FIERCEFULLY MADE
Artist bios, in order of appearance
MANNA K. JONES, American Soprano, is known for her dramatic brilliance across opera and Classical music as well as Musical Theater. Hailed by the Observer as an “elegant and supple-voiced” Herodias in Heartbeat Opera’s Salome, she has appeared internationally as Fiordiligi in Cosí fan tutte and made her Broadway debut in Rocktopia, a Classical Revolution. Manna is featured in the Naxos documentary film, Global Wagner – From Bayreuth to the World for her work as Brünhilde in Götterdämmerung. In summer of 2025, she made her debut at Union Ave Opera as Josephine Baker in the one-woman opera about the icon’s fascinating life.
Her many career highlights include riveting title-role performances of Cio-cio San in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly at Carnegie Hall and Suor Angelica with the California Opera Association. Manna’s American opera roles include portrayals of prominent Black historical women figures such as Elizabeth Eckford of The Little Rock Nine by Pulitzer Prize winning composer Tania León, and Essie Robeson in the world premier of Adolphus Hailstork's Robeson: The Opera with at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. When Manna sang for Marilyn Horne, the legendary mezzo-soprano pronounced her voice, “An incredible instrument."
JORDAN E. COOPER, Tony Award-nominated Actor, Playwright, Producer, and Director Jordan E. Cooper became the youngest Black American playwright in the history of Broadway when his critically acclaimed play Ain’t No Mo’ opened in 2022. The play, also starring Cooper, received six Tony Award nominations and was declared “Broadway's most important new play” by Harper’s Bazaar. Off-Broadway, Ain’t No Mo’ earned Jordan an Obie Award win and a Drama League Award nomination. Cooper also became the youngest showrunner in television history with the groundbreaking BET+ sitcom The Ms. Pat Show which he also Co-Created and Executive Produces. The series has received multiple Emmy nominations and earned Cooper an African American Film Critics Association award. Jordan was included in Forbes’ prestigious “30 Under 30” list in 2024 and Vanity Fair’s “The Season’s Brightest (Broadway) Stars” list in 2023. He was featured in FX’s seminal series “Pose” and can currently be seen in the hit feature sequel Freakier Friday. For more information go to www.CookoutEntertainment.com
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J. HARRISON GHEE (they/them) is a Tony Award-winning actor who made history as the first non-binary performer to win Best Leading Actor in a Musical for Some Like It Hot. They recently starred in the world premiere of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Other stage credits include Kinky Boots, Mrs. Doubtfire, Chicago, and The Stingopposite Harry Connick, Jr. On screen, they’ve appeared in Netflix’s “Raising Dion” and FOX’s “Accused.” Ghee is passionate about using their artistry to inspire others to dream big and live boldly.
STEVIE WALKER-WEBB is a Tony Award-nominated, Obie Award-winning director, playwright, and cultural worker who believes in the transformational power of art. His work has been produced on and Off Broadway, including Ain’t No Mo’ (The Public Theater/Broadway), One in Two (The New Group), Black Odyssey (Classic Stage), Fairview (Woolly Mammoth), and Our Town (Baltimore Center Stage). Upcoming productions include Gun & Powder(Paper Mill Playhouse). He is founder of Hundreds of Thousands, an arts and advocacy organization that makes visual the suffering and inhumane treatment of incarcerated mentally ill people. He has received the Princess Grace Award for Theater and The Lily Award from the Dramatists Guild of America, and is a 2050 Fellow at New York Theatre Workshop, a visiting artist and lecturer at Harvard University, and the founding artistic director of the Jubilee Theatre in Waco, Texas. Stevie has created art and theatre in Madagascar, South Africa, Mexico, and across America.
