Grace is a heart warming, Black Creole performer originally from New Orleans, Louisiana. Her love for performing started at the young age of three when she attended a wedding and discovered the dance floor. She danced the entire night. From that moment on, Grace knew she wanted to be a performer.
Starting at the age of four Grace danced competitively for years and attended notorious conventions including Tremaine and VIP. Grace won 1st place solo overall performing “For Good” at VIP’s dance competition. Soon after Grace started to train vocally and perform in the theater. She attended New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) during high school where she trained under the best Musical Theatre faculty in the city. In addition Grace joined Theatre on Tap Dance Company where she furthered her love for tap.
Starting her sophomore year of high school, Grace started to audition for professional theater companies and began to work for Tulane Summer Lyric. Grace has performed for a numerous amount of their productions and worked with notorious directors in the city including Diane Lala, Michael McKelvey, and Jaune Buisson. Performing in shows like Hairspray and 42nd Street solidified for Grace that she wanted to continue to train to become a Musical Theater professional.
Grace then went on to study at Oklahoma City University where she graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Music Theater. Like Kristin Chenoweth and Kelli O’Hara, Grace spent the best four years of her life there perfecting her craft and working with renowned voice, dance, and acting faculty. Her training included taking private voice lessons for four years with Dr. Autumn West, where she trained equally in Musical Theater and Classical singing. She worked with Dr. West to give a thirty minute junior Classical recital and an hour long senior Musical Theatre recital.
In addition, during her time at OCU Grace performed in many musicals, some including In the Heights, Bright Star, and Anything Goes. She had the opportunity to work with incredible guest directors including Luis Salgado and Joe Locarro. Furthermore, Grace had her choreographer debut in OCU’s production of Head Over Heels.
Grace’s work did not stop at the stage. Her senior year, Grace became OCU’s National Live Auditions Coordinator StuPro. There she organized auditions and traveled with the Musical Theater department to recruit new and upcoming Musical Theater students. In addition, Grace worked with the ensemble library to record recitals and organize music. Outside of school, Grace used her years of choral experience to work as a section leader for a local church choir.
Since graduation, Grace has accepted the role of Carrie Pipperidge in Tulane Summer Lyric’s production of Carousel. She is so excited to dive into her Golden Age vocal roots. Grace continues to audition and sing professionally. She recently started offering private voice lessons.
Outside of being a performer, Grace is a huge social rights and mental health advocate. Everyday she leads with kindness, empathy, and compassion. Grace hopes to leave her mark on the industry, and work with you soon <3
