AUDRA MCDONALD, JULIAN OVENDEN,
MARISHA WALLACE AND PATRICK WILSON
ARE THE FIRST FOUR HEADLINE ARTISTS ANNOUNCED FOR
MY FAVORITE THINGS:
THE RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN
80TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT
WITH 40-PIECE ORCHESTRA
AT LONDON’S THEATRE ROYAL DRURY LANE
FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY ON DECEMBER 12, 2023
The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization today announce that Emmy®, two-time GRAMMY® and six-time Tony Award® winner Audra McDonald, Olivier Award® nominee Julian Ovenden, Olivier Award nominee Marisha Wallace, and two-time Tony, two-time Golden Globe® and Emmy Awardnominee Patrick Wilson are the first four leading names to be revealed forthe previously announced My Favorite Things: The Rodgers & Hammerstein 80th Anniversary Concert. Featuring a 40-piece orchestra, the gala will be presented onDecember 12, 2023, at London’s newly restored Theatre Royal Drury Lane – the same venue that premiered the original West End productions of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, and The King and I. Additional headliners will be announced shortly.
All the announced stars have deep connections to R&H. Highlights include: McDonald won her first Tony Award for her portrayal of Carrie Pipperidge in the 1994 Broadway revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel; Ovenden received a 2023 Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical for his Emile de Becque in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific; Wallace’s performance of Ado Annie in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! at the Young Vic garnered her a 2023 Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical; and Wilson received a Tony Award nomination for leading the 2002 Broadway revival of Oklahoma! as Curly.
Directed and staged by Tony Award-winning director and choreographer Christopher Gattelli, the celebration of the historic partnership of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II will feature the Rodgers & Hammerstein Concert Orchestra, conducted by Simon Lee, along with a West End chamber choir, dance ensemble and surprise guest appearances. Artist lineup subject to change.
Tickets are currently on sale at RH80Concert.com.
Presented by The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, the concert is produced by Concord Originals, Concord Theatricals, Kilimanjaro Live/JAS Theatricals and Trafalgar Entertainment.
BIOGRAPHIES
Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II
After long and highly distinguished careers with other collaborators, Richard Rodgers (Composer, 1902-79) and Oscar Hammerstein II (Librettist/Lyricist, 1895-1960) joined forces in 1943 to create the most successful partnership in American Musical Theatre. Prior to joining forces, Rodgers collaborated with lyricist Lorenz Hart on musical comedies that epitomized wit and sophistication (Pal Joey, On Your Toes, Babes In Arms and more), while Hammerstein brought new life to operetta and created the classic Show Boat with Jerome Kern. Oklahoma!, the first Rodgers & Hammerstein musical, introduced an integrated form that became known as “the musical play.” Their shows that followed included Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I and The Sound of Music. Collectively, the Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals have earned Tony, Oscar, GRAMMY, Emmy, Pulitzer, and Olivier Awards. The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization is a Concord Company, www.concord.com.
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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 the 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 Rodgers & Hammerstein’s 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 (Tony nomination).
On television, she was seen by millions as the Mother Abbess in NBC’s “The Sound of Music Live!,” won an Emmy Award for her role as host of PBS’s “Live From Lincoln Center,” and received Emmy nominations for Wit, A Raisin in the Sun and Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill. Having played Dr. Naomi Bennett on Shonda Rhimes’s “Private Practice” (ABC), and Liz Reddick (formerly Lawrence) on both “The Good Wife” (CBS) and “The Good Fight” (Paramount+), she may now be seen as Dorothy Scott on Julian Fellowes’ “The Gilded Age” (HBO). 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, Cinergistik’s documentary Whitney Houston in Focus, the Obamas’ Higher Ground Productions’ Rustin, and MGM’s Aretha Franklin biopic, Respect.
McDonald is a Juilliard-trained soprano, whose 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. She 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. She is a founding member of Black Theatre United, board member of Covenant House International, and prominent advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights, whose favorite roles are those performed offstage, as an activist, wife to actor Will Swenson and mother.
Julian Ovenden has built a reputation over the last two decades as a truly versatile performer in constant demand on stage and screen, in concert and in the recording studio.
Theatre work includes leading roles at the Donmar Warehouse, the Almeida, the Theatre Royal Haymarket, the Young Vic, the RSC, Roundabout Theatre Company in NYC, and in the West End and on Broadway. Most recent stage work includes starring opposite Gillian Anderson in Ivo Van Hove’s All About Eve, and playing Emile de Becque in the smash hit revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific, directed by Daniel Evans at Chichester Festival and Sadler’s Wells, for which he was nominated for the 2023 Olivier Award for Leading Actor in a Musical.
Julian has starred in many TV shows on both sides of the Atlantic, including “Downton Abbey,” “Foyle’s War,” “Person of Interest,” “Any Human Heart,” “Knightfall,” “Smash,” “The Crown,” “The Sound of Music Live” and “Adult Material.” Recent screen work includes the second season of Armando Ianucci’s “Avenue 5”for HBO, the global hit “Bridgerton” for Netflix and Shonda Rimes, and The People You Hate At The Wedding for Amazon. Julian has just begun to film the second season of “Trigger Point” for ITV and Jed Mercurio.
