|
|
|
Vanessa
Adams-Harris has 19 years of theatre training. She is a Muscogee
Creek/African-American artist, actor, director, workshop
facilitator and playwright.
Her
credits include print/commercial modeling, national and
international appearances with her award winning solo shows as
Civil Rights Matriarch Rosa Parks, Oklahoma legend Ada Lois Sipuel-Fisher
and Lena May Baker leaving audiences with an everlasting
impression and the versatility of her acting abilities.
With
national as well as international performances at the Edinburgh
Fringe Festival ’08 in Edinburgh, Scotland and Mumbai, India -
2009 Women’s Playwright International Festival her performances
are unforgettable. In
addition to her appearances at the Los Angeles Women’s Theatre
Festival, Tennessee Women’s Theater Project,
she was a featured performer at the 2009 National Black
Theatre Festival in the inaugural project The Larry Leon Hamlin
Solo Performance Showcase.
She is the creator of Theatre By Me for children and
Resonating Voices for women.
|
 |
 |
|
|
Cecelia
Antoinette ( CECE is
a Dallas “boomed”, NYC groomed,
LA blooming actress who was a 2009 NAACP Best Supporting Actress
Nominee. She
has appeared on Broadway in MULE BONE and in numerous off-Broadway
, International and Regional theatres.
TV and Film appearances include MAD MEN, DESPERATE
HOUSEWIVES, BROTHERS & SISTERS, YES MAN and
CHICAGO PULASKI JONES.
She is currently
touring WATERMELON-GIT IT WHILE IT’S HOT !!! the historical
rites-of-passage one-woman comedy about
growing from Negro girlhood into empowered womanhood in
Hamilton Park – the first neighborhood built “from the ground
up for colored families” in Dallas, TX.
She also performs THE AWE SERIES – Vignettes of African
& African-American Women of Endeavors in libraries and arenas
around the country.
She
is an MC Extraordinaire and was one of the first female Guest
Hosts of Amateur Night at the APOLLO. B.A. from the University of OK.
Member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
|
 |
 |
|
|
Adilah
Barnes, an
award-winning actor of stage, television and film recurred five
seasons on ABC’s ROSEANNE. Recent tv credits include COLD CASE and
THE MIDDLE. Film credits include ERIN BROCKOVICH and HBO’s
IRON-JAWED ANGELS.
Her internationally-toured solo show, I AM
THAT I AM; WOMAN, BLACK has toured forty states and three
continents. She has lectured at such colleges as MANSFIELD
UNIVERSITY, SWEETBRIAR COLLEGE and SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE
UNIVERSITY. She received TOWSON UNIVERSITY’S CAMPUS ACTIVITIES
BOARD’S 2010 PROGRAM OF THE YEAR.
In 2009, her ESSENCE MAGAZINE
bestseller, ON MY OWN TERMS, was named #3 in June, 2009 behind
PRESIDENT OBAMA’S books. She received an AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERARY
AWARD NOMINATION and XLIBRIS PUBLISHING’S AUTHOR’S SPOTLIGHT.
She has given book signings internationally.
In 2010, she received the
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD IN ENTERTAINMENT and SPIRIT OF PEACE
AWARD. Also, THE ADILAH BARNES ARTS AND LITERARY ACHIEVEMENT
SCHOLARSHIP was established for Minneapolis’ inner city youth.
Adilah is available to perform I
AM THAT I AM: WOMAN, BLACK and to lecture as an author based on her
book, ON MY OWN TERMS.
view
complete file
back
to top
|
 |
 |
|
|
Jim Loucks is a Georgia native
who began his theatre career doing summer stock at the HIGHLANDS
PLAYHOUSE in North Carolina.
After earning an MFA in Acting at the UNIVERSITY OF
GEORGIA, he moved to Los Angeles where he has appeared in several
independent films and in plays around the Los Angeles area.
