Meet the Cast of JAJA'S AFRICAN HAIR BRAIDING, Beginning Previews on Broadway Tonight!

Jaja's African Hair Braiding will begin previews tonight, Tuesday, September 12 and open on Tuesday, October 3, 2023 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.

The cast of Jaja's African Hair Braiding will feature Brittany Adebumola (“The Other Black Girl”), Maechi Aharanwa (The Misanthrope), Rachel Christopher (for colored girls who have considered suicide/…), Kalyne Coleman (“So Help Me Todd”), Somi Kakoma (Dreaming Zenzile), Lakisha May (Skeleton Crew), Nana Mensah (“Presumed Innocent”), Michael Oloyede (Inanimate), Dominique Thorne (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) and Zenzi Williams (Mobile Unit of Henry V).

Meet the cast below!

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Brittany Adebumola

Miriam

is a New York-based actor who will next be seen starring in the upcoming Onyx Collective / Hulu series “The Other Black Girl”, based on the critically acclaimed novel. Previously, Brittany starred in one of the lead roles in the CW series “4400”, and was also seen in the Netflix series “Grand Army” and the Paramount+ series “Guilty Party”. She also will be seen in the upcoming series “Demascus” which premiered at SXSW. She graduated from Syracuse University with a BFA in Acting.

Maechi Aharanwa

Ndidi

Off-Broadway credits include: The Misanthrope (Moliere In The Park), Mothers (Playwrights Realm), If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must Be a Muhfucka (Playwrights Horizons), Bully (Clubbed Thumb), The Winter’s Tale, An Octoroon (TFANA), The Old Settler (Billie Holiday Theatre), Sweet, Facing Our Truth – Night Vision, No More Monsters Here (NBT). Regional credits include: The Mountaintop, The Call, Seven Guitars, Antigone. Television/film credits include: “Elementary” (CBS), “Show Me a Hero” (HBO), “Person Of Interest” (CBS), “30 Rock” (NBC), Intrusion, Boy In A Backpack, Maybe There’s A Tree. Training: Juilliard. Princess Grace Award Recipient, The Actors Center Company Member. www.maechi.net

Rachel Christopher

Jennifer, u/s Chrissy/Michelle/LaNiece

Broadway: for colored girls who have considered suicide/… Select theater: What To Send Up When It Goes Down (BAM/Playwrights Horizons); Bad News!…(Skirball); King Philip (Clubbed Thumb); Sonic Life of a Giant Tortoise (The Play Company); Minor Character (UTR-Public Theater), An Iliad (Long Wharf Theatre); Intimate Apparel (Shakespeare and Company); The Winter’s Tale (Shakespeare Festival St. Louis); Detroit ’67 (PlayMakers Rep); Disgraced (Rep. Theatre St. Louis); By the Queen (Trinity Rep). TV/Film: Girl on the Train, The Upside, “Billions”, “Madame Secretary”, “Blindspot”, “Instinct”, “Elementary”. Awards: 2019 Connecticut Critics Circle Award (Outstanding Solo Performance), 2022 Chita Rivera Award (Outstanding Ensemble) @rachel_e_christopher.

Kalyne Coleman

Chrissy/Michelle/LaNiece

was born and raised in Richmond, VA. She can be seen in a major recurring role on AMC’s hit drama series “Interview with the Vampire”, based on the acclaimed film of the same name and written by Rolin Jones. She can be seen in guest star roles on CBS’ hit series “So Help Me Todd” and “Evil”. Kalyne is a University of Pennsylvania alum and a recent graduate of Brown/Trinity Rep’s MFA Acting program. In the fall of 2020, Kalyne was chosen to participate in ABC’s Discovers Showcase. Her Off-Broadway credits include: Four, What To Send Up When It Goes Down (BAM), Lorraine H. & Nikki G., Lessons in Survival (Vineyard Theatre); and Leigh, America v. 2.1: The Sad Demise and Eventual Extinction of the American Negro (Barrington Stage). She sends unbounded gratitude to her incredible parents, family, and friends for their unconditional love and support.

Somi Kakoma

Jaja

is the daughter of immigrants from Uganda and Rwanda. Known in the jazz world simply as ‘Somi’, her nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album made her the first African woman ever nominated in any of the Grammy’s jazz categories. A recipient of two NAACP Image Awards for Best Vocal Jazz Album, the Doris Duke Artist Award, and the inaugural Jazz Music Award for Best Vocal Performance, Somi is also a Soros Equality Fellow and United States Artist Fellow. Last season, she wrote and starred in the Off-Broadway production of Dreaming Zenzile – an original musical based on the life of Miriam Makeba. Somi’s performance was nominated for Drama League, Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, and AUDELCO Awards. She holds degrees in Cultural Anthropology and African Studies from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Master’s in Performance Studies from Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, and is currently working on a PhD at Harvard University. www.somimusic.com // @somimusic

Lakisha May

Vanessa/Radia/Sheila

is an actor, producer, and advocate. Lakisha’s theater credits include Skeleton Crew on Broadway (MTC), originating roles in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Everybody, Mfoniso Udofia’s Sojourners, Robert Askins’ The Squirrels and others. Her TV/Film credits include “City on a Hill”, “Boardwalk Empire”, “Law and Order: SVU”, and others. She has created work that has screened at the Pan African Film Festival, Center Theater Group’s digital stage, and other festivals. She is one of three co-founders of CCC (Color Conscious Collective), a collective of artists who have built an investment apparatus to galvanize resources for artists. Additionally, Lakisha has taught drama students at Spelman College and NYU. Her advocacy work includes being the chair of the Leadership Awards Committee at the James Beard Foundation. She serves as vice chair of the board at Space on Ryder Farm, a non-profit residency program and organic farm in Brewster, New York. Lakisha has her MFA in acting from The American Conservatory Theater and her BA from Spelman College.

