I am an African-American woman of dark skin tone, and there are very specific roles that are usually given to African-American women of a darker hue. Let's start with 'Once on This Island': peasant girl. Let's go to 'The Color Purple': young girl, beaten. Let's go to 'Ragtime': Her baby's taken.
I think a lot of audience members don't realize the part that they play in live theatre. The audience actually has a mood. Sometimes they're tired and bored, and we have to wake them up and engage them.
I was born in St. Augustine, Florida. I lived there till I was about 13, and then my family moved to Connecticut. I finished school there, and then I went to college in Philadelphia and came to New York in '87. I wasn't finished with school - I left school to go on the road.
I believe that everything is divinely inspired. Bad things happen - they do - but I also think that when these bad things happen, there's an equal and opposite force that is happening, and there is good.
Dianne Reeves, a famous jazz singer, would be my biggest influence.
I went to see 'Kinky Boots' to see my friend Billy Porter in his groundbreaking performance. But while backstage, I was hoping for a chance to meet this young, dynamic performer Annaleigh Ashford. Her comic timing was brilliant. And she is obviously a triple threat.
In my own one-woman show, 'Feeling Good,' I talk about my childhood and write a letter to my younger self in the show. The most important thing I would tell her is to trust my instincts. Just trust them. They're little whispers from God, I think. You've heard it a million times, but it's true: Listen to that inner voice.
'Feeling Good' is a peek into my life through song.
I am working on music and telling my personal story and sharing my talent on stage.
As singers, we're always taught to sing forward and place everything in the front of our resonating chambers. Donna Summer always sang in that space and had it naturally. Her muscle memory, the way she was built - she was a natural singer.
