§ Part of venue’s 2025/2026 season

2024-2025

• Executive Producer: Edgar Dobie
• Co-Producers: Arena Stage, Berkeley Repertory Theatre & Chicago Shakespeare Theater
• Playwright: Jocelyn Bioh
• Director: Whitney White
• Associate Director: Manna-Symone Middlebrooks
• Original Music & Sound Design: Justin Ellington
• Hair & Wig Design: Nikiya Mathis
• Dialect & Vocal Coach: Yetunde Felix-Ukwu
• Set Design: David Zinn
• Costume Design: Dede Ayite
• Lighting Design: Jiyoun Chang
• Video Design: Stefania Bubarella
• Stage Manager:
  • • Mandisa Reed
    • Brillian Qi-Bell (LA engagement)
• Assistant Stage Manager: Jamie Berry
• Casting: Erica A. Hart, Kelly Gillespie & David Caparelliotis

CAST

Although every effort is used to keep an accurate listing of personnel, changes can be made without notice. Notable replacements are marked with an asterisk (*).

Melanie Brezill (Michelle/Chrissy/LaNiece) is thrilled to be making her Arena Stage debut! Broadway and  National Tour: The Book of Mormon, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Mamma Mia!. Select Regional  Stokely: The Unfinished Revolution, for colored girls…, Man in the Ring, Caroline, or Change (Court  Theatre); Beautiful, Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story (Marriott Theatre); The Comedy of Errors at Shepperton,  As You Like it (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); Nina Simone: Four Women (Northlight Theatre); Little Shop  of Horrors (Drury Lane Oakbrook Theatre); Crowns (Goodman Theatre); The MLK Project (Writers  Theatre). TV/Film: Reporting for Christmas, Empire. Melanie is the creator of The Grandmother Project and  Pearls & Pocketbooks series on YouTube. She would like to thank her family, friends, and Stewart Talent  for their support! Instagram: @shinegirlshine, @thegrandmotherproject 

Victoire Charles (Jaja) is making her Arena Stage debut. Theatre: Golden Age (MTC), Ruined (MTC,  Intiman and Geffen Playhouse), Moby Dick Rehearsed and The Tempest (The Acting Company, Group  35), Intimate Apparel (Portland Stage Company), The Trojan Women (Alabama Shakespeare Festival),  The Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare Theatre Company, DC). TV: New Amsterdam (NBC), FBI (CBS),  Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin and the upcoming Pretty Little Liars: Summer School (MAX). Training:  Fordham College at Lincoln Center and the NYU Grad Acting Program. 

* Yao Dogbe (James/Franklin/Olu/Eric) is overjoyed to be making his debut at Arena Stage. Select DC  credits include Topdog/Underdog, Nollywood Dreams, Ohio State Murders (Round House Theatre) and  King Lear (Shakespeare Theatre Company). Off-Broadway: The Doctor (Park Avenue Armory); Nollywood  Dreams (MCC Theater). Regional: Richard III, Twelfth Night, Measure for Measure, Macbeth (Chicago  Shakespeare Theater); Fences (American Players Theatre); Fly (Capital Repertory Theatre); Intimate  Apparel (Northlight Theatre); Routes (Remy Bumppo Theatre Company); Cymbeline (Utah Shakespeare  Festival). Tours: Othello (Montana Shakespeare in the Parks). Yao is a first-generation Ghanaian American  actor and an activist for African cultural and dialectical authenticity on stage and film for the African diaspora.  TV/Film: Yao currently has an AutoZone commercial nationwide. MFA Acting, University of Houston.  Instagram: @yaonation 

Mia Ellis (Jennifer / u/s Michelle/Chrissy/LaNiece) was born and raised in Mississippi where she attended  Tougaloo College. She received her MFA in Acting from Brown University/Trinity Rep. Select Regional: The  Amen Corner (Shakespeare Theatre Company); Fairview, The Mountaintop, Intimate Apparel, Ragtime  (Trinity Rep); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Alabama Shakespeare Festival); A Raisin in the Sun (Seattle Rep); Hamlet (Santa Cruz Shakespeare). TV/Film: The Good Fight, Elementary, Person of Interest,  Welcome to the Blumhouse Live, Louder Than Words, Lavender Men. Mia is also a teaching artist, writer,  producer, and a member of the Acting Company at Trinity Rep. She loves snow, classical music, animation,  and sends a special thanks to Linda, Semoune, and L.B. Instagram: @ellismia09. Website: miaellis.com 

Tiffany Renee Johnson (Aminata) is excited to make her Arena Stage debut! She’s a proud Chicago  native and Howard alum and is so glad to be back in DC. Some of Tiffany’s favorite regional credits include  Blues for an Alabama Sky (Remy Bumppo Theatre – Core Ensemble Member), Chlorine Sky (Steppenwolf  Theatre), School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play (Goodman Theatre), Red Velvet (Chicago  Shakespeare Theater), The Garbologists (Northlight Theatre), and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Writers  Theatre). Her TV/film credits include Shameless and The Chi (Showtime); Chicago PD and Chicago Med (NBC); Soundtrack (Hulu); and Range Runners (Amazon Prime). When Tiffany is not acting, she’s writing  for film and speaking to students. She gives God all the glory. Instagram: @tiffanyreneej_ Website:  TiffanyReneeJohnson.com 

* Colby N. Muhammad (Vanessa/Sheila/Radia) is more than thrilled to make her Arena Stage debut with  Jaja’s African Hair Braiding. Regional: Love All (La Jolla Playhouse), Pride and Prejudice (Chautauqua  Theater Company). Educational Theatre: Romeo and Juliet, The Promise, Everybody, In the Red and  Brown Water, Anything Goes, Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine. Education: MFA from UC San  Diego. BFA from Howard University. Instagram: @colbynatasha Website: colbymuhammad.com 

