BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK

Carla Fleming

Carla Fleming is an acclaimed actor/singer/songwriter with an extensive career in performing arts and commercial music. Her mission has been to blend her passion for entertainment with the power of her voice to effect change, and for over 15 years, she has uplifted listeners through music that gives insight without being preachy. Look for Carla this June 2023 in DOMESTIC DISTURBANCE: THE PLAY, based on Carla's album. As an actor, she has appeared in various stage and film projects, including PIPELINE, POLAR BEARS BLACK BOYS, SPELL #7, BLACK PEARL SINGS and WHAT TO SEND UP WHEN IT GOES DOWN with Celebration Arts. As a songwriter, Fleming has written for others, including R&B singers Howard Hewitt and Robert Brookins. Check out her music at https://carlafleming.net/home.

Michelle Champoux

Michelle Champoux takes great delight in performing in & around the Sacramento region. Her previous local productions include ADMISSIONS at Capital Stage, CALIFORNIA SUITE at Sacramento Theatre Company, and CRIMES OF THE HEART at Chautauqua Playhouse. BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK is Champoux's debut performance with Celebration Arts, and she is both thrilled and honored to be part of the production. She received her BA in Theatre/Dance from CSUS and attended American Conservatory Theatre, San Francisco.

Shaquarrius Calloway

After a five-year hiatus, Shaquarrius Calloway decided to pursue her passion for acting professionally. She has commenced studies at Studio 24 with the Placer Repertory Theater Company as an affiliate member. Calloway has held roles in HAIRSPRAY, MUCH TO DO ABOUT NOTHING, RENT, and JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS. Most recently, she was in THE TAMING and WHAT TO SEND UP WHEN IT GOES DOWN. She is excited to be part of BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK and can't wait for what comes next in her pursuit of acting.

Rachel Powell

Rachel Ann Powell gives honor to the Creator for the gift of acting. As a child, Powell caught the acting bug early in life and eventually graduated from San Francisco State University with a bachelor's degree in theater and an MBA. She has performed in several plays in the Bay Area with The East Bay Players, including AIN'T SUPPOSED TO BE A NATURAL DEATH, written by Melvin Van Peebles and directed by Charlie Russell. More recently, she was in LIL HAM by Langston Hughes with The Black Repertory Theater. She is ecstatic about her first production with Celebration Arts in BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK and hopes to pursue many more projects with us. In the future, adding "Playwright" to her accomplishments would be a dream come true.

David J. Stewart

David J. Stewart is a native of Oakland, California. It's been nearly a decade since he put down scripts and picked up a jackhammer and shovel as an "industrial athlete" in construction. Stewart has worked with the Black Repertory Theatre in Berkeley, CA; The Lorraine Hansberry Theater; the Jean Shelton Actors Lab; and the Multi-Ethnic Theatre in San Francisco, CA. BY THE WAY MEET, VERA STARK is Stewart's debut with Celebration Arts, and he is grateful to the CA team and fellow castmates for their support and encouragement in his journey.

Jim Last

Jim Last is happy to make his debut at Celebration Arts with BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK. He has been acting since 2019 and has performed in THE DINNER PARTY, ALL MY SONS, and FOUR WEDDINGS AND AN ELVIS. He also appeared in several short films, commercials, and industrial projects in Sacramento and the Bay Area. A native of Green Bay, WI, Last has traveled extensively and lives in Rancho Cordova with his two sons.

Alex Nye

Alex Nye is a native of Sacramento who enjoyed acting in college. Over the past year, he caught the acting bug again by performing improv on stage. BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK is his first play with Celebration Arts, and he is excited to back acting in plays.

Lynn Nottage

Lynn Nottage is a noted playwright and screenwriter. She is the first and remains the only, woman to have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice. Her plays have been produced widely in the United States and worldwide. Most recently, Nottage premiered MJ THE MUSICAL, directed by Christopher Wheeldon and featuring the music of Michael Jackson, at the Neil Simon Theater on Broadway, CLYDE'S, directed by Kate Whoriskey, at Second Stage Theater on Broadway and an opera adaptation of her play INTIMATE APPAREL composed by Ricky Ian Gordon and directed by Bart Sher, commissioned by The Met/Lincoln Center Theater. Her other work includes the musical adaptation of Sue Monk Kidd's novel THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES, with music by Duncan Sheik and lyrics by Susan Birkenhead (The Almeida Theatre/The Atlantic Theater), MLIMA'S TALE (Public Theater), BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK (Lilly Award, Drama Desk Nomination- Second Stage/Signature Theater), RUINED (Pulitzer Prize, OBIE, Lucille Lortel, New York Drama Critics' Circle, Audelco, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Award- MTC/Goodman Theater); FABULATION, OR THE RE-EDUCATION OF UNDINE (OBIE Award - Playwrights Horizons/Signature Theater); CRUMBS FROM THE TABLE OF JOY, LAS MENINAS, MUD RIVER STONE, POR'KNOCKERS, AND POOF!

Nicole Limón

Nicole C. Limón* is an actor/director/playwright/dramaturg and theatre faculty at CSU, Sacramento. She is the founder of Matriarchy Theatre, a resident artist with Teatro Espejo, and has a special interest in directing diverse contemporary works for the stage. Recent directing: EVERYBODY by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (CSUS,) QUANTUM by Tara Moses (Matriarchy,) DANCE NATION by Clare Barron (CSUS,) FADE by Tanya Saracho (Teatro Espejo,) BLOOD AT THE ROOT by Dominique Morisseau (Celebration Arts,) and WATER BY THE SPOONFUL by Quiara Alegría Hudes (Teatro Espejo.) Her production of SWEAT by Lynn Nottage won six national awards at the 2021 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, including awards for Overall Production, Ensemble Collaboration, and Achievement in Directing. She is a Theatrical Intimacy Director committed to creating consent-forward spaces for artists, a proud Stage Directors and Choreographers Society member, and a 2022-23 National Endowment for the Arts grant recipient through the City of Sacramento. She holds an MFA in Acting from UC Davis and studied at the Centre for Indigenous Theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. *Associate Member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, a national theatrical labor union.

James Ellison III

James Ellison, III is a long-time actor, volunteer, and board member with Celebration Arts and is now serving as the theatre’s Artistic Director. A stage, television, and film veteran, Ellison has acted in productions throughout California ranging from community theater to professional productions. A long-time visual and performing arts advocate, Ellison has been part of the Celebration Arts family for over 20 years, beginning with a 1 AM phone call with founder James Wheatley when he was 19. Ellison will make his directorial debut this season with our final 2023 production, A RAISIN IN THE SUN. He dedicates his work in the theatre to his sister Yawanda and cousin Byron, who both passed away in October 2021.