Tony Winner Audra McDonald Returns to Broadway’s Porgy and Bess

Porgy and Bess headliner Audra McDonald returns to the Tony-winning revival as scheduled on July 5 after two weeks of vocal rest. McDonald left the production on June 20 due to a respiratory infection which caused her vocal chords inflaming to a point where she was unable to sing. McDonald, who nabbed for fifth Tony Award for playing Bess, will now play seven performances a week, with her understudy, Alicia Hall Moran, playing Bess on Wednesday evenings.

Set in Charleston’s fabled Catfish Row, Porgy and Bess follows beautiful Bess (McDonald) as she struggles to break free from her scandalous past, and the only one who can rescue her is the crippled but courageous Porgy (Norm Lewis). Directed by Diane Paulus and featuring a revised book by Suzan-Lori Parks and Diedre L. Murray, the production also stars David Alan Grier, Joshua Henry, Philip Boykin, Nikki Renee Daniels, Chistopher Innvar, Bryonha Marie Parham and NaTasha Yvette Williams.

Porgy and Bess continues to play at the Richard Rodgers Theatre through September 30.