Saycon Sengbloh
Encyclopedia
Saycon A. Sengbloh is an American
actress and singer. Her influences include the Jackson 5, Tina Turner
, and Prince.
, she performed in many school plays and talents shows and was subsequently named "Visual and Performing Arts Student of the Year" prior to graduating.
Sengbloh attended Agnes Scott College
, majoring in Spanish and Theatre/Voice. During this time, she began singing in the Youth Ensemble of Atlanta. Sengbloh began to blossom using the teachings of her mentor there, Freddie Hendricks. Sengbloh performed in many local theatre groups such as The Fox Theatre, 7-Stages Theatre, Jomandi Productions, and the Alliance Theatre Company.
-winning musical Rent
. Sengbloh caught the attention of a New York
casting director and joined the 2nd National Tour of Rent performing the role of Mimi Marquez, an HIV-positive, drug-addicted S&M dancer. She performed the role of Mimi all over the United States
as well as in Japan
, from December 3, 1999 through December 3, 2000.
Following her success in Rent, Sengbloh was cast in Elton John
& Tim Rice
's Broadway
musical Aida
. She served as the standby for the main character, "Aida." Sengbloh performed the role in promotional appearances in addition to covering extended absences of stars such as Toni Braxton
http://www.broadway.com/buzz/standby-sengbloh-spells-braxton-for-aida-mats/, Destiny's Child
singer Michelle Williams
, and singer Deborah Cox
.
Sengbloh then participated in the creation of the role of Nettie in the musical version of The Color Purple
, performing in the pre-Broadway tryout production in Atlanta.
In January 2005, shortly after the closure of Aida, Sengbloh was cast in Stephen Schwartz
's new Tony-award winning musical, Wicked
, as the standby for Elphaba
, the Wicked Witch of the West
. She has performed the role numerous times, going on for stars Shoshana Bean
, Eden Espinosa
, Ana Gasteyer
& Julia Murney
. She left the production on February 17, 2007. Lisa Brescia
succeeded her as standby.
She enjoyed a brief stint as the standby for Celie and Nettie in the musical adaption of The Color Purple
when standby Montego Glover
took a leave of absence from the show http://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Saycon_Sengbloh/.
In 2007, Sengbloh was a member of "The Tribe" in the special 40th Anniversary concert version of Hair
, performed in Central Park. She reprised her role in 2008 for a six-week engagement, part of Shakespeare in the Park and recently played the role again in the 2009 Broadway revival.http://www.playbill.com/news/article/125709.html Saycon appeared on the Grammy nominated New Broadway Cast Recording of Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical http://www.grammy.com/nominees.
Sengbloh is currently co-starring, as "Sandra Izsadore", in the Broadway musical "Fela!" directed by Bill T. Jones
. Fela! opened in the fall of 2009 http://1067litefm.theatermania.com/photo-gallery/broadway/fela-opening-saycon-sengbloh_6851.html and is the story of Nigerian composer and activist Fela Kuti
. Saycon recently recorded the original Broadway cast album of Fela! scheduled for release in 2010 http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Photo_Coverage_FELA_Cast_Records_Cast_Album_20100310.
Sengbloh's first television movie, The Ditchdigger's Daughters, was based on a book by the same name and co-starred Carl Lumbly, Dule Hill
, and Monique Coleman
; in the movie she portrayed a young Kimberly McClelland http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118989/. Saycon Sengbloh played Young Dearie B. in Funny Valentine's, a television movie based on the popular short story by J. California Cooper
, about African-American who is raped by church member and separated from her sister and reared as distant cousins. Funny Valentine's was produced by Alfre Woodard
and starred Alfre Woodard, Loretta Devine
, CCH Pounder
and Megalyn Echikunwoke
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0180708/.
Sengbloh appeared in the Dawson's Creek
episode "Escape From Witch Island" (Season 3, Episode 7) as the conspiracy theorist, one of Dawson's classmates http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0555111/. She appeared the film American Gangster
as Tango's Woman http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0765429/ and she can also be seen in the movie musical Across the Universe
, in which she is featured as one of Sadie's backup singers in the last sequence of the movie. On the soundtrack she provided backing vocals on the songs "Don't Let me Down" and "All You Need is Love." She also released her solo album entitled Southern Pin-Up in late 2005 and Southern Pin-Up: Special Edition in 2008 with song remixes for Southern Pin-Up, Hottentot, and Recognize http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/saycon. Sengbloh appeared as Nurse Peltzer on the episode "Fallin" during season 19 of the prime time legal drama Law & Order.
