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Yvette Cason is an American television, theatre, and film actress, and a former Miss Black America from Washington, D.C.
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Yvette Cason is an American television, theatre, and film actress, and a former Miss Black America from Washington, D.C.
Cason was an understudy for the character of Effie White in the original 1981 Broadway musical Dreamgirls , 1985 international tour, and 1987 Broadway revival. In 2006, she played May, the mother of Deena Jones, portrayed by Beyoncé Knowles in the feature film version of Dreamgirls. She also appeared in an episode of the sitcom The King of Queens as Mrs. Blanchard in the episode "Road Rayge". Her early musical training (while growing up in Washington, DC) was at The Sewell Music Conservatory.
Cason played Dahlia, the wicked stepmother, in the original 1996 run of Sisterella . [1] [2] It was said that the character was played "with exquisite relish" by Cason. [2]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Dreamgirls | May | |
| 2012 | Middle of Nowhere | Mrs. Hastings | Uncredited |
| 2018 | A Wrinkle in Time | Mrs. Teacher |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Almost There! | LaKeishaa #1 | Episode: "Friends" |
| 1993 | Knots Landing | Bailiff | Episode: "The Invisible Man" |
| 1998 | The King of Queens | Mrs. Blanchard | Episode: "Road Rayge" |
| 2000 | Great Performances | Miss Mary | Episode: "Play On!" |
| 2001 | The District | Principal Joanne Drake | Episode: "Melt Down" |
| 2003 | Boston Public | Anita Graham | Episode: "Chapter Seventy-One" |
| 2003 | American Dreams | Elma | Episode: "Life's Illusions" |
| 2004 | The Parkers | Mavis | 2 episodes |
| 2004 | Judging Amy | No-Time-for-This Mom | Episode: "Accountability" |
| 2005 | Alias | Connie | Episode: "Mirage" |
| 2005 | ER | Oncology Nurse | 2 episodes |
| 2007 | Hannah Montana | Teacher | Episode: "Me and Rico Down by the School Yard" |
| 2008 | Notes from the Underbelly | Ultrasound tech | Episode: "If the Shoe Fits" |
| 2009 | The Bold and the Beautiful | Evelyn Haynes | Episode #1.5474 |
| 2016 | The Rick and Stanley Show | Rhonda | Episode: "Benefactors" |
| 2018 | Shameless | Mrs. Jackson | Episode: "Do Right, Vote White!" |
| 2019 | For the People | Anna Jenkins | Episode: "Moral Suasion" |
| 2020 | NCIS | Maureen | Episode: "In the Wind" |
| 2020 | The Gaze: No Homo | Sherry Grosse | 7 episodes |
| 2021 | Why Women Kill | Yvonne | Episode: "The Unguarded Moment" |
| 2021 | Twenties | Estelle | Episode: "Special Delivery" |
| 2021 | Curb Your Enthusiasm | Councilwoman Yovanovitch | 2 episodes |
| 2022 | Bust Down | Eunice | Episode: "Won't He Do It" |
| 2022 | Bosch: Legacy | Judge Alberta Ryan | 2 episodes |
| 2022 | Raven's Home | Grace | Episode: "The Great Chill Grill Giveaway" |
| 2022 | Bunk'd | Rose | Episode: "Where the Buffalo Betties Roam" |
| 2023 | Pretty Freekin Scary | Maw-Maw | Episode: "Life's Rich Gumbo" |
Phylicia Rashad is an American actress. She is dean of the College of Fine Arts at Howard University and best known for her role as Clair Huxtable on the sitcom The Cosby Show (1984–1992) which earned her Emmy Award nominations in 1985 and 1986. She also played Ruth Lucas on Cosby (1996–2000). She was dubbed "The Mother of the Black Community" at the 2010 NAACP Image Awards.
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Dreamgirls is a Broadway musical, with music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen. Based on the show business aspirations and successes of R&B acts such as The Shirelles, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and others, but closely follows the story of The Supremes as the musical follows the story of a young Black female singing trio from Chicago, Illinois called "The Dreams", who become music superstars.
Jennifer Yvette Holliday is an American actress and singer. She started her career on Broadway in musicals such as Dreamgirls (1981–83), Your Arms Too Short to Box with God (1980–1981) and later became a successful recording artist. She is best known for her debut single, the Dreamgirls number and rhythm-and-blues/pop hit, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going", for which she won a Grammy in 1983. She also won a 1982 Tony Award for Dreamgirls.
Sheryl Lee Ralph OJ is an American actress and singer. Known for her performances on stage and screen she earned acclaim for her role as Deena Jones in the Broadway musical Dreamgirls (1981), for which she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. Since 2021 she has starred as Barbara Howard on the ABC mockumentary sitcom Abbott Elementary, for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, becoming the first Black woman in 35 years to win the award.
Dreamgirls is a 2006 American musical drama film written and directed by Bill Condon and jointly produced and released by DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures. Adapted from the 1981 Broadway musical of the same name, Dreamgirls is a film à clef, a work of fiction taking strong inspiration from the history of the Motown record label and its superstar act, The Supremes. The story follows the history and evolution of American R&B music during the 1960s and 1970s through the eyes of a Detroit girl group known as "The Dreams" and their manipulative record executive.
Anika Noni Rose is an American actress and singer. She is best known for voicing Tiana, Disney's first African-American princess, in The Princess and the Frog (2009). She was named a Disney Legend in 2011.
"And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" is a torch song from the Broadway musical Dreamgirls, with lyrics by Tom Eyen and music by Henry Krieger. In the context of the musical, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" is sung by the character Effie White, a singer with the girl group The Dreams, to her manager, Curtis Taylor Jr., whose romantic and professional relationship with Effie is ending. The lyrics to "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going", often considered the show's signature tune, describe Effie's love for Curtis, both strongly devoted and defiant. She refuses to let Curtis leave her behind, and boldly proclaims to him, "I'm staying and you ... you're gonna love me."
Alice Ripley is an American actress, singer, songwriter and mixed media artist. She is known, in particular, for her various roles on Broadway in musicals, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning Next to Normal and Side Show. She most recently played three roles in the short-lived Broadway musical, American Psycho. Alice Ripley has released albums with her band, RIPLEY, including the single, "Beautiful Eyes", released in February 2012. She also performs as a solo artist, while in February 2011 she released Alice Ripley Daily Practice, Volume 1, a stripped-down collection of acoustic rock covers.
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Kevyn Morrow is an American actor, singer, and choreographer known for his roles on Broadway.
Heidi Blickenstaff is an American actress based in New York City best known for playing a version of herself in the musical [title of show] during its Off-Broadway and Broadway runs, as well as for originating the role of Bea in the 2015 musical Something Rotten!. She co-starred with Cozi Zuehlsdorff in the Disney Channel musical version of Freaky Friday which was broadcast on August 10, 2018.
Play On! is a musical adaptation of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, featuring the music of Duke Ellington, conceived by Sheldon Epps, with a book by Cheryl L. West. The musical resets the story in 1940s Harlem.
Sisterella is a musical, presented and produced by Michael Jackson with Miramax Films in association with Tribeca. Music, lyrics and book are by Larry Hart. The original choreographer was Ramon Del Barrio.
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