State Theatre New Jersey Presents Audra McDonald in Concert



Audra McDonald, photo © Allison Michael Orenstein

(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) — State Theatre New Jersey presents Tony®, Grammy®, and Emmy® Award-winning artist, Audra McDonald in Concert on Sunday, January 21, 2024 at 7:30pm. McDonald is joined by music director and pianist, Andy Einhorn. Tickets range from $49-$99.

Audra McDonald is unparalleled in the breadth and versatility of her artistry as both a singer and an actor. The winner of a record-breaking six Tony® Awards, two Grammy® Awards and an Emmy®, in 2015 she was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people and received the National Medal of Arts—America’s highest honor for achievement in the field—from President Barack Obama. 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 Olivier Award-nominated 2017 debut in London’s West End—she has appeared on Broadway in The Secret Garden; Marie Christine (Tony® nomination); Henry IV; 110 in the Shade (Tony® nomination); Shuffle Along, or, The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed; Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune (Tony® nomination); and Ohio State Murders (Tony® nomination). 

On television, she was seen by millions as the Mother Abbess in NBC’s The Sound of Music Live!, won an Emmy® Award for her role as host of PBS’s Live From Lincoln Center, and received Emmy® nominations for Wit, A Raisin in the Sun and Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill. Having played Dr. Naomi Bennett on Shonda Rhimes’s Private Practice (ABC) and Liz Reddick (formerly Lawrence) on both The Good Wife (CBS) and The Good Fight (Paramount+), she may now be seen as Dorothy Scott on Julian Fellowes’s The Gilded Age (HBO). 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, Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast, the movie-musical Hello Again, Cinergistik’s documentary Whitney Houston in Focus, the Obamas’ Higher Ground Productions’ Rustin, and MGM’s Aretha Franklin biopic, Respect.

McDonald is a Juilliard-trained soprano, whose 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, where the resulting recording earned her two Grammy® Awards. She has issued five solo albums on the Nonesuch label as well as Sing Happy with the New York Philharmonic on Decca Gold. She also maintains a major career as a concert artist, regularly appearing on the great stages of the world and with leading international orchestras. She is a founding member of Black Theatre United, board member of Covenant House International, and prominent advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights, whose favorite roles are those performed offstage, as an activist, wife to actor Will Swenson, and mother.

Andy Einhorn, Music Director & Pianist – Leading Broadway music director and conductor, Andy Einhorn, most recently served as the music supervisor and musical director for the Broadway productions of Hello, Dolly! starring Bette Midler (Grammy® nomination, OBCR) and Carousel starring Renée Fleming (Grammy® nomination, OBCR.) Einhorn’s previous Broadway music directing and conducting credits include Holiday Inn, Woody Allen’s Bullets Over Broadway, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Brief Encounter, and Sondheim on Sondheim. Other Broadway works include Evita and The Light in the Piazza.

Since 2011, Einhorn has served as music director and pianist for six-time Tony® Award-winner, Audra McDonald, performing with her at such prestigious orchestras and venues including The New York Philharmonic, Boston Pops at Tanglewood, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom, Cincinnati; Pops, Chicago Symphony at Ravinia, Los Angeles Opera,Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney ConcertHall and a series of recorded concerts with Sydney Symphony at the Sydney Opera House in Australia. He most recently made his debut at New York City Center. They have recorded two albums together: Sing Happy: Live with the New York Philharmonic and Go Back Home. 

For tickets, more information, or group discounts, call State Theatre Guest Services at 732-246-SHOW (7469) or visit online at STNJ.org. State Theatre Guest Services, located at 15 Livingston Ave, New Brunswick NJ, is open by phone and email only, Tuesday through Friday from 11:00am to 5:00pm. For in-person purchases, Guest Services is open Tuesday through Friday from 12:00pm to 4:30pm. Additional ticket and transaction fees may apply.

After major renovations, State Theatre New Jersey celebrated its 100th Anniversary in December 2021 in a fully renovated theater including newly renovated lobbies, all new restrooms, upgraded HVAC systems, a new elevator for access to all levels, and brand-new theater seats. Originally built as a silent film and vaudeville palace, State Theatre’s historic significance was honored by PBS by featuring it in its documentary series, Treasures of New Jersey, in the fall of 2018. “Treasures of New Jersey: State Theatre New Jersey” can be streamed online.

Today, State Theatre is the largest performing arts center in Central New Jersey and has welcomed more than six million people through its doors since reopening as a nonprofit performing arts center in 1988. State Theatre New Jersey is a cornerstone of the cultural vitality of Middlesex County and averages a total economic impact on New Brunswick and the surrounding area of more than $18 million a year. The mainstage programs have featured high-caliber artists such as Diana Ross, Tom Jones, Kevin Hart, Ringo Starr, Melissa Etheridge, John Leguizamo, Harry Connick, Jr., Diana Krall, and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Program offerings include Broadway, orchestra, family, dance, comedy, rock/pop, jazz, Performances for Schools, and Sensory-Friendly Performances. 

State Theatre New Jersey’s programs are made possible by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. Grant funding has been provided by the Middlesex County Board of County Commissioners through a grant award from the Middlesex County Cultural and Arts Trust Fund.