Ravinia 2019, Issue 3, Week 6

Just a few career highlights: First she rocked the boat as a Disney cruise ship performer, thereby setting a course for music superstardom. Then, following American Idol, she made an assured transition to feature films, earning an Academy Award for her screen debut in the plum role of Effie in the musical Dreamgirls . In 2008, she sang the Na- tional Anthem at the ceremony during which Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination for president, and four years later she serenaded the First Couple with Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” at his second inauguration. In 2009, she earned a Grammy Award for her self-titled first album. In just the years since her Ravinia debut in 2011—“One of my favorite experiences performing onstage,” she said—she became a coach/mentor on the American and British incarnations of The Voice and has landed two hotly anticipated projects, an Aretha Franklin biopic (“I’m literally sitting at the piano right now practicing for the role,” she quipped) and the screen adapta- tion of Cats in which she will portray Grizabella. The film is scheduled for release this December. Move over, “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going,” Hudson’s signature Dreamgirls showstopper; “Memory” now looks to be a permanent part of Hudson’s repertoire. “I am so blessed to be associated with these legendary classic [Broadway] songs,” she said. “I love ‘Memory’; that’s probably what led me to perform with orchestras, which is my favorite way to perform.” The native Chicagoan may have a new favorite Ravinia experience after her July 14 return to the festival, as she is set to make her debut with her hometown’s—and the nation’s—pre- mier ensemble, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, as the headliner of the annual Gala Benefit Evening at Ravinia hosted by its Women’s Board. The Aretha biopic brings Hudson full circle. She auditioned for American Idol singing Franklin’s “Share Your Love with Me.” In the ultimate honor, the Queen PREVIOUS PAGE AND THIS PAGE: ERIC WILLIAMS 22 RAVINIA MAGAZINE | JULY 1 – JULY 14, 2019