Shows & Events

Audra McDonald: A Concert for Long Wharf Theatre

When

May 15, 2023

5:30 pm – 10:00 pm

Where

Lyman Center, 501 Crescent Street, New Haven

Get Your Tickets!

Audra McDonald: A Concert for Long Wharf Theatre

Auction Open Now!

Support Long Wharf Theatre today by bidding on more than 50 unique items in our online silent auction! This year’s auction offers a wide range of exclusive items. But don’t wait — the online silent auction closes Monday, May 15 at 9:45 PM EST.

Click here to browse and bid!

Learn More About Sponsorship

Become A Sponsor

Join Us for a One-Night-Only Performance by Audra McDonald to Benefit Long Wharf Theatre.

The incomparable, boundary-breaking artist Audra McDonald — Broadway legend, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony-award winning performer, and all-around superstar — returns to New Haven to headline Long Wharf Theatre’s annual benefit event.

AUDRA McDONALD: A Concert for Long Wharf Theatre promises to be a powerful evening celebrating our thrilling next chapter. Our event will be held at the John Lyman Center for the Performing Arts at Southern Connecticut State University featuring a pre-show cocktail reception, silent auction, and after party to dance the night away!

Don’t miss this unforgettable evening of music, food, and festivities to support Long Wharf Theatre’s vision to make theatre for everyone.

Become a Sponsor today!

Questions about the event? Contact Nicole Makos, Development and Events Manager.

Featuring

Audra McDonald

Headliner she/her

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 a 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.

On television, she was seen by millions as the Mother Abbess in NBC’s The Sound of Music Live! and played Dr. Naomi Bennett on ABC’s Private Practice. She won an Emmy Award for her role as host of PBS’s Live From Lincoln Center and has received nominations for Wit, A Raisin in the Sun, and Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill. Having first appeared on CBS’s The Good Wife, she plays Liz Reddick in The Good Fight on Paramount+ and Dorothy Scott in Julian Fellowes’s historical drama The Gilded Age on HBO and HBO Max. 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, and MGM’s Aretha Franklin biopic, Respect.

A Juilliard-trained soprano, her 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. McDonald 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. A founding member of Black Theatre United, board member of Covenant House International, and prominent advocate for LGBTQAI+ rights, her favorite roles are those performed offstage, as an activist, wife to actor Will Swenson, and mother.

Photo by Allison Michael Orenstein

Know Before You Go

Parking

Free parking for guests in lots P-2, P-5, P-12, and P-12B. The two closest lots are P-5 and P-12. Parking is on a first-come, first-served basis. On-site valet parking will also be available at the event.

SCSU Parking Map

Driving Directions

via I-95 North
I-95, Exit 44 (Kimberly Avenue, Route 10). Turn right at the end of the exit onto Kimberly Avenue, then left at the stoplight onto Ella Grasso Boulevard, Route 10. Ella Grasso Boulevard ends at Crescent Street, near the south entrance of the campus. Turn left on to Crescent Street. The entrance to the Lyman Center will be on your righthand side.
via I-95 South
I-95, Exit 44 (Ella Grasso Boulevard, Route 10). Follow Ella Grasso Boulevard north. Ella Grasso Boulevard ends at Crescent Street, near the south entrance of the campus. Turn left on to Crescent Street. The entrance to the Lyman Center will be on your righthand side.
via Rt. 15 North
Rt. 15, Merritt-Wilbur Cross Parkway, Exit 59 (Whalley Avenue). Head south on Whalley Avenue, turn left onto Fitch Street, which bisects the campus. Turn right on to Crescent Street. The entrance to the Lyman Center will be on your lefthand side.
via Rt. 15 South
Rt. 15, Wilbur Cross Parkway, Exit 60 at Dixwell Avenue. Head south on Dixwell Avenue to Arch Street. Turn right at Arch Street and left at Fitch Street, which bisects the campus. Turn left on to Crescent Street. The entrance to the Lyman Center will be on your left-hand side.

Public Transportation

CT Transit #243 – Whalley Avenue: Brookside (243B)
The nearest stop is Fitch Street, with a 0.3 mile walk to the John Lyman Center for the Performing Arts.
Visit CT Transit to plan your trip or use the links below:

243 Route Map

243 Weekday Schedule