‘Beauty’ queen

Broadway royal, movie star Audra McDonald to perform OKC concert.

Audra McDonald considers her upcoming Oklahoma debut “a chance to meet some new friends.”

“I am always so excited to get to know a new audience. My concerts are very personal experiences,” McDonald wrote in an email interview Wednesday from her home in Westchester County, New York, where she was resting her voice while fighting the flu.

“I want the audience to feel like we’re spending some time in my living room chatting and singing and getting to know a little more about each other by the end of the night.”

The Sooner State finally will get an audience with the universally heralded “Queen of Broadway” when the six-time Tony Award winner makes her Oklahoma bow April 2 at Oklahoma City Community College’s Visual and Performing Arts Center Theater.

Also a cast member of the biggest movie in the world right now — Disney’s live-action remake of “Beauty and the Beast,” which crossed the $400 million mark in global box office in less than a week — McDonald, 46, will perform the Broadway-style concert to raise funds for Oklahoma City Repertory Theatre, a nonprofit regional theater.

“The arts are so important not only to society but to ourselves as human beings. It keeps in touch with our own humanity. So access to the arts in any way, shape, or form is vital,” said McDonald, who fell ill as she was completing the demanding publicity rounds for “Beauty and the Beast.”

“I grew up in a nonprofit theater company in the heartland of central California, so I am very aware of the importance that company had not only on my life but my community. I’m thrilled to be able to participate in this benefit.”

Esteemed entertainer

In concert, McDonald said she favors American musical theater selections dating back as far as 1928 and as recent as 2013. Just taking into account the shows