Opera singer and six-time Tony Award winner, Audra McDonald, the grand marshal of the 135th Rose Parade, strolled out of the parade’s headquarters house on Monday, Jan. 1, quickly entering the open car that she rode in along the 5.5-mile parade route.
Even prior to the parade kicking off, McDonald walked the ground of the Tournament House, already impressed with the sights and sounds of the New Year’s tradition.
“It’s more than what I expected so far,” she said early Monday morning.
McDonald, 53, is best known for her accomplished career on the Broadway stage, where she’s been awarded more Tony Award performance wins than any other actor.
She grew up in Fresno before attending the prestigious Juilliard School performing arts conservatory in New York City for her vocal training.
When she was announced as grand marshal on Dec. 1, McDonald recalled how she and her father would watch the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl every year.
“As a California kid very proud to be from Fresno, the New Year was always ushered in with the Rose Bowl,” she said. “My dad would just be so thrilled, surprised but very thrilled that I was serving as the Rose Parade grand marshal.”
“This is for you dad,” McDonald added.
While McDonald certainly upholds the parade’s theme “Celebrating A World of Music,” she is more than a singer. In her career, she has branched out from singing to acting on Broadway, the big screen and television.
She won her fist Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in the musical “Carousel,” and later, winning two more in featured actress roles for performances on Broadway for Terrence McNally’s play “Master Class” in 1996 and his musical “Ragtime” in 1998. The remarkable milestones equaled a total of three Tony Awards before turning 30.
She later won Tony Awards for “A Raisin in the Sun,” in 2004 and “The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess” in 2012. She made history picking up her sixth Tony Award…
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