Audra McDonald is set to begin performances of 110 in the Shade at the Hale Center Theater in Orem, Utah, tonight. She reprises her Tony-nominated role as Lizzie Curry in a special limited-engagement of the show, through July 10, joined by Will Swenson, her co-star from the 2007 Broadway revival of the play. Both actors are donating their time and talents for this run of performances, with ticket proceeds going to support the nonprofit Hale Center Foundation for the Arts and Education.

McDonald spoke with the Salt Lake Tribune this spring about the performances. "You need to support the arts in your community," she told the paper. "Especially in this day and age when the arts are taking a back seat in schools because of money not being available." There's also an interesting look at the special sound design created for the Hale Center performances in the Salt Lake Tribune at sltrib.com.

PBS viewers across the United States may have seen McDonald in the special America's Orchestra: Celebrating 125 Years of the Boston Pops. The program, hosted by Craig Ferguson, features moments from the orchestra’s 125-year history, also featuring Kristin Chenoweth, Bernadette Peters, Nathan Lane, Vanessa Williams, Josh Groban, James Taylor, Yo-Yo Ma, Wynton Marsalis, and Roberta Flack, along with archival footage from artists including k.d. lang. To see if America's Orchestra is playing again on a PBS station near you, visit pbs.org.

The PBS broadcast is fitting timing, given that, immediately following McDonald's performances in 110 in the Shade, she will make her debut at Tanglewood, the summer home of the Pops' sister orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, in Lenox, Massachusetts, on July 18. For more information on this and other upcoming live performances, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.