Producer Sheryl Lee Ralph on Broadway, 40 Years Later

Sheryl Lee Ralph joins Sunrise on the eve of her birthday to discuss ‘Thoughts of a Colored Man’ as well as her body of work and overall wonderful experience as an Actress.

The Journey

Ralph’s journey to stardom roughly began about four or five years prior to her big break. She auditioned for ‘A Piece of the Action’ and did the film. She later received a call from her Acting Teacher (at the Negro Ensemble Company) to try out for a musical. Three years later ‘Dream Girls’ opened and “It was like magic!” Ralph expressed.

Tony Nomination

Sheryl Lee Ralph admitted that her authentic Jamaican mother was not too thrilled by the Hollywood scene but eventually came around after being blessed with the fruits of her daughter’s success.

Her mother did instill the concept of God’s timing in everything her daughter did, whether she won an award or not. Ralph shared that though she was raised on tough love, the way her mother loved was just right for her.

Gentrification and ‘Thoughts Of A Colored Man’

When asked about gentrification and how it would relate to the play Ralph had poignant, sound words to say. “When we talk about gentrification, in the States we think about the removal of coloured or black people. However, in Broadway, it is really about diversification.” Opening up the doors and minds of Gatekeepers; those who hold so tightly to the reigns for over a century now.

“Pick a colour, any colour, okay… black!”

Though we celebrate an all-black team producing this play, unfortunately, 2021, debuts the first Broadway show with an all-black cast, crew, and production team.

New Series

Sheryl Lee Ralph has a new series airing Tuesday nights at 8 pm on the ABC Network. Following its December 7 pilot episode, the series titled, Abbot Elementary is set to premiere episode 2 on January 4^th, 2022.