Jordan Rice (Marie) is an actress, filmmaker, and content creator from Atlanta, GA. At age 11, Jordan  made audiences hold their breath in her film debut as the last little girl on the screen during the church  bombing scene in Ava DuVernay’s Selma. Her other notable TV/film work includes playing Jackie Carson  in the Apple TV+ series Swagger, Dylan in One True Loves, and Esme in the DC Universe’s Doom Patrol.  Her creative work garnered her recognition as a 2020 YoungArts Theatre Finalist and Winner and a 2021 U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts Semifinalist. Jordan is thrilled to continue developing her artistry and  expanding the artistic space for more artists of color in the future. To follow her journey, follow her on  Instagram: @actressjordanrice #ThatGirlBeActing 

* Awa Sal Secka (Bea) is making her Arena Stage debut. Her credits include New York: Goddess workshop  (Zawadi); Grace workshop (Jackie). Regional: Goddess (Grio) at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Signature  Theatre: Gun and Powder (Flo); Blackbeard (Kali Maa); Jesus Christ Superstar (Simon); Broadway in the  Park; Signature Vinyl. Ford’s Theatre: Into the Woods (Baker’s Wife); The Wiz (Glinda/Dorothy u/s). Round  House Theatre: School Girls (Ama); Caroline, or Change (Dottie). Theater J: Intimate  Apparel (Mayme); Gloria: A Life (Flo Kennedy). Kennedy Center: Me…Jane (Maisie); Chasing the  Wind (Abby). Imagination Stage: Cinderella (Cinderella); Charlie Brown (Lucy). ArtsCentric: L5Y (Cathy); AIDA (Aida); Memphis (Felicia). Center Stage: Glorious World (Lady 3). ATMTC: James and the  Giant Peach (Sponge). Studio Theatre: Silence! The Musical (Ardelia). OTC: Co-writer of The Joy That  Carries You (2023 Winner of the Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play or Musical); Dessa  Rose Concert (Dessa); Children of Eden Concert (Eve); Avenue Q (Ensemble). 

* Aisha Sougou (Ndidi) was born and raised in Greensboro, North Carolina, the daughter of Senegalese  immigrants. She recently graduated from the School of Drama at the University of North Carolina School  of the Arts, Class of 2023. Her recent credits include Beehive, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, and  Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (Marriott Theatre). Aisha dedicates this performance to her mother and  sisters, who taught her anything and everything she knows about hair.

Bisserat Tseggai (Miriam) is an Eritrean-American actor whose work in theater includes The Jungle at St.  Ann’s Warehouse and The Curran Theatre, and For All the Women Who Thought They Were Mad at Soho  Repertory Theatre. Her television credits include The Accidental Wolf, Seven Seconds, Succession, Law  and Order: Special Victims Unit, Orange is the New Black, Billions, Alternatino With Arturo Castro, Luke  Cage, and Rival Speak. You can follow her @bisserat on all social media platforms.

The following cast members were used during the show’s engagement in Los Angeles:

Leovina Charles (Vanessa, Radia, Sheila; she/her). BROADWAY: Young Nala in The Lion King. REGIONAL: Jaja’s African Hair Braiding (Berkeley Rep, Chicago Shakes, La Jolla Playhouse); Lempicka (La Jolla Playhouse); I Am Antigone (Theatre for a New City); The Waterfall (Thrown Stone); Twelfth Night (UC San Diego), In the Red and Brown Water (UC San Diego). FILM: Soñadora (Amazon Prime, Hulu), Never Alone, Mumma. EDUCATION: MFA, UC San Diego; BFA, Howard University.

Claudia Logan (Bea, she/her) is so grateful and blessed to hit the CTG stage! She thanks Father God for her gifts, talents, purpose, and favor. Off-Broadway: Six Characters (Lincoln Center Theater), Exception to the Rule (Roundabout), Push Party (The HEARTH). National Tours: Jaja’s African Hair Braiding (La Jolla Playhouse). TV: Diarra from Detroit, Harlem, The Equalizer, Blue Bloods, Hightown, Pause with Sam Jay, That Damn Michael Che, New Amsterdam, Tales of the City, Random Acts of Flyness.

Michael Oloyde (James/Franklin/Olu/Eric, he/him) is thrilled to make his Center Theatre Group debut. He made his Broadway debut in Jaja’s African Hair Braiding originating the roles of James/Franklin/Olu/Eric. Off-Broadway: Scraps, Inanimate (The Flea Theater), Eco Village (Theater at St. Clements). Film/TV: Both Eyes Open (STARZ), Maniac (Netflix), Lemonade Blessing (Tribeca). Michael is also the founder of Scene & Heard, a creative community supporting artists through space, opportunity, and storytelling. @michaeloloyede_

Abigail C. Onwunali (Ndidi, she/her). Broadway: Jaja’s African Hair Braiding (Manhattan Theatre Club). Off-Broadway: The Half-God of Rainfall (NYTW); Bloodwork (National Black Theatre); The Grove, Sojourners (The Huntington). Education: The David Geffen School of Drama at Yale; Hillman Grad Fellow. Awards: 2022 Princess Grace Award; 2x Elliot Norton nominee, winning for The Grove. A multifaceted Nigerian-American artist, her plays have been developed by NYTW, EST, Faultline, New Harmony, Liberation Theatre Company, and Yale Cabaret. @abbyy_onw