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.
Related: Complete coverage of 2024 Rose Parade
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 for her portrayal of Billie Holiday in “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill” in 2014.
On television, she’s played notable roles on Shonda Rhimes’s “Private Practice” (ABC), “The Good Wife” (CBS) and the sequel “The Good Fight” (Paramount+). She can now be seen as Dorothy Scott on HBO’s “The Gilded Age.” She’s also appeared on film in “The Object of My Affection,” “Cradle Will Rock” and in Disney’s live action “Beauty and the Beast.” Recently, she had roles in Obamas’ Higher Ground Production of “Rustin” and MGM’s Aretha Franklin biopic “Respect.”
In her music career, McDonald has performed in staged operas with the Houston Grand Opera and the Los Angeles Opera, as well as in concerts with symphony orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic and New York Philharmonic. She earned Grammy Awards for Best Classical Album and Best Opera Recording for her recording of Kurt Weill’s “Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny” (2008) with the Los Angeles Opera.
She’s been an advocate for equal rights, LGBTQIA+ causes and at-risk youth. She co-founded the Black Theatre United, an organization for social action and one that fights against systematic racism both in the entertainment industry and nationwide.
McDonald is married to actor Will Swenson. The couple received the PFLAG National’s Straight for Equality Award and were featured in anti-bullying campaigns by various groups.
McDonald was awarded the 2015 National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama and was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2017.
McDonald joins a list of past grand marshals that have made major marks on the culture over generations, whether it was from entertainment to sports to politics to science and the environment.
That roster includes U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, Shirley Temple, Walt Disney, Hank Aaron, Jackie Robinson, Jane Goodall and Vin Scully. Last year’s grand marshal was Gabby Giffords, the former Arizona congresswoman who forged new paths in life after Jan. 8, 2011, when she was shot in the head by a gunman who ultimately killed six people and injured 12 others.
SCNG staff writers John Orona and Christina Merino contributed to this article.