History was made when I became the ONLY African-American Actress, in one episodic season, to recur on FOUR network sitcoms…TWICE!!!
THE BRIGHT LIGHTS OF BROADWAY CALLED…
No stranger to Broadway, I played “Gary Coleman” (yes…THAT Gary Coleman) in the Tony Award winning musical Avenue Q. My other roles on Broadway include We Will Rock You, The Lion King (NAACP Theatre Award Nominee), Smokey Joe’s Cafe (Broadway and Australia), How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and The Who’s Tommy“.
BEING FUNNY CAME NATURALLY…
For three years, before Zendaya was an Emmy-winning Cover Girl or Roshon Fegan was that nasty dud on OWN’s Greenleaf, they were my television kids on Disney’s Shake It Up! Meanwhile on the CW in Bluebell, Alabama, I was the town hairdresser, Susie on Hart of Dixie . Other recurring roles were on How To Live With Your Parents For The Rest of Your Life (ABC), Mr. Box Office (Centric/BET), Tyler Perry’s The Have and The Have Not’s (OWN) and NBC’s Superstore.
SINGING BACKGROUND AND VIDEO GAMES…oh my!
If that weren’t enough, I had my “20 Feet From Stardom” moment. As a background vocalist for Michael Bolton, Tracy Chapman, the late Phoebe Snow and OK GO I got to see and experience some really cool stuff. If you ever get to hop on “Harry Potter” ride, you’ll recognize me as “Shenzi” from “The Lion King,” as Lisa in the #1 video game of all time “Grand Theft Auto. Not to mention that I was nominated for a New York Emmy in 2019 for my promo VO work for NBC-TV and my voice can be heard on everything from ABC News to Deamworks’ The Croods: Family Tree.
MAN, CAN THAT CHICK TALK!!!
Anyone that knows me, knows I love to talk! So, the natural progression for me was to become a television host. At Turner Classic Movies, I hosted a night of The Black Experience on Film sponsored by AAFCA. Catch me talking all things movies at Black Hollywood Live on The Curvy Critic with Carla Renata LIVE every Monday, 5pm PT streaming via YouTube.
Becoming an esteemed member of African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA), (AWFJ) Alliance of Women Film Journalists (AWFJ), Critics Choice Association (CCA), Online Association of Female Film Critics (OAFFC) , Rotten Tomatoes approved critic and writing contributor to Variety, landed me on red carpet, and press room heaven covering the Oscars, Sundance, Tribeca, TIFF, SXSW, Pan African Film Festivals and many more. My work has also been featured as one of Leonard Maltin’s “New Voices” on his site – Maltin on Movies, as well as, contributing to RogerEbert.com, EUR Web, Variety, Fox 11 LA, Good Day LA, The List TV, Beond TV, BBC, Fox Soul’s The Black Report and Shadow and Act.
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
Born in Cherry Point, North Carolina, I spent my childhood as military brat and later transitioned into the life of a “theatre gypsy” where I’ve been fortunate enough to travel the world, sail the high seas, tour with hit Broadway shows and hit the road with Grammy-winning recording artists. It’s been an amazing ride and I’m not done until I take over Hollywood one social media app at a time…LOL!!!
