This Monday, Audra will be the honoree at The Drama League’s 29th Musical Celebration of Broadway at Manhattan’s famed Pierre Hotel. The black-tie gala supports The Drama League’s educational initiatives for promising young artists. This past May Audra received the Drama League’s 2012 Distinguished Performance Award for her role in The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess. “Audra McDonald, in my view, is the once-in-a-generation performer of our time,” Drama League executive director Gabriel Shanks said in a statement. “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to honor her achievements in film, television, recording, and in the theater.”

Audra was recently named the 2013 Margaret Hill Endowed Visiting Artist at Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana. To kick off this new collaboration, Saint Mary’s College will present “An Evening with Audra McDonald,” as part of the Margaret Hill Endowed Visiting Artist Series at the college on Monday night, January 28. During the day, Audra will teach a master class for Saint Mary’s students and will participate in a public Q&A session.  In an interview with Saint Mary’s newspaper, The Observer, Audra said, “My main goal is to make the student as comfortable as possible and in a sense make every one else in the room ‘disappear’ so that it is just the two of us exploring the material. I think these one-shot evaluations have value because any chance to perform for a live audience is a lesson within itself.” To learn more about Audra’s master class, click here.

Audra and husband Will Swenson celebrated President Obama’s inauguration by performing at the Human Rights Campaign’s Out for Equality Ball in Washington, D.C. The evening also featured performances by pop icon Cyndi Lauper, American Idol contestant and Rent vet Frenchie Davis, and the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, D.C. A passionate supporter of the LGBT community and marriage equality, Audra was honored by the HRC in 2009 with their Ally for Equality Award.

Before you pop open that bottle of champagne this New Year’s Eve, remember to tune in to your local PBS station to catch Audra in Live From Lincoln Center’s telecast of “One Singular Sensation: Celebrating Marvin Hamlisch” with the New York Philharmonic (check local listings). Playing a dual role as both host and performer, Audra will be joined on stage by special guests Joshua Bell, Raúl Esparza, Michael Feinstein, Maria Friedman, Josh Groban, Megan Hilty, Kelli O’Hara, and Frederica von Stade. Conducted by Paul Gemignani and directed by Lonny Price, the performance will feature selections from Hamlisch’s most beloved works for stage and film.

On tonight’s episode of The Colbert Report, Audra helps celebrate the second night of the show’s “Christmas Carol Week” with a duet of the beloved holiday classic “Baby It’s Cold Outside” by Frank Loesser with Stephen Colbert. This performance marks Audra’s second appearance on The Colbert Report this year; in March, Audra spoke with Colbert about the history of Porgy and Bess and performed a surprise duet of “Summertime” with him. The show airs at 11:30 pm EST on Comedy Central.