almost totally new to acting.

Andra Day as Billie Holiday, who has already been nominated for two Golden Globes for the performance. The harrowing tale of Holiday’s traumatic childhood and tumultuous life in the spotlight has been famously recounted in the 1972 classic “Lady Sings the Blues,” starring Diana Ross, and on Broadway in the musical “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill,” led by Audra McDonald in 2014.

Billie Holiday has always been a monster of a role. Diana Ross tackled her on film and Audra McDonald did it on stage.

EXCLUSIVE: LGBTQ rights advocate Chasten Buttigieg will join the previously announced Tina Fey, Wayne Brady, Jennifer Hudson and Audra McDonald, among others, in this year’s virtual Educational Theatre Foundation gala honoring Broadway director and producer Kenny Leon and The Shubert Organization.

Peter White Television EditorRobert and Michelle King’s upcoming Coronavirus drama series for Spectrum Originals is getting its second wave of casting.Broadway stars Will Swenson, Phillipa Soo and Leslie Uggams have joined The Second Wave, which stars The Good Fight’s Audra McDonald, Orange Is the New Black’s Taylor Schilling and The Comey Rule’s Steven Pasquale.Swenson, who has starred in Priscilla: Queen of the Desert and Hair as well as Netflix’s The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, joins as a

Peter White Television EditorEXCLUSIVE: The Good Fight’s Audra McDonald is among a number of stars to have joined The Gilded Age, Julian Fellowes’ period drama for HBO.McDonald, who is also set to star in MGM’s Aretha Franklin biopic Respect, joins as a special guest star.A slew of Broadway stars added as major recurring guest stars.

rude to their waiters.OK — not all of us, or them.

Greg Evans Associate Editor/Broadway CriticEXCLUSIVE: Disney Junior’s Emmy and BAFTA Award-nominated animated series Vampirina has lined up a roster of season 3 guest stars from both Broadway and television, including Audra McDonald and, from Hamilton, Christopher Jackson and Taran Killam, among others.Season 3 of Disney Junior’s Vampirina premieres Monday, October 5, 11 a.m.

Tony- and Grammy-winning talent Audra McDonald said the eerie silence from the Broadway community after George Floyd's death back in May bothered her so much that she co-launched Black Theatre United, an advocacy coalition of Black Broadway stars focused on increasing equality and representation on stage and beyond. "The theater community comes together to raise awareness for lots of issues — LGBTQ issues, issues with immigration, things like that.

Fiona Apple has contributed her iconic lyricism to the upcoming season finale of Apple TV+'s musical cartoon, Central Park.

Cynthia Erivo gave an incredible performance for a Fourth of July performance!

Jennifer Hudson transforms into late music icon Aretha Franklin in the trailer for upcoming biopic Respect.The trailer, which debuted during the 2020 BET Awards Sunday (June 28), launches with the silhouette of the singer on stage, before the word "respect" lights up in giant capital letters behind her.

The trailer for the upcoming Aretha Franklin biopic Respect has been released!

Michael Appler Six-time Tony Award-winner Audra McDonald added to her trophy case on Friday night, picking up a win at the inaugural Antonyo Awards, a celebration of Black theater artists.“Let’s celebrate with each other,” McDonald said, accepting her award for best actor in a play on Broadway before the virtual audience of theatergoers.

Greg Evans Associate Editor/Broadway CriticAudra McDonald, Tina – The Tina Turner Musical and its star Adrienne Warren, LaChanze, Aziza Barnes’ play BLKS and the Off Broadway revival of Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf were among the big winners at tonight’s inaugural Antonyo Awards for black theater artists on Broadway and Off Broadway.McDonald took the award for Best Actor in a Play on Broadway for her performance in the Broadway revival

Greg Evans Associate Editor/Broadway CriticThe first annual Antonyo Awards honoring black Broadway and Off Broadway theater artists is set for streaming on June 19 (aka Juneteenth, the date commemorating the end of slavery in America).Created by Broadway Black, a multimedia organization that includes a website and podcast, the new awards ceremony will feature presenters and performers including Audra McDonald, Tituss Burgess, Alex Newell, Jordan E.

Dozens of celebs are encouraging their fans to remember Louisville native Breonna Taylor ahead of what would have been her 27th birthday on Friday (June 5). Taylor's name has been chanted and evoked by the thousands of protesters who've taken to the streets over the p

NEW YORK -- Jesse Tyler Ferguson is a star in his own right but even he has had to gulp at the wattage on tap for the upcoming benefit for New York City's fabled Public Theater.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson is a star in his own right but even he has had to gulp at the wattage on tap for the upcoming benefit for New York City’s fabled Public Theater.

Tony winner Audra McDonald and 60 Minutes correspondent John Dickerson on Monday will host the one-night-only benefit concert A Night of Covenant House Stars to support the nonprofit organization Covenant House's COVID-19 relief efforts. The virtual show will feature a star-studded lineup with appearances by Meryl Streep, Morgan Freeman, Dolly Parton, Diane Keaton, Jon Bon Jovi, Stephen Colbert, Dionne Warwick, Stephanie J.

By Marc Malkin

Jon Bon Jovi, Dolly Parton, Meryl Streep and more stars united over livestream on Monday (May 18) for "A Night Of Covenant House Stars," a concert benefiting the Covenant House charity.