The Black Scholars Index

Anika Noni Rose: FAMU Alumnus & Voice of Disney's 1st Black Princess – Tiana

Posted on 25. Nov, 2009 by Leshell Hatley in Linguistics, Scholarly Celebrations

Anika Noni Rose was born in Bloomfield, Connecticut to Claudia and John Rose, Jr., a corporate counsel for the city of Hartford. In her freshman year in high school, she appeared in a school production and caught the acting bug. She then attended Florida A&M University where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Theatre, thereafter studying drama at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, California.

Career

Tiana from The Princess and the Frog

Rose moved to New York and after three months she secured the role of Rusty in Broadway’s Footloose. She followed Footloose with numerous workshops and two musicals using pre-existing song catalogs, Eli’s Comin’ off-Broadway and Me and Mrs. Jones with Lou Rawls in Philadelphia. Both of the full-scale tuners were rumored for transfers, but neither made it anywhere after their limited engagements ended.  Rose’s big Broadway break was getting cast as Tonya Pinkins’ character Caroline’s daughter in Caroline, or Change.

In 2004, Rose was awarded the Theatre World Award, Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Featured Actress and the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, for Caroline, or Change.

Anika Rose’s debut in movies came with the 1999 film King of the Bingo Game as “film noir female”. In 2003, she played the role of Kaya in From Justin to Kelly, in 2004 she performed inTemptation, followed by Surviving Christmas as a singer in the choir. In 2006, Rose starred in Dreamgirls as Lorrell Robinson with Beyoncé Knowles, Jennifer Hudson, Jamie Foxx andEddie Murphy. She also stars alongside Jill Scott in The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency directed by Anthony Minghella.

Anika Rose is scheduled to appear in the upcoming films Just Add Water, Razor.  She is also the voice of Disney’s1st Black princess and lead character, Tiana, in the animated feature The Princess and the Frog (opening tonight).  Disney promised to return to 2 special Disney traditions with this animation: a Broadway-style musical sound track and traditional hand-drawn 2D animation.

Awards & Nominations

Awards

• 1998: Dean Goodman Choice Award – Valley Song
• 1998: Garland/Drama Logue Award – Valley Song
• 1999: S.F. Bay Guardian Upstage/Downstage Award – Valley Song and Threepenny Opera
• 2001: OBIE Award – Eli’s Comin’
• 2004: Clarence Derwent Award – Caroline, or Change
• 2004: Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Featured Actress – Caroline, or Change
• 2004: Theatre World Award – Caroline, or Change
• 2004: Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical – Caroline, or Change

Nominations

• 2004: Drama Desk Award Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical – Caroline, or Change
• 2007: Image Award Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture – Dreamgirls
• 2007: Screen Actors Guild for Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture – Dreamgirls
• 2008: Image Award Outstanding Actress in a Mini-Series/ Television Movie – The Starter Wife
• 2008: Grammy Award Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media- Dreamgirls

Information was obtained from the wikipedia pages about Anika Rose and The Princess and the Frog.

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Tags: 2D Animation, American Conservatory Theatre, Amherst College, Beyonce Knowles, Board of Governors for the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, Broadway, Caroline, Charlotte NC, Chautauqua Institution's Theologian in Residence, College of Education, Denice Denton Emerging Leader Award, Disney, Dr. James H. Ammons, Dreamgirls, Eddie Murphy, education researcher, Eli's Comin', Emerging Scholar Award for the Howard University Faculty Senate, Emory University, experimental radiation, Florida A&M University, Footloose, From Justin to Kelly, George Washington Carver, Hampton University, Head of the UCLA Comprehensive Brain Tumor Program, Inc. Mulan, Institute on Aging, irst African-American, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Hudson, Jill Scott, Johnson Research and Development Co., Jonecia Keels, Just Add Water, King of the Bingo Game, LEAD Program at the Wharton School, Lonnie Johnson, Lou Rawls, Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Featured Actress, Me and Mrs. Jones, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, or Change, Pixar Animation Studios, Razor, Shaft's Big Score, SUNY Buffalo, Surviving Christmass, Temptation, The New Negro, The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agencey, The Princess and the Frog, The Urban Arts Academy, Theatre World Award, Tiana, Tony Award for Best Featured Actress, University of Chicago Medical Center, Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice