Broadway powerhouse makes most of success
Renée Goldsberry’s dream to be the next Whitney Houston was a lofty one.
Goldsberry figured she’d blow the world away with her musical chops — just like Houston.
It actually sort of happened. On Broadway.
Goldsberry, 45, who spent her childhood years in Houston, recently won a Tony Award for her performance in the hit Broadway musical “Hamilton,” playing Angelica Schuyler.
“I’m not Whitney,” confesses the former backup singer to Rod Stewart, Yolanda Adams, Barry White and more.
Goldsberry is modest, but her career achievements are proof that she’s a singing and acting powerhouse.
She previously played Nettie in “The Color Purple,” Mimi in “Rent” and Nala in “The Lion King.” She had a recurring singing role on the hit TV show “Ally McBeal” and regular roles on “One Life to Live” and “The Good Wife.”
In July, Goldsberry announced she was leaving the “Hamilton” cast and will join the cast of “Altered Carbon,” Netflix’s 10-episode sci-fi drama, in 2017. The heroine is a woman of color, she said.
She’s slated to star in “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” an HBO TV film adaptation based on the book by Rebecca Skloot. The movie also stars Oprah Winfrey.
She’ll lend her voice in Season 2 of Disney Junior’s “The Lion Guard,” an animated series that continues the story of “The Lion King.”
Born in San Jose, Calif., Goldsberry spent her childhood in Houston and attended the Houston International Theater School founded by Carolyn Franklin. She fell in love with theater after seeing a production of “Dreamgirls,” describing it as a “beautiful celebration of people of color.”
Goldsberry went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in theater from Carnegie Mellon University and a master’s in jazz from the University of Southern California.
While living in Los Angeles, Goldsberry sang in a Top 40 band and worked as a backup singer, “rubbing shoulders with the most talented people in the world.” On “Ally McBeal,” she was one of the singers who frequently accompanied Vonda Shepard’s performances on the show.
Through the ups and downs of life in Hollywood, Goldsberry said her family was her rock. They urged her to take her career as far as she could.
“I had aspirations of having my own album, my own music,” she said. “I don’t know a field in which you don’t get your heart broken more than this one, but I never had to stop working. I was always very prayerful about what I wanted to do and called to do.”
In 2002, Goldsberry relocated to New York to make her Broadway debut in “The Lion King.” She also earned a spot on “One Life to Live,” which gave her a steady paycheck and the flexibility to carve out a niche in theater at night.
Goldsberry knows winning a Tony Award changes the game.
“Instead of a game of musical chairs, I get my pick of chairs. But you can’t sit in all of them,” she said. “I was privileged to play Angelica and would love to play her forever.”
Life after “Hamilton” means more time with her children. She and husband Alexis Johnson have a son, Benjamin, 7, and a daughter, Brielle, 3. “Children should be able to take for granted that you are standing there watching when they are performing. The roles were reversed for so long,” she said.
This time in her life comes with self-reflection. Asked if she’s indeed made it, she offers this:
“You have to make a decision to be happy with where you are right now. I realize if nothing ever happens after this, I’ve made it.”