An audience with Emmy winner Sheryl Lee Ralph, a fan favorite as no-nonsense teacher Barbara Howard on Abbott Elementary, makes for an exhilarating education.
She commands your attention from the off. Truth is, for me, she always has. In my youth, on a trip with a girlfriend to New York, we purchased tickets way up in the Imperial Theatre’s balcony to see a show called Dreamgirls.
That was my first lesson in Broadway. That was my first lesson in Broadway theatre magic. That was my first lesson in witnessing the artistry of Sheryl Lee Ralph, who glided seamlessly across the Imperial’s stage as Deena Jones. “I’m the dream that’ll give you more and more,” I remember her cooing into a mic.
She gratefully acknowledges that while Dreamgirls gave her a pathway to a hard-won stardom — “Oh, my god it was brilliant,” she declares — she and her castmates lost out on the riches the show generated.
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