Anika Noni Rose

Biography:  Anika Noni Rose is a Tony Award-winning American singer and actress. Early life Rose was born in Bloomfield, Connecticut to Claudia and John Rose, Jr., a corporate counsel for the city of Hartford. In her freshman year in high school, she appeared in a school production and caught the acting bug. She then attended Florida A&M University where she earned a Bachelor's Degree in Theatre, thereafter studying drama at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, California. Career Rose moved to New York without a job, and after three months she secured the role of Rusty in Broadway's Footloose. She followed Footloose with numerous workshops and two musicals using pre-existing song catalogs, Eli's Comin' off-Broadway  and Me and Mrs. Jones with Lou Rawls in Philadelphia. Both of the full-scale tuners were rumored for transfers, but neither made it anywhere after their limited engagements ended. She was down to $20 in the bank before she landed her next gig, a movie musical. Rose's big Broadway break was getting cast as Tonya Pinkins' character Caroline's daughter in Caroline, or Change. In 2004, Rose was awarded the Theatre World Award, Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Featured Actress and the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, for Caroline, or Change. Rose's debut in movies came with the 1999 film King of the Bingo Game as "film noir female". In 2003, she played the role of Kaya in From Justin to Kelly, in 2004 she performed in Temptation, followed by Surviving Christmas as a singer in the choir. In 2006, Rose starred in Dreamgirls as Lorrell Robinson with Beyoncé Knowles, Jennifer Hudson, Jamie Foxx and Eddie Murphy. Rose is scheduled to appear in the upcoming films Just Add Water, Razor, and in Disney's upcoming animated feature The Princess and the Frog as the voice of the lead character Tiana. The character is Disney's first black princess.She also stars alongside Jill Scott in The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency directed by Anthony Minghella. On November 22nd, Rose sung the National Anthem at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season closer, the Ford 400 to promote the new movie.