Jim has performed CEMETERY
GOLF at 78th STREET THEATRE LAB in New York City, BEYOND BAROQUE
in Venice, CA. the HUDSON OPERA HOUSE in Hudson, NY; the 2009
BOULDER INTERNATIONAL FRINGE FESTIVAL and the 2009 CINCINNATI
FRINGE FESTIVAL where he received a CITYBEAT “CRITIC’S
PICK.”; as well as at WINDWARD SCHOOL in Los Angeles where he
conducted a workshop with students to develop their own personal
monologues.
Jim will perform CEMETERY GOLF
at the 2010 CAPITAL FRINGE in Washington D.C. and the 2010
MINNESOTA FRINGE. He
is currently at work on his second one-man show.
|
 |
 |
|
|
Mzuri Moyo
has brought the
indomitable spirit of Fannie Lou Hamer to audiences in over 20
states in THE FANNIE LOU HAMER STORY. This musical play first
showcased in 2001, and has become a backdrop for voter
registration wherever it is performed. It received the 2002
AUDELCO Award in New York for Best Solo Performance.
Fannie Lou Hamer, one of the
most talked-about activists of the Golden Age of Civil Rights, was
indeed the Mississippi freedom fighter of the 1960s and also known
as the Mother of Civil Rights. Her work promoted voter
registration with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee,
and her deep commitment to grass-roots anti-poverty projects made
her a force to be reckoned with.
A
native of Paterson, NJ, Mzuri Moyo has been enthusiastically
received on cabaret and concert stages internationally. Mzuri’s
film credit includes the poignant portrayal of Lucy in Haile
Gerima’s highly acclaimed independent film, Sankofa.
|
 |
 |
|
|
Michael Raynor’s
theatre credits began in Greenwich Village with James
Gandolfini, and continued on to Off-Broadway. His film credits
include SHADOW BOXING, THE WAITING GAME, TRIP FALL, REUNION, THE
FIRST MAN, A BROTHERS KISS, FEDERAL HILL, RAILS & TIES, THE
PAVILLION, SONIC IMPACT, THE TAX MAN and WOLF.
Television credits include
FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON, BELLA MAFIA, IN THE LINE OF DUTY: HUNT
FOR JUSTICE, COMPANY MAN CSI, ER, LAW & ORDER, COLD CASE,
SHARK, NYPD BLUE, BROOKLYN SOUTH, BRIMSTONE, EVERYBODY HATES
CHRIS, and MY OWN WORST ENEMY. Michael developed and directed
SOUTHERN DISCOMFORT. He also co-wrote the screenplay version. In
addition, Michael developed and originally staged SURVIVING DAVID.
He developed and directed SWIMMING NAKED and worked with Jay
Sefton for THE MOST MEDIOCRE STORY NEVER TOLD. Raynor’s
screenplays include the adaptation of Mark Kriegel’s
award-winning novel BLESS ME, FATHER, PROUD HARRY, WILDING, THE
RUN and DEAD WEIGHT.
|
 |
 |
|
|
Jay Sefton
(Writer/Performer)
is recipient of the 2008 LA WEEKLY AWARD for Best Solo Performance
for THE MOST MEDIOCRE STORY NEVER TOLD!
He received
the BEST ACTOR AWARD from the Cinematexas International
Film Festival and THE J. PETER ADLER AWARD for Excellence in
Theatre from West Chester University.
TV Credits include PROVIDENCE, GREY’S ANATOMY, THE WIRE,
THE SHIELD as well as a recurring role on the WB’s SUMMERLAND.
His film work includes FIRST DAUGHTER directed by Forest
Whitaker, TAI CHI WARRIORS shot in China, the children’s feature
UH OH!, opposite Richard Moll, SOME PLACE NEW AND ESCAPING OTIS.
He has lent his voice to 6 animated features for THE LEGEND
OF CRYSTANIA series.
Jay is a Board member of The Lonestar Theatre Ensemble. He
has worked on stages from Wellfleet Harbor Actor's Theatre in
Massachusetts to The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum here in LA in
a variety or roles.
|
 |
 |
|
|
Meera Simhan was born in
England and raised in Southern CA. She trained at the London
Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts and worked in the U.K. for five
years.
