Audra McDonald returns to Artis Naples for the first time since 2018

The six-time Tony winner plays Hayes Hall on Jan. 24, 2027, nearly nine years after her last Naples concert. Single tickets have been on sale since mid-September.

The last time Audra McDonald sang in Naples was in March 2018. The answer is a Sunday night in late January.

Audra McDonald plays Artis Naples on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2027, at 7 p.m. It's her first Fort Myers–Naples concert since March 16, 2018, when she played the same stage. The date was announced Oct. 14, and the Artis–Naples event page puts the concert in Hayes Hall. Single tickets went on sale Sept. 15, after subscribers had first pick of seats, so anyone who hasn't bought yet is choosing from what's left. Tickets are through artisnaples.org.

McDonald arrives as a six-time Tony winner, the kind of résumé that makes a concert date feel like an event even in a town that books plenty of big names each season. Her concert work has kept her busy this year. Playbill reported in August that she'll sing in the Library of Congress's 2026–27 concert season, accompanied by music director Andy Einhorn, in a program marking the library's acquisition of Stephen Sondheim's papers.

Nearly nine years between visits, and a winter tour that puts Naples near the front of the line.

Naples falls early in a winter run of concert-hall dates. A week before, she plays Bass Concert Hall in Austin on Jan. 17. Five days after Naples she's at the Lensic in Santa Fe on Jan. 29. Later in the season come Birmingham's Alys Stephens Center on Feb. 28 and the Fresno Philharmonic on March 19. The Naples date should draw from a wider stretch of the Gulf Coast than just Collier County.

The room matters with a singer like this. Hayes Hall is the grand hall of Artis Naples, per the venue. It's the same hall she played in 2018, so the people who were there that night know exactly what they're getting. For everyone else: this isn't background music for a dinner out. It's a concert where the hall goes quiet between phrases.

Nearly nine years is a long time between visits. Book the seats, plan dinner on Fifth Avenue South before the show.

Sources: Artis–Naples: Audra McDonald (artisnaples.org); JamBase: Audra McDonald at Artis Naples (jambase.com); Playbill: Audra McDonald will offer concert at Library of Congress, celebrating acquisition of Sondheim papers (playbill.com); Texas Performing Arts: Audra McDonald, Bass Concert Hall (texasperformingarts.org); The Lensic: Audra McDonald (lensic.org); UAB: Tony Award winner Audra McDonald announced for Alys Stephens Center in 2027 (uab.edu); Fresno Philharmonic: An Evening with Audra McDonald (fresnophil.org)