Sengbloh appears in the popular Mohegan Sun
commercial, "Everyone's Invited" singing to the tune of the Rick James
song Superfreak along side former Wicked co-star, Kate Reinders
.http://www.splendad.com/ads/show/2043-Mohegan-Sun-Super-Freak. As a former stock print model, Sengbloh's image appears on the cover of the New York Times best seller, 2009 edition of the Connie Briscoe novel, "Big Girls Don't Cry" http://www.randomhouse.com/acmart/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780449005644&view=amauthbio.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actress and singer. Her influences include the Jackson 5, Tina Turner
Tina Turner
Tina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...
, and Prince.
History
Sengbloh grew up in Atlanta with her mother Debroah Dixon and began singing publicly in middle school. She attended Tri-Cities High School and became involved with their magnet program for the Visual and Performing Arts. Throughout high schoolHigh school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
, she performed in many school plays and talents shows and was subsequently named "Visual and Performing Arts Student of the Year" prior to graduating.
Sengbloh attended Agnes Scott College
Agnes Scott College
Agnes Scott College is a private undergraduate college in the United States. Agnes Scott's campus lies in downtown Decatur, Georgia, nestled inside the perimeter of the bustling metro-Atlanta area....
, majoring in Spanish and Theatre/Voice. During this time, she began singing in the Youth Ensemble of Atlanta. Sengbloh began to blossom using the teachings of her mentor there, Freddie Hendricks. Sengbloh performed in many local theatre groups such as The Fox Theatre, 7-Stages Theatre, Jomandi Productions, and the Alliance Theatre Company.
Theatrical performances
Her "big break" came after answering a radio advertisement seeking for new, young performers for the Pulitzer PrizePulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-winning musical Rent
Rent (musical)
Rent is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème...
. Sengbloh caught the attention of a New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
casting director and joined the 2nd National Tour of Rent performing the role of Mimi Marquez, an HIV-positive, drug-addicted S&M dancer. She performed the role of Mimi all over the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
as well as in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, from December 3, 1999 through December 3, 2000.
Following her success in Rent, Sengbloh was cast in Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
& Tim Rice
Tim Rice
Sir Timothy Miles Bindon "Tim" Rice is an British lyricist and author.An Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, Rice is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus...
's Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical Aida
Aida (musical)
Aida is a musical with music by Elton John, lyrics by Tim Rice, and book by Linda Woolverton, Robert Falls, and David Henry Hwang, and produced by Walt Disney Theatrical....
. She served as the standby for the main character, "Aida." Sengbloh performed the role in promotional appearances in addition to covering extended absences of stars such as Toni Braxton
Toni Braxton
Toni Michelle Braxton is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Braxton has won six Grammy Awards, seven American Music Awards, and five Billboard Music Awards and has sold over 60 million records worldwide...
http://www.broadway.com/buzz/standby-sengbloh-spells-braxton-for-aida-mats/, Destiny's Child
Destiny's Child
Destiny's Child was an American R&B girl group whose final line-up comprised lead singer Beyoncé Knowles alongside Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams. Formed in 1997 in Houston, Texas, Destiny's Child members began their musical endeavors in their pre-teens under the name Girl's Tyme...
singer Michelle Williams
Michelle Williams (singer)
Tenitra Michelle Williams , commonly known as Michelle Williams, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and actress...
, and singer Deborah Cox
Deborah Cox
Deborah Cox is a Canadian R&B singer-songwriter and actress. Her 1998 song "Nobody's Supposed to Be Here" held the record for longest-running number one single on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart , a record held for nearly eight years. She has achieved ten number-one hits on...
.
Sengbloh then participated in the creation of the role of Nettie in the musical version of The Color Purple
The Color Purple (musical)
The Color Purple is a Broadway musical based upon the novel The Color Purple by Alice Walker. It features music and lyrics written by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray, with a book by Marsha Norman. It ran on Broadway in 2005 and has been touring throughout the US...
, performing in the pre-Broadway tryout production in Atlanta.
In January 2005, shortly after the closure of Aida, Sengbloh was cast in Stephen Schwartz
Stephen Schwartz (composer)
Stephen Lawrence Schwartz is an American musical theatre lyricist and composer. In a career spanning over four decades, Schwartz has written such hit musicals as Godspell , Pippin and Wicked...
's new Tony-award winning musical, Wicked
Wicked (musical)
Wicked is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman. It is based on the Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West , a parallel novel of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and L. Frank Baum's classic story The Wonderful Wizard...
