Audra McDonald becomes most Tony Award-nominated performer in history

The actress, up for her star turn as Momma Rose in the classic musical revival, is already the most Tony-winning performer ever with six prizes to her name.

With her 11th Tony Award nomination, for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for Gypsy, Audra McDonald is now the most Tony-nominated performer in Broadway history. She is already the most Tony-winning performer in history with six wins as of 2014.

McDonald made her Broadway debut as a replacement in 1991's The Secret Garden and, in 1994, went on to originate her first Broadway role: Carrie Pipperidge in a revival of Carousel. She won her first Tony for that performance, and she later won for Master Class, Ragtime, A Raisin in the Sun, The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess, and Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill.

Additional nominations were for Marie Christine, 110 in the Shade, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, and, most recently, Ohio State Murders in 2022. Learn more about Audra McDonald's Broadway career.

In Gypsy, a revival of the 1959 classic, she tackles the lead role of Momma Rose, an iconic part played by fellow Broadway legends like Ethel Merman, Bernadette Peters, and Patti LuPone over the years. Momma Rose is known as the ultimate "stage mother" who does anything she must to make her two daughters into vaudeville stars.

"As a Black actor, Rose was never a character I thought I would play until my dear friend Gavin Creel planted the idea in my head," McDonald said in a written statement about her nomination. "It took a long time for the idea to germinate, and I never would’ve been able to get here without the vision of our director George C. Wolfe, and the immense talent of our creative team and cast. I feel so incredibly grateful to share this Gypsy with the world and to be a part of the legacy of one of the most perfect musicals ever written."

Gypsy is nominated for four additional Tony Awards: Best Revival of a Musical, Best Choreography (for Camille A. Brown), and acting honors for Danny Burstein and Joy Woods.

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Photo credit: Audra McDonald in Gypsy on Broadway. (Photo by Julieta Cervantes)