As a singer, Julian has headlined at some of the world’s great venues, including Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House, the Royal Opera House, the Concertgebouw, the Palladium, the Royal Albert Hall and the Royal Festival Hall. He has been a recording artist for both Warner Music and Universal. His latest recording work includes a Broadway duets album with American soprano Sierra Boggess, and Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel for John Wilson and the London Sinfonia.
Olivier nominated actress, singer and songwriter Marisha Wallace is a Broadway and West End sensation. She’s best known for starring in Guys & Dolls, Disney’s Aladdin, Dreamgirls, Something Rotten!, Waitress, Hairspray and most recently taking on the role of Ado Annie in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! at the Young Vic, where she was nominated for an Olivier Award. Marisha is currently starring in Guys & Dolls where she received five-star reviews as Miss Adelaide.
She’s topped the music charts with her cover of Annie’s “Tomorrow,” released at the peak of the pandemic to raise funds for performers out of work and been playlisted on Radio 2 with her singles and subsequent album. Marisha took her album and EPs around the UK and the US with the Tomorrow tour. The tour was rated top 10 best concert in Minneapolis along with Harry Styles and Erykah Badu.
Marking her TV debut in 2021, Marisha starred in season two of Netflix’s “Feel Good” alongside Mae Martin, Lisa Kudrow and Eve, and in CBBC’s “Almost Never.” This added to an already incredible 12 months for Marisha where she fronted a Charlotte Tilbury campaign, performed on “This Morning” to celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride, had Radio 2’s Album of the Week, performed on “Strictly Come Dancing,” “Dancing on Ice,” “Britain’s Got Talent” and sang for the Queen at the Royal Variety Show and Festival of Remembrance.
Patrick Wilson is a critically acclaimed and award-winning actor who has quickly become well known for his vast variety of work. Over the years, Wilson has tackled lead roles in major Broadway musicals as well as starring in big-budget blockbusters.
He starred in the global sensation Aquaman, directed by James Wan. Wilson portrayed ORM, Aquaman’s (Jason Momoa) supervillain half-brother. The film was released in December 2018, with the box office surpassing $1 billion.
Patrick is widely acclaimed for his role of Ed Warren in The Conjuring franchise. The Conjuring is one of the top 5 highest grossing supernatural films of all time. The Conjuring 2 released in 2016 and grossed an impressive $40 million in its opening weekend. The Conjuring 3 (The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It) was released in May 2021.
Most recently, Patrick made his directorial debut as well as starring in Insidious 5 (Insidious: The Red Door), which became the highest grossing film in the franchise. Also set to come out this year, Wilson will return in the highly anticipated sequel Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Further down the line in 2024, the 4th Conjuring movie, The Conjuring: Last Rites, is set to be released. You can also anticipate seeing Wilson in Tunnels, directed by John Krokidas, which he will be starring in alongside Jaeden Martell, Alicia Silverstone and Anna Faris.
Additional film credits include Moonfall, Midway, In The Tall Grass, Annabelle Comes Home, The Nun, The Commuter, The Founder, A Kind of Murder, The Hollow Point, Bone Tomahawk, Zipper, Home Sweet Hell, Matters of the Heart, Jack Strong, Big Stone Gap, Stretch, Space Station 76, Insidious: Chapter 2, Insidious, Prometheus, Young Adult, The Ledge, Morning Glory, The Switch, The A-Team, Barry Munday, Watchmen, Life in Flight, Passengers, Lakeview Terrace, Purple Violets, Brothers Three: An American Gothic, Little Children, Running with Scissors, Hard Candy, The Phantom of the Opera, The Alamo and My Sister’s Wedding.
In 2015, Wilson garnered Critics’ Choice and Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor in a Limited Series for his portrayal as Lou Solverson in the hit TV series “Fargo.”Also on the small screen, Wilson received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for his portrayal of the morally conflicted Joe Pitt in the HBO miniseries “Angels In America: Millennium Approaches,” the much honored 2003 adaptation of Tony Kushner’s award-winning “Angels In America: Perestroika.”He also starred in “A Gifted Man,” and the second season of the award-winning HBO original series “Girls.” The episode, “One Man’s Trash,” became one of the most talked about episodes of the show’s history, as well as one of the most watched episodes of the season. Additional television credits include appearances in “The Other Two,” “Little Demon” and “Teen Titans, Go!”
Wilson has also been honored with two consecutive Tony Award nominations for Best Actor in a Musical, one for his performance as Curly in the successful 2002 Broadway revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!, for which he also received a Drama Desk Award nomination. He earned his first Tony nomination for his work in the 2001 Broadway hit The Full Monty, for which he also garnered Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations and won a Drama League Award. In 2006, he returned to Broadway to star in the revival of the Neil Simon comedy Barefoot in the Park, opposite Amanda Peet. His most recent Broadway credit is the 2008-2009 revival of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons, with John Lithgow, Dianne West and Katie Holmes.
Wilson, along with other film industry insiders, have formed a theatre development company named Cinema Lab, which will focus on the restoration of theatres impacted by the pandemic. The group plans to buy, renovate and revive theatres across the U.S.
Born in Virginia and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida, Wilson earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Carnegie Mellon University. Starting his career on the stage, he earned applause in the national tours of Miss Saigon and Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel. In 1999, he starred Off-Broadway in Bright Lights, Big City, winning a Drama League Award and a Drama Desk Award nomination. That same year, he made his Broadway debut in Gershwin’s Fascinating Rhythm, for which he won another Drama League Award.
Patrick currently resides in New Jersey with his family.