, as the standby for Elphaba
Elphaba
Elphaba Thropp is a fictional character in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, as well as in the Broadway and West End adaptations, Wicked. In the original L. Frank Baum book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch of the West is unnamed and little...
, the Wicked Witch of the West
Wicked Witch of the West
The Wicked Witch of the West is a fictional character and the most significant antagonist in L. Frank Baum's children's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
. She has performed the role numerous times, going on for stars Shoshana Bean
Shoshana Bean
Shoshana Elise Bean is an American stage actress and singer known for her roles in Broadway musicals. She is best known for playing Elphaba on Broadway in the musical Wicked.-Early life and education:...
, Eden Espinosa
Eden Espinosa
Eden Erica Espinosa is an American singer and stage actress, who is best known for her performances as Elphaba for the Broadway, Los Angeles and San Francisco productions of the musical Wicked....
, Ana Gasteyer
Ana Gasteyer
Ana Kristina Gasteyer is an American actress of stage, film, and television. She is best known for her comedic roles when she was a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1996 to 2002.-Early life:...
& Julia Murney
Julia Murney
Julia Kathleen Murney is an American actress, singer and theatre performer, primarily featured in theatre and television commercial voice-overs. Until 2005, she was commonly known as the Broadway actress who had technically never appeared on Broadway...
. She left the production on February 17, 2007. Lisa Brescia
Lisa Brescia
Lisa Brescia, born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is an American musical theatre actress who has performed as lead and understudy in several Broadway shows. Raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Lisa went on to pursue acting and graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts...
succeeded her as standby.
She enjoyed a brief stint as the standby for Celie and Nettie in the musical adaption of The Color Purple
The Color Purple (musical)
The Color Purple is a Broadway musical based upon the novel The Color Purple by Alice Walker. It features music and lyrics written by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray, with a book by Marsha Norman. It ran on Broadway in 2005 and has been touring throughout the US...
when standby Montego Glover
Montego Glover
Montego Glover is an American stage actress and singer. She has been nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role in the musical Memphis and won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical.-Biography:...
took a leave of absence from the show http://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Saycon_Sengbloh/.
In 2007, Sengbloh was a member of "The Tribe" in the special 40th Anniversary concert version of Hair
Hair (musical)
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...
, performed in Central Park. She reprised her role in 2008 for a six-week engagement, part of Shakespeare in the Park and recently played the role again in the 2009 Broadway revival.http://www.playbill.com/news/article/125709.html Saycon appeared on the Grammy nominated New Broadway Cast Recording of Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical http://www.grammy.com/nominees.
Sengbloh is currently co-starring, as "Sandra Izsadore", in the Broadway musical "Fela!" directed by Bill T. Jones
Bill T. Jones
Bill T. Jones is an American artistic director, choreographer and dancer.-Early life:Jones was born in Bunnell, Florida and his family moved North as part of the Great Migration in the first half of the twentieth century. They settled in Wayland, New York, where Jones attended Wayland High School...
. Fela! opened in the fall of 2009 http://1067litefm.theatermania.com/photo-gallery/broadway/fela-opening-saycon-sengbloh_6851.html and is the story of Nigerian composer and activist Fela Kuti
Fela Kuti
Fela Anikulapo Kuti , or simply Fela , was a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, pioneer of Afrobeat music, human rights activist, and political maverick.-Biography:...
. Saycon recently recorded the original Broadway cast album of Fela! scheduled for release in 2010 http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Photo_Coverage_FELA_Cast_Records_Cast_Album_20100310.
Film, television and recording
In addition to her stage career, Sengbloh has performed in an assortment of television roles, movies, and commercials. As a teenager she appeared in public service videos produced for the state of Georgia to caution teens on safe driving, "Driving Ambition" and teenage pregnancy, "Ultimate Choice"http://www.imagemaster.tv/library/index.html. Also, she appeared in TV commercials and print advertisements for the Georgia Hope scholarship program and Publix grocery stores.Sengbloh's first television movie, The Ditchdigger's Daughters, was based on a book by the same name and co-starred Carl Lumbly, Dule Hill
Dulé Hill
Karim Dulé Hill is an American actor and tap dancer. He is best known for his roles as personal presidential aide Charlie Young on the NBC drama television series The West Wing, and as pharmaceutical salesman-private detective Burton "Gus" Guster on the USA Network television comedy-drama Psych...
, and Monique Coleman
Monique Coleman
Adrienne Monique Coleman is an American actress, dancer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist best known for her co-starring role in Disney's High School Musical movies, in which she plays Taylor McKessie. Coleman also had a recurring role on The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, as a school girl named...