KEMAR JEWEL, is a Black Queer director and choreographer from Philadelphia, currently based in New York City. Recently, he obtained his MFA in Directing from the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University. Kemar’s art has been seen in theatre, dance, opera, music videos, musical theatre, and European tours. As a Ballroom Legend from the House of Lanvin, Kemar draws his inspiration from Black queer culture and combines it with his technical training from The Drama League, New York City Center, and Yale. Kemar’s adept at nourishing the musicality within the text while simultaneously working from an ethos of joy and creating theatrical experiences that audiences won’t soon forget. Kemar’s mission is to revive classic stories by having them reflect the people in today’s society. He believes great stories teach the best lessons, and those stories should have everyone reflected in them.
Select directing credits include Ain’t No Mo’ by Jordan E. Cooper (Yale University), Sundown Kiki in London (Young Vic), a Ballroom and drag-inspired A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Shakespeare (Yale University), The Brother Size (Associate: The Shed) and a first-of-its-kind Black queer revival of Sondheim’s Marry Me A Little (The Drama League).
Select choreography credits include Treasure: by Machine Dazzle (Guggenheim Museum), the world premiere of House of Legendary (American Opera Project) Notes on Killing Seven….(Yale Rep), and choreographing Bob Sinclair’s European tour Paris by Night.
For more details please visit Kemarjewel.com
JAMES IJAMES, is a Pulitzer Prize winning and Tony Award nominated playwright, a director and educator.
James’ plays have been produced by Flashpoint Theater Company, Orbiter 3, Theatre Horizon, Wilma Theatre, Theatre Exile, Azuka Theatre (Philadelphia, PA), The National Black Theatre, JACK, The Public Theater (NYC), Hudson Valley Shakespeare Theater, Steppenwolf Theatre, Definition Theatre, Timeline Theater (Chicago IL) Shotgun Players (Berkeley, CA) and have received development with PlayPenn New Play Conference, The Lark, Playwright's Horizon, Clubbed Thumb, Villanova Theater, Wilma Theater, Azuka Theatre and Victory Garden.
James is the 2011 F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Artist recipient, and two Barrymore Awards for Outstanding Direction of a Play for The Brothers Size with Simpatico Theatre Company and Gem of the Ocean with Arden Theatre. James is a 2015 Pew Fellow for Playwriting, the 2015 winner of the Terrance McNally New Play Award for WHITE, the 2015 Kesselring Honorable Mention Prize winner for ....Miz Martha, a 2017 recipient of the Whiting Award, a 2019 Kesselring Prize for Kill Move Paradise, a 2020 and 2022 Steinberg Prize, the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Drama recipient and a 2023 Tony nominee for Best Play for Fat Ham.
James was a founding member of Orbiter 3, Philadelphia’s first playwright producing collective.
He received a B.A. in Drama from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA and a M.F.A. in Acting from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. James an Associate Professor of Theatre at Villanova University. He resides in South Philadelphia.
WHITNEY WHITE, is an Obie and Lilly Award winning director, actor, and musician based in Brooklyn, New York. She is a Tony Award nominee, a recipient of the Susan Stroman Directing award, an Artistic Associate at the Roundabout and part of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. Her original musical Definition was part of the 2019 Sundance Theatre Lab, and her four-part musical exploration of Shakespeare’s Women and ambition is currently under commission with the Royal Shakespeare Company (UK).
She has developed work with: Manhattan Theatre Club, The Public Theatre, Ars Nova, The Drama League, Roundabout, New York Theatre Workshop, The Lark, The Movement, Jack, Bard College, NYU Tisch, Juilliard, Princeton, SUNY Purchase, South Oxford, Luna Stage and more.
Whitney was a staff writer on Boots Riley’s I’M A VIRGO (Amazon, Media Res).
Whitney is a believer in collaborative processes and new forms. Her musical discipline is rooted in indie-soul, and rock. She is passionate about black stories, reconstructing classics, stories for and about women, genre-defying multimedia work and film. Past fellowships include: New York Theatre Workshop 2050 Fellowship, Ars Nova’s Makers Lab, Colt Coeur and the Drama League. MFA Acting: Brown University/Trinity Rep, BA Political Science, Certificate in Musical Theatre: Northwestern University.
