Ms. Angela Brown-Myers left the professional world of theater to share her passion and knowledge with young and growing performers. She started as a young dancer and transformed into a well-rounded woman working in the performing arts. Ms. Brown is Cape Henry Collegiate’s new Theater Director.
“I found my love for the performing arts at a very young age,” said Ms. Brown. “So I was in a children’s theater a long time ago, about 4-5 years old, I really enjoyed it. We did a lot of dancing, singing and some acting. But I really got into it when I got into high school, that’s when I fell in love with it.”
As a young child, Ms.Brown developed her love for the performing arts and was involved with all sorts of performance.
“The first musical I was a part of was actually ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,’” Ms.Brown said. “So I was a freshman in high school and it was so exciting. We had a lot of fun!”
Ms.Brown was a part of her first musical and that is when performing arts grew on her. She became very serious as a high school student when she knew this was what she was born for and wanted to pursue. Ms. Brown goes on to tell about what she had gotten engaged in now that she had a heavy passion for the arts.
“When I was in high school that’s when it grew for me,” Ms. Brown said. “I was in a performing arts program. So I went to school during the day and then after lunch I would go to another school and do musical theater all day long. After that freshman year I was pretty much in love with it. And I started going to dance classes outside of school. And I was just into it.”
In Ms. Brown’s high school years she attended The Governor’s School of Performing Arts in Norfolk, Virginia. She would eat, breathe, and sleep in musical theater from lunch to the evening. Ms. Brown was heavily trained in dance and enjoyed dancing the most out of the big three.
“My favorite is actually dancing,” Ms.Brown said. “So dancing would be one. Singing then acting.”
Even after the many musicals Ms. Brown had taken part in, there are still a few that sit on her dream board.
“I’ve always wanted to be in, well there’s actually two,” Ms.Brown said. “One is called Aida. So Heather Hadley was Aida back in the early 2000s. I always wanted to be in it. I actually went to New York and auditioned for it. I made it all the way down to two people and I saw there was just my headshot and another girl’s headshot.”
Ms. Brown anxiously awaited for the final results of this audition.
“At the time I had never been in anything besides when I did some theme park stuff, but I had never been in a Broadway show before,” she said. “So the other girl had more credits so I didn’t get it.”
Ms. Brown never gave up when she didn’t get a role she wanted. She kept working hard to grow and accomplish her goals.
“But from that audition the casting agency remembered me and they started bringing me in for other shows so that was exciting,” Ms.Brown said. “But I had always wanted to do that.The dancing and singing in Aida is so amazing.”
Even though Ms.Brown did not get the role she hoped for, she was so memorable that the casting agency kept her in their back pocket.
“And the other one I wanted to be in was ‘The Color Purple,’ ” Ms.Brown said. “That’s another one I made it really close but didn’t get it. But [I was] totally okay with that, I just wanted to be a part of it when it was first coming out.”
Ms. Brown made it so far in both these audition processes. Even though she did not get the roles she wished for, that did not discourage her. She kept working hard and was continuously determined.
“I’ll tell you this: I was in a show with a famous person, she was an older actress, and her name is Carol Kane,” Ms. Brown said. “And she has been in like 1,000 movies but she’s one of those actors that is just like the character.”
Ms. Brown has been surrounded by many unique and talented people in her career as well as many famous performers who she comes across. She has gotten opportunities to work side by side many talented people to learn from. This helped her grow into who she is today.
“She’s an old school actress but I really respect her because shes like really good at her craft and she’s not about all the fame,” Ms. Brown said. “She’s just a really good actor and so sweet. I mean I did the show with her. I was always really starstruck when I would see her come in.”
Ms. Brown admires actors and their hard worked craft as well as their wonderful personalities behind the screen or off stage.
“There are a lot of actors I admire,” Ms. Brown said. “I actually admire a lot of the actors and performers who started off as dancers. Like they were categorized that way. Even though that’s not all they were.”
Ms. Brown applauds many of the talented dancers who shifted towards the musical theater world who became very well-rounded triple threat stars.
“But I like the ones that kind of like pushed through and became lead roles and are on TV so there’s like Patina Miller and these are all strong dancers,” Ms. Brown said. “Like Adrianne Warren is from this area and she’s a really strong dancer and singer.”
“There are other people I admire like Viola Davis,” Ms. Brown said. “I admire her, she is such a good actor and I like that she expresses how you need to value yourself as an actor and so when you do that other people start to value you as well. And then you start getting roles that you really want. And I like hearing her talking about her career and her career started later and that it kind of reminds me that wait I can still get back into it later on.”
Even professionals have other professionals they love and look up to who inspire them to reach their goals and achieve great things. After years of being on tours, stage and the camera Ms.Brown wanted to share her love and knowledge for the performing arts by becoming a teacher.
“Well I’m actually a teacher now,” Ms. Brown said. “That was always on my radar but I didn’t see myself like for a long time I just saw myself performing and that was it. And I never really thought about being anything else but now I really enjoy teaching it.”
Ms. Brown never imagined herself anywhere else but the stage. After years, she decided to come back to Virginia to spread her talents and wisdom she had gained after spending her life in the professional world.
“I actually worked at Cape Henry last year helping Mrs.Fluharty with the middle school musical,” Ms.Brown said. “And when I came in here, I came in this room and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is such a great space to work in. I felt like the arts were really valued here.”
Cape Henry created a curriculum to implement performing arts into everyday life. Students get taught a variety of things, whether it be visual arts, theater, dance or public speaking.
“The kids were great and I think overall it’s good to be in a place where they think ok its important for students to learn how to act and sing and set design,” Ms.Brown said. “Because I’ve been in some places where it’s not a priority and I felt like that was missing. And I feel like in order to be a well rounded student you need to know about all parts of life and arts is part of that. So I feel like Cape Henry was supportive of that.”
Ms. Brown will soon be moving into Cape Henry’s brand new Clarke and Ervin Center for Innovation and Performing Arts to spend many years teaching, directing and producing performances to remember.
