McDonald, who plays the role of Bess in The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, won her first Tony Award in 1994 for Carousel, in which she played the role of Carrie Pipperidge. In 1996 she took home the Featured Actress Tony Award for her performance as Sharon in Master Class. She also received Featured Actress Tonys for Ragtime, in which she played Sarah, and A Raisin in the Sun, for the role of Ruth Younger. The 2012 Tony is her first Best Actress Tony Award.
“I don’t think that it’s ever going to hit me, and that’s the truth,” McDonald said to press following her fifth Tony win. “It’s the only thing I wanted to do. It’s the only thing I’m good at... It’s the only thing that fulfills me the way it does. Theatre is where I found who I was.”
To learn more about McDonald’s theatrical history, visit her page at the Playbill Vault.
Lansbury, who is currently represented on Broadway with Gore Vidal’s The Best Man, won Tony Awards for her performances in Mame, Dear World, Gypsy, Sweeney Todd and Blithe Spirit.
Harris won Tony Awards for her performances in I Am a Camera, The Lark, Forty Carats, The Last of Mrs. Lincoln and The Belle of Amherst. She also received a Lifetime Achievement Tony Award in 2002.