Audra McDonald's performance at the Gilmore Festival late last month in Kalamazoo, Michigan, with Ted Sperling on piano, Mark Vanderpoel on bass, and Dave Ratajczak on drums, says the Kalamazoo Gazette's Linda S. Mah, was "absolutely enchanting." Writes Mah: "Elegant, smooth and funny, McDonald was the consummate performer."
Audra's performance in the TV-movie version of Lorraine Hansberry's 1959 play A Raisin in the Sun, which first aired earlier this year on ABC, is available today on DVD. She and her co-stars in the film, Sean Combs, Phylicia Rashad, and Sanaa Lathan, had appeared in the 2004 Broadway revival of the play, for which McDonald and Rashad earned Tony awards. The New York Post called the ABC broadcast "the cultural high point" of the TV season.
The DVD includes audio commentary by director Kenny Leon (who also directed the Broadway revival) and a featurette titled Dreams Worthwhile: The Journey of "A Raising in the Sun."
