It’s been far too long but no more. I’m back with a new audiobook narrated by yours truly, written by Gigi Michel Dennard. Even though Giji and I have never met, her book makes me feel like we are kindred spirits.
If you want to learn how to build and manage a winning team for your industry, this is a must have! This is not your boring run of the mill how to book, this book draws you in, captures your heart and makes you want to learn more and be the best! Available now on Amazon and Audible.
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Named by my grandmother. Born British West Indian. As a six month old baby, my family moved from Barbados to London. My developmental years we lived in Balham, south east London but eventually moved to Lambeth North, S.E.11. That will always be home. I attended St. Saviours and St. Olaves All Girls School for academia. As a child, I loved to sing and dance. I was over the moon when I was accepted into the Royal School of Music to study and play the violin and that same year also won a dance scholarship to any school of my choosing. Before I could fully develop those talents or reach my full potential, my family relocated again, this time across the pond to Chicago, IL where my mother lived. I struggled to adjust to the American culture and found it very hard to fit in. I was black and sounded funny to my school mates. The majority of them had never met, seen or heard a black person who had an accent that was not American. I persevered and completed by comprehensive studies at Alvernia All Girls School and at 17 became a Freshman at Northeastern Illinois University. My sophomore year, I auditioned for a traveling performance company named Free Street Theatre and was selected. Under the guidance and direction of Patrick Henry (a director from Goodman Theatre and writer/founder of Free Street Theatre) I developed my dancing, singing and acting skills and began to blossom into a bona fide performer. Four years later, I graduated from Northeastern magna cum laude with a BA in Speech and Communications.
After that, I went on to tour with Free Street Theatre on the local and regional level. Free Street Theatre eventually launched an Artist in Resident program for inner city children, particularly focusing on the Cabrini Green area and I had the pleasure of heading up the Dance Department. This was a free after school program that was to help keep kids off the streets until their parents came home from work. We offered, dance, acting and singing classes. I believe the program was instrumental in being a positive impact for many children that chose to attend. The parents were most grateful. It helped to inspire and launch many young careers. In the summertime we performed at all the summer festivals in around the city of Chicago and in the fall we went into elementary schools and high schools around town performing shows written and produced by Patrick and other theatre members. My time spent with this company made me realized this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
Many years later, I found myself wanting to be more than just a singer/dancer/dance captain and decided to audition for dramatic shows. My break came when a director from out of town (who believed in non-traditional casting) came to Chicago to hold auditions for their fall season and I was cast for the Fall season. Some of my favourite roles from that season was as Elaine in Arsenic and Old Lace, Duckling Smith in" and much more.
Fast forward 10 years and a serious back injury almost halted my career. I was devastated! The doctors said I would never walk or dance again. I had torn my lumbar muscle to shreds. Luckily, they didn't have the final word. After a year of intense physical therapy, I auditioned for a musical, "That Apple Sure Don't Shine", which was the story about Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden and landed the role of the Serpent. It was very apropos as I had spent a year in my studio apartment slithering around on my stomach caring for myself.
