AEA - SAG - AFTRA
2020 is a BIG YEAR! A year of change for me and, hopefully, for our nation. A big year of love and purposeful living. A big year of collaboration and artistic exploration.
APRIL UPDATE: Well...who knew how prolific those words would actually become?! Now that I've crawled out from under my pandemic rock, I'm back with updates. I'm not going to tweak my projections for the year...the words just take on a new meaning now. Or the initially intended meaning has come fully into fruition. Whatever the case, I'm here for it. I hope you are too. Carry on, saints!
The first quarter includes my 5th production of LADY DAY AT EMERSON'S BAR & GRILL. I'm finally with my dream team, Kevin R. Free and Kenney M. Green in Key West. Next, the Chicago premiere of RABBIT SUMMER at Redtwist Theatre, directed by Christopher Burris. I keep the playwright hat on for a workshop production of RETREAT, a labor of love play commissioned and supported by NYC's National Black Theatre, who have gifted me 18 months of rigorous theatre-making love and nurture through their I AM SOUL playwright residency. I can't believe it's almost over. It marks one of several 2020 collaborations with director, Zhailon Levingston. Finally, for one night only, I will be celebrating with my Broadway Inspirational Voices family 25 years of service and song at our Silver Anniversary Gala. Guest singers include Jennifer Nettles, Billy Porter, Kristen Chenowith, Renee Elise Goldsberry and Norm Lewis. All this only gets us into April...
I'll continue bringing humanity into the corporate workspace with Ovation. #getOvation I'll celebrate my Black Girl Magic with Damon A. Jackson, my Black Boy Joy. And I'll do my part to see we don't spend another four years as embarrassing and tricky as the past four. A lot to be grateful for and, believe me, I am. Join me as we journey...
Actor Resume
Playwright Resume
As the only child of the first Black family (replete with a facade of the Cosby Show and a reality more similar to Breaking Vegas meets Breaking Bad, but you know... Black) to move into our charming, colorless Delaware suburb, my fascination with human relationship dynamics and cultural identity developed early. It's the foundation upon which I write and seek to inform my acting work...exploring how people function and thrive despite the absence of a tied-in-a-neat-little-bow reality.
I had no choice but to be an artist, to make manifest my own questions, challenges and passions about the human condition. I sing. Sure. I dance. Yes. But at my core I am an actor/storyteller. Making pretty sounds is not enough for me. I need to weave a cohesive tale. It's when I'm at my best...and my happiest.
Acting highlights include Carbonell, NAACP and Barrymore Award winning work at regional theaters across the country including Yale Rep, Actors Theatre of Louisville, the Denver Center, Long Wharf Theatre, Baltimore Centerstage, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Detroit Public Theatre, St. Louis Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse and 50+ others. In New York I opened the original Off Broadway companies of family hit Sistas (available on Netflix) and the critically raved (and Conan O'Brien spoofed) Bedbugs!!! It's A Musical. I've also toured in national productions and abroad in Europe and Asia. Independent film roles include a film festival Audience Award for Best Lead Actress. Television work includes roles on shows for ABC, NBC, CBS and Hulu. You're next, HBO and Netflix!!
If you've gotten this far, I'd like to say a huge THANK YOU for your interest. For a technological dinosaur like myself, maintaining this website can be harrowing!! I appreciate you scouring over my efforts. Let me make it easier on ya:
For a more inclusive list of credits, print my resumes above. And for news on what's forthcoming, click "'Sup?"