McDonald will perform the show May 1. Performances will resume May 4 at the Roundabout Theatre Company's Studio 54, a spokesman said. McDonald has been in previews playing Lizzie in the revival of the N. Richard Nash-Tom Jones-Harvey Schmidt musical based on The Rainmaker.

The scheduled opening night is May 9. Lonny Price directs.

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Stanley McDonald Jr., father of the four-time Tony Award-winning actress, was killed in an aviation accident near Olivehurst, CA.

An experienced pilot, he was reportedly flying a single-occupant experimental aircraft known as a gyroplane when it apparently experienced mechanical trouble. Around noon Pacific time, the helicopter-like aircraft crashed onto the southbound lanes of Highway 70 near Olivehurst, Yuba County police said. Mr. McDonald, of Fresno, was 62 years old.

Stanley McDonald was serving in the U.S. Army and stationed in Germany at the time of Audra's birth in 1970. She and younger sister Alison grew up in Fresno.

He was reportedly an experienced helicopter and fixed-wing pilot, and had built the craft himself. The crash is being investigated by The Federal Aviation Administration and the California Highway Patrol.