In the United States, she has had recurring roles in television
including HOUSE and NIP/TUCK. Her guest -starring roles include
THE MENTALIST, HEROES, NUMB3RS, LAW AND ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT,
NUMB3RS, WITHOUT A TRACE, JUDGING AMY and ER. Her feature film
credits include DATE MOVIE and RASPBERRY MAGIC.
Meera’s
solo show MISS INDIA AMERICA directed by Shishir Kurup, played to
sold out audiences at Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica
and then played for six weeks at the Acme Comedy Theatre in
Hollywood. She won Audiofile’s EXCEPTIONAL AUDIO PERFORMANCE
AWARD for her recording of the Booker Prize winning novel
INHERITANCE OF LOSS by Kiran Desai. Her recording of the novel was
also nominated for an AUDIE AWARD for “Best Literary Fiction.”
|
 |
 |
|
|
Brian
Stanton premiered his original
solo piece BLANK at The Lounge Theatre in Hollywood in April of
2010. He also
performed BLANK at the Dallas/Ft. Worth Fringe Festival and will
perform for the Concerned United Birthparents in Carlsbad , CA in
October. Brian
co-founded The Lone Star Ensemble, producing and acting there in
plays such as VENUS & ADONIS, CARDENIO, ALBERT HALL, THE
ILLUSION, ICARUS'S MOTHER, AND TAR & FEATHERS.
Brian’s other theatre credits include BRIGHT IDEAS, TOM,
DICK & HARRY, CHARLEY'S AUNT, IS HE DEAD? THE FOREIGNER and NO
SEX PLEASE, WE'RE BRITISH. Other
notable stage credits include BAAL with the Yale Cabaret, DEAR
CHARLOTTE at the New York Fringe Festival, and GREATER TUNA and
THE BIBLE: THE COMPLETE WORD OF GOD (ABIDGED) at Mammoth Lakes
Repertory. Brian
received his BFA at Texas Christian University and MFA at the
California Institute of the Arts.
|
 |
 |
|
|
Taffy Wallace
was born and raised in Los Angeles,
California, to her admission. rubbing elbows with celebrities.
Taffy began studying acting at the ripe age of 5 when she attended
the Lee Strasburg Children’s Workshop. Her first television
appearance was at age 8 on the THE DINAH SHORE SHOW. Since then,
she has appeared on numerous TV movies-of-the-week and independent
film projects, as well as local Los Angeles theatre productions.
Taffy spent several years behind the camera in production, putting
her degree in design to work in the wardrobe and costuming
department. She has also published book reviews and inspirational
essays.
Taffy is a licensed Spiritual
Coach. She has synthesized her two main passions into the creation
of LIVING LIFE FULFILLED LEARNING CENTER. The
Center is a vortex of
creativity, spiritual growth and unfoldment, dedicated to the
enrichment of life through creative medium.
|
 |
 |
|
|
Teresa
Willis is a writer/performer whose
career is as varied as her talents - from the indie film Forgiving
the Franklins – SXSW at Sundance 2006, to published performance
poetry that has received Pushcart nominations for Caffeine, The
Moment, and Pearl. Teresa has performed at venues such as UCLA,
UCSB, the Gene Autry Museum, Highways and The Improv.
Her theatre
credits include Horton Foote’s Getting Frankie Married and
Afterward, James Joyce’s The
Dead, Stage Door and Macbeth at Open Fist Theatre in LA.
As playwright, she wrote The Roof, which has been produced
in both NYC and LA.
As vocalist, Teresa is soloist with Vox Femina LA and the avant-pop
group Third Door Down. She is also television documentary
writer-producer of Our Seering Earth. Eenie Meanie realizes
Teresa’s dream to create an original project that employs all of
her passions in a socially conscious fashion.
Teresa lives in Burbank, California.
|
 |
 |
|