; in the movie she portrayed a young Kimberly McClelland http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118989/. Saycon Sengbloh played Young Dearie B. in Funny Valentine's, a television movie based on the popular short story by J. California Cooper
J. California Cooper
J. California Cooper is an African American playwright and author.Alice Walker has said that "Her style is deceptively simple and direct and the vale of tears in which her characters reside is never so deep that a rich chuckle at a foolish person's foolishness cannot be heard."-Bibliography:* 1984:...
, about African-American who is raped by church member and separated from her sister and reared as distant cousins. Funny Valentine's was produced by Alfre Woodard
Alfre Woodard
Alfre Ette Woodard is an American film, stage, and television actress. She has been nominated once for an Academy Award and Grammy Awards, 17 times for Emmy Awards , and has also won a Golden Globe and three Screen Actors Guild Awards.She is known for her role in films such as Cross Creek, Miss...
and starred Alfre Woodard, Loretta Devine
Loretta Devine
Loretta Devine is an American stage, film and television actress known for her roles on Boston Public, Grey's Anatomy, and Eli Stone. She also provided her voice for the stop motion animated television series The PJs. Devine is a NAACP Image Award and Emmy award winning actress.-Early life:Devine...
, CCH Pounder
CCH Pounder
Carol Christine Hilaria Pounder , known professionally as C. C. H. Pounder , is a Guyanese-American film and television actress...
and Megalyn Echikunwoke
Megalyn Echikunwoke
Megalyn Ann Echikunwoke is an American actress and model.-Early life:Echikunwoke was born on May 28, 1983, in Spokane, Washington, but she was raised on a Navajo Native American Reservation in Chinle, Arizona. She is the daughter of a Nigerian-Igbo father and a German/Scots-Irish American mother...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0180708/.
Sengbloh appeared in the Dawson's Creek
Dawson's Creek
Dawson's Creek is an American teen drama television series which debuted on January 20, 1998, on The WB Television Network and was produced by Sony Pictures Television. The show is set in the fictional seaside town of Capeside, Massachusetts, and in Boston, Massachusetts, during the later seasons...
episode "Escape From Witch Island" (Season 3, Episode 7) as the conspiracy theorist, one of Dawson's classmates http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0555111/. She appeared the film American Gangster
American Gangster
American Gangster is a 2007 American biographical crime film directed by Ridley Scott and written by Steve Zaillian. The film is based on the criminal career of Frank Lucas, a gangster from La Grange, North Carolina who smuggled heroin into the United States on American service planes returning...
as Tango's Woman http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0765429/ and she can also be seen in the movie musical Across the Universe
Across the Universe (film)
Across the Universe is a musical romantic drama film directed by Julie Taymor, produced by Revolution Studios, and distributed by Columbia Pictures. The film's plot is centered around songs by The Beatles. It was released in the United States on October 12, 2007. The script is based on an original...
, in which she is featured as one of Sadie's backup singers in the last sequence of the movie. On the soundtrack she provided backing vocals on the songs "Don't Let me Down" and "All You Need is Love." She also released her solo album entitled Southern Pin-Up in late 2005 and Southern Pin-Up: Special Edition in 2008 with song remixes for Southern Pin-Up, Hottentot, and Recognize http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/saycon. Sengbloh appeared as Nurse Peltzer on the episode "Fallin" during season 19 of the prime time legal drama Law & Order.
Sengbloh appears in the popular Mohegan Sun
Mohegan Sun
Mohegan Sun, located in Uncasville, Connecticut, is the second largest casino in the United States with of gaming space. It is located on along the banks of the Thames River. It is at the heart of the scenic foothills of southeastern Connecticut, where 60 percent of the state's tourism is...
commercial, "Everyone's Invited" singing to the tune of the Rick James
Rick James
James Ambrose Johnson, Jr. , better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. James was a popular performer in the late 1970s and 1980s, scoring four number-one hits on the U.S. R&B charts performing in the genres of funk and R&B...
song Superfreak along side former Wicked co-star, Kate Reinders
Kate Reinders
Kate Reinders is an American musical theatre actress, who has performed as lead and understudy in several Broadway shows. Reinders was born in Seattle, Washington, but raised in Muskegon, Michigan...
.http://www.splendad.com/ads/show/2043-Mohegan-Sun-Super-Freak. As a former stock print model, Sengbloh's image appears on the cover of the New York Times best seller, 2009 edition of the Connie Briscoe novel, "Big Girls Don't Cry" http://www.randomhouse.com/acmart/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780449005644&view=amauthbio.