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derrick

I am here for Friends and Networking

About Me

I was born at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina. From there i began my trek around the world. Me and my family (4 sisters, 1 brother, mom, dad) have lived in Illinois, Germany, Japan, California, Texas, and Virginia...spending most of the time in Germany (Ramstein air force base) and Japan (Yokota air force base).I've been singing all my life. Influenced by my mom's love of opera (Kathleen Battle and Jesse Norman) and my dad's love of jazz (Coltrane, ect.), I kinda found my own voice. I am a self taught singer. I grew up in church and honed my craft there. I also joined chorus in high school, but my first love at the time was trombone.When I went to college, I majored in Biology Pre-Med and joined all the choirs (univercity, gospel, and concert choirs). I loved Biology and planned on going to medical school, getting married, kids, ect...But before I made that commitment, I wanted to make sure I didn't have any regrets. So, I asked myself a very important question. "What do you love to do?" The answer was easy. "SING!" The next question was "Where do singers go to become STARS?" That answer was easy too. "NEW YORK!" So i bought a one-way ticket to New York (actually Newark and then took a bus to New York) and started my life here. I didn't know anyone and had no place to stay, but i knew it was the right decision. I stayed at the YMCA for three weeks where i saw a couple "getting it on" in the room across from mine on the first night! So i got a job at TGIF where i met these kids who were auditioning for RENT. I hadn't heard of the show, but decided to go andmy audition ended up being on the evening news. I thouhgt that was the coolest! Well, since they liked me, i figured i should take some kind of acting class. So i took one and met this girl who got me a new job where i met this other girl (she had a national dunkin doughnut's commercial) who introduced me to my former agent and then the ball FINALLY started rolling.I've been fortunate enough to work regionally in Weston, Vermont; Salt Lake City, Utah; Florida's Broward center and North Shore Music Theater; and other places doing some good shows: AIDA (Mereb),Smokey Joe's Cafe (Adrian/Victor), Memphis (Gator),Ragtime, and Hello Dolly!. I've also worked with some great people including David Brian (keys for Bon Jovi). All of that has led me here.....BROADWAY!I am currently playing the role of "The Comfort Councelor" "Mitch Mahoney!" It has been such a blast doing this show. I got to sing on "The TODAY SHOW" and I SANG AT THE TONY'S! THE TONY'S! MY SONG AT THE TONY'S! I cannot tell you how AMAZING that was. Who knows what's next for me!

My Blog

25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTildBqy9_o This is me on the TONY'S!!!!!! I'm the one singing to Rev. Al Sharpton!
Posted by on Tue, 29 Apr 2008 09:21:00 GMT