When Audra McDonald gained her first Tony Award at 23, it was only the start of a record-breaking Broadway profession. Earlier this month, she acquired her eleventh Tony nomination, making her essentially the most Tony-nominated actor of all time.
McDonald acquired the nomination for her portrayal of Mama Rose within the newest Broadway revival of “Gypsy.” If she wins this Sunday, she’ll make historical past because the performer with the most Tonys ever.
Earlier than she found the stage, McDonald described herself as a hyperactive child who would categorical her feelings ceaselessly.
“I had massive emotions. I had music in my coronary heart. And so as soon as I discovered theater, it was like I’ve a spot to place my massive emotions now,” she mentioned.
These feelings are on full show as Mama Rose, a personality primarily based on the real-life mom of famed burlesque entertainer Gypsy Rose Lee. It’s at present being proven on the Majestic Theatre. Within the musical, Mama Rose is an intense stage mother.
McDonald first stepped into the position throughout a live performance at Carnegie Corridor in 2022, performing the musical’s emotional climax “Rose’s Flip.”
“It was the identical time of yr that I used to be on the brink of ship my daughter off to varsity. And I used to be coping with all this rage I used to be having at my candy, fantastic daughter,” McDonald mentioned. “And I burst into tears and I spotted it is as a result of my child’s leaving and I am unhappy. So then that was my first kind, like, emotional dive into Rose.”
McDonald is the primary Black lady to painting Mama Rose on Broadway. Director George C. Wolfe guided her interpretation of what Rose can be experiencing within the Twenties and 30s, with not one phrase of the unique script modified.
“George talks so much about Rose’s obsession with the youngsters turning into stars is as a result of being a star protects you not directly. You bought star cash, you could possibly eat. You bought star cash, possibly you will not be lynched,” McDonald defined. “And so she as a single lady at the moment, deserted thrice by her husbands, deserted by her mom, probably not handled all that properly by her father, she’s tryin’ to guard these infants.”
Behind the Curtain
The “CBS Mornings” interview went backstage to search out out what occurs when the curtain closes. McDonald and her co-star Danny Burstein are “of a sure age,” she laughed, noting they do not run up the steps after performances.
McDonald confirmed how she warms as much as tackle the demanding position.
“One factor {that a} lotta singers do is buzzing. Similar to (buzzing), you are doing issues like that simply to type of and folks do this, whether or not you are singing or not. It is good simply to type of guarantee that all the things’s type of transferring and wholesome. And , to do it eight instances every week,” she mentioned.
Inspiring the following technology
Regardless of her numerous accolades, McDonald nonetheless struggles with being referred to as a legend.
“If it may imply one thing to some little Black woman someplace who says ‘She did it and she or he appears like me so I can do it,’ nice,” she mentioned. “However I can not actually comprehend what meaning to me about me. You recognize what I imply? ‘Trigger I can not, , as I see how soiled my closet is, and the truth that I’ve not accomplished laundry in 4 weeks.”
When requested about her personal legends, McDonald grew to become emotional whereas naming the likes of Diahann Carroll, Ruby Dee and Lena Horne.
“They don’t seem to be right here. They usually meant so much to me. I may see them. They had been doing it. They regarded like me,” she mentioned.
The 78th Annual Tony Awards will happen this Sunday, June 8, 2025, at Radio Metropolis Music Corridor in New York Metropolis. You possibly can watch the on CBS and stream reside on Paramount+
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