NICHOLAS RYAN GANT, affectionately known as the Ghetto Falsetto, is a New York based artist and educator, from Phoenix, Arizona. NRG studied classical vocal performance at Howard University in Washington, D.C. and holds a master’s of art in Music Education from Hunter College, as a participant in The Lincoln Center Scholars program. NRG has been a worship leader at his local church in Brooklyn for more than 12 years. There at his church NRG discovered a gift for connecting with youth. This passion for youth development has led him to build a career as a music educator with the New York City public school system for the past 7 years. NRG is a recipient of the 2020 Paul Simon Music Fellowship. In addition to the classroom NRG is also an accomplished vocal coach for several artists and record labels, as well as a sought -after workshop and masterclass facilitator. NRG is the Vice President of the board of directors for Decolonizing the Music Room. As a vocal composer NRG has collaborated with choreographers Maleek Washington, Francine E. Ott and Kyle Abraham. He's been a featured vocalist on several recordings internationally and has recorded 8 independent projects of his own. His House music debut, a remake of the cult classic “Gypsy Woman (She’s Homeless)” was the number one soulful house song of 2020. His newest “Restore” (September 25’) is a collaboration with 3 time Album of the Year Grammy Award winner, Mikey Freedom Hart. NRG has also had the opportunity to sing support vocals for artists such as Michael McDonald, Mariah Carey, Durand Bernarr, Ariana DeBose, Yasin Bey, Jon Batiste, Miri Ben-Ari, Killer Mike & Run the Jewels, Mobb Deep, and Childish Gambino.
TIFFANY MANN, (Holy Divine) is best known for standout performances in Encores’ Jelly’s Last Jam and Ragtime, Broadway’s Waitress and Be More Chill, her star-turn as Effie in Dreamgirls (the MUNY), and Jerry Springer: The Opera (Lucille Lortel Award). Television credits include “Orange is the New Black” and “New Amsterdam.” Her empowering single “Do It Anyway,” is an anthem and declaration to push past your fears and go for your dreams. Proudly one of the Manns, IYKYK.
SHELÉA MELODY MCDONALD, (Mighty Divine) is a singer, songwriter, pianist, producer, and critically-acclaimed actress who has received the attention and support of music’s most powerful icons: Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder, Rickey Minor, and David Foster. McDonald has performed at the White House, Library of Congress, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, The Hollywood Bowl, and The Royal Albert Hall. Merging her musical talent with her new love for acting, she landed her first major role as Dorinda Clark in The Clark Sisters: The First Ladies of Gospel. McDonald has appeared in several PBS specials, including her very own “Quincy Jones Presents: Sheléa.” Upcoming: EP “Spirit;” Aretha! (PBS) starring McDonald.
LATRICE PACE, (Glory Divine), hailing from the Gospel music Industry, is making her Public Theater debut as Glory Divine in OH HAPPY DAY!. Based in Atlanta, GA, she has excelled in regional theatre for over twenty years. Notable roles include Mother in Passing Strange and Ma Rainey in Gut Bucket Blues. Her regional credits feature Sarah’s Friend in Ragtime, Aunt Em & Glinda in The Wiz, and Celie in The Color Purple. Follow her journey @TheatricalPace.
TAMIKA LAWRENCE, (Niecy), Two-time Grammy-winning singer, actor, and writer. Broadway: Caroline, or Change, Gettin’ the Band Back Together, Come From Away, Dear Evan Hansen (Virtual Cast), Beautiful, If/Then, Matilda, The Book of Mormon. Off-Broadway: Black No More (Drama Desk Nomination: Best Actress in a Musical), Hercules (The Public Theater), Rent, The Tempest (The Public Theater). Television: “That Damn Michael Che,” “Modern Love,” “The Last OG,” “The Wiz Live!” “Vinyl” (HBO), “Show Me a Hero” (HBO), “Blue Bloods,” “Law & Order: SVU.” Movies: Mean Girls, Better Nate Than Never, The Greatest Showman, Dear Evan Hansen, White Girl, Breakable You. For Mom, Dad, and Bastian. @iamtamikalawrence.