By Aria Brent, AFRO Employees Author
Most actors who select a life on the stage solely dream of acting on Broadway. That’s not the case with Dayna Marie Quincy, the Morgan State College alum who not too long ago made her life-long dream a actuality.
A local of Detroit, Mich., Quincy received her begin as an actress on the East Baltimore traditionally Black college after incomes a job within the establishment’s replica of “Ragtime,” a musical that explores the idea of the American Dream and race within the Nineteen Twenties. The 2006 play was Quincy’s first time on a stage, however this star has been on the regular rise to Broadway ever since.
Quincy’s Broadway debut got here on April 26, after what she instructed the AFRO was a surprisingly quick audition course of for the present titled “New York, New York.” Since opening evening, she has repeatedly wowed the viewers as each a member of the ensemble and a featured character, Josie.
“Auditioning was truly a really quick and livid course of. I received solid in a few week, which isn’t frequent–it’s loopy!” stated Quincy. “I did a self tape audition after which I received a name again.”
“I used to be truly referred to as again as an understudy for the opera singer within the present and since I’ve that classical voice diploma from Morgan State. I assumed, ‘that’s what I’ll be doing.’ Nevertheless, I additionally learn some traces for this character named Josie,” Quincy defined. “When the provide got here in that I had gotten an element within the ensemble it was additionally for the Josie character, which was utterly surprising to me.”
Identified for her charismatic spirit and highly effective voice, Quincy’s Broadway debut is seen as one thing that was sure to occur.
“I’m actually excited for her,” stated former castmate Grant Emerson Harvey, a Morgan-trained thespian not too long ago noticed on the Everyman Theatre stage. “Dayna has an incredible voice, and he or she’s an incredible expertise. I all the time knew that if that was her purpose, she would obtain it. It is a nice second for her.”
Harvey and Quincy first met by mutual buddies in school, however received the possibility to essentially know each other in 2009, throughout Morgan State’s replica of the musical “Sarafina!,” the apartheid- period stage play primarily based on the cult basic movie, launched in 1992.
Quincy’s Broadway debut is the most recent achievement added to her prolonged resume of roles and accolades.
Janice Quick labored with Quincy throughout her time at Morgan State and recalled her dedication to her profession on the stage.
“Performing was all the time what made Dayna’s coronary heart beat,” stated Quick. “She got here alive and remodeled when she hit the stage. Dayna all the time knew what she wished to do and the place she wished to do it,” Quick acknowledged.
Though she has been performing for over 15 years, Quincy stated she understands that there’s nonetheless extra to be realized and he or she’s excited for the chance to take action.
“That is my Broadway debut, which may be very thrilling. Regardless that I’ve been within the business so lengthy, I’m taking this manufacturing as my probability to essentially be taught some extra ins and outs of Broadway,” defined Quincy. “That is the beginning.”