Nana Mensah

Aminata

is a Ghanaian-American actor, writer and director. She recently wrapped the limited series “Presumed Innocent”, opposite Jake Gyllenhaal (Apple TV+). Queen of Glory, her debut feature which she wrote, directed and starred in, premiered at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival where she won the Best New Narrative Director award and earned a 2022 Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best First Feature. Recent credits include Netflix’s “The Chair” opposite Sandra Oh, Ekwa Msangi’s Farewell Amor (IFC), Judd Apatow’s King of Staten Island, and the A24 film After Yang starring Colin Farrell. She starred in Jocelyn Bioh’s Nollywood Dreams at MCC Theater, Tracy Letts’ Man From Nebraska at Second Stage Theatre (Lucille Lortel Nomination, Outer Critics Circle Nomination), as well as Clare Barron’s hit Obie Award-winning play, I’ll Never Love Again. Nana is currently shooting the second season of Netflix’s hit show “The Diplomat”, reprising her role as Billie Appiah.

Michael Oloyede

James/Sock Man/DVD Man/Jewelry Man

(he/him) is excited to be making his Broadway debut in Jaja’s African Hair Braiding. Selected theater credits include: Scraps, NYT Critic’s Pick Inanimate (The Flea Theater), Eco Village (Theater at St Clements).  Film/TV: BET’s award-winning digital series “Brooklyn.Blue.Sky.”, Netflix’s “Maniac”, Curtis (Sundance Now). Michael is also proud to have helped birth the Webby Award-Winning Creative Collective & CultureCon where he serves as the Art & Editorial Director & is a co-founder of The Lay Out.

Dominique Thorne

Marie

is an actress and visionary who made her feature film debut in Academy Award-winning If Beale Street Could Talk. The film received critical acclaim, including the NAACP Image Award for “Outstanding Independent Motion Picture.” She next starred in Judas and the Black Messiah, as Judy Harmon. Judas was nominated for five Academy Awards. Her work garnered her a spot on Variety’s 2021 Power of Young Hollywood List. In 2022, Thorne debuted in the Marvel Universe as Riri Williams, aka Ironheart, in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which set astounding records in box offices and on Disney+. Set to release in 2024, Dominique stars as Riri in Marvel’s “Ironheart”, where she builds her own version of the Iron Man suit in her MIT dorm. Ironheart succeeds Tony Stark, Marvel fanatics’ favorite, Iron Man. Dominique recently wrapped production for Freaky Tales in which she stars alongside Pedro Pascal and Jay Ellis.

Zenzi Williams

Bea

Theater credits include the title role of The Public Theater’s Mobile Unit of Henry V, directed by Robert O’Hara, The Crucible (Broadway), RunBoyRun (New York Theater Workshop), The Homecoming Queen (Atlantic Theater Company), Mother Courage and Her Children (Classic Stage Company). Television credits include “American Rust”, “Chicago Fire”. Film: Christmas With You, Black Panther. Williams has an MFA from the Yale School of Drama and studied at the British American Dramatic Academy. Upcoming: “American Rust”, S2.

Victoire Charles

u/s Bea, Jaja, Jennifer

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 (Shake[1]speare 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.

Onye Eme-Akwari

u/s James/Sock Man/DVD Man/Jewelry Man

Onye is a Nigerian-born actor, producer, musician and educator. Recent credits include guest star and recurring appearances in “Bob Hearts Abishola” (CBS), “Will Trent” (ABC), “Random Acts of Flyness” (HBO) and “Outer Banks” (Netflix). Additionally, he teaches at the Robert Mello Studio in Atlanta, GA, as well as the Terry Knickerbocker Studio in Brooklyn, NY. Onye also holds an MA in industrial/organizational psychology from the University of Georgia.

Abigail C. Onwunali

u/s Ndidi, Aminata, Vanessa/Radia/Sheila

Off-Broadway credits: The Half-God of Rainfall (New York Theatre Workshop), For the Honey You Gotta Say When (New York Theatre Workshop), Valor (Guthrie). Abigail is a 2022 Princess Grace winner. As a writer, her play Jewel was a Red Bull Theater’s Short New Play Festival winner and her slam poems have been viewed worldwide. Graduate of The Yale School of Drama and Hillman Grad Mentorship Program

Morgan Scott

u/s Miriam, Marie

Morgan is a 2022 graduate of Juilliard, originally hailing from Greenville, South Carolina. She is the 2021 inaugural recipient of the Fendi Vanguard Award. Scott also trained at the British American Dramatic Academy. She sends her utmost love and gratitude to her family, her team, and Group 51 for all their support. 2 Cor. 4:7

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Photo Credit: MTC

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