FORMER SAN DIEGO ACTOR CASHAE MONYA LANDS VIDEO SERIES ROLE
Cashae Monya was at one time among the busiest actors in San Diego County theater. In 2019 alone, the versatile Monya appeared in “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” at Diversionary, “A Jewel in the Crown City” at Lamb’s Players Theatre in Coronado, and both “Little Shop of Horrors” and “Intimate Apparel” at New Village Arts in Carlsbad. This earned her an Actor of the Year award from the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle.
“Intimate Apparel” was her swan song, as it turned out. Since then she’s turned her attention to television and film, where she discovered “the mediums are different. It was really challenging transitioning from being at the top of my career in San Diego theater to TV and film where nobody knew who I was.”
That’s changing thanks to a role that tapped into not only Monya’s acting skills but her degree in child and family development. She’s one of two actors (the other being Kaitlin Becker) starring in “Meekah,” an ongoing series of educational shows for kids 5 and under. A spinoff of the popular “Blippi” video series, “Meekah” episodes can be found on YouTube and Netflix.
“It’s kind of an acting role, but it’s part teacher,” Monya explained. “It’s all about childlike creativity and imagination.”
Though Monya says she misses the instant gratification of performing in front of a live theater audience, she’s enjoying what she calls her “Meekah moment.” Not that the popular show is going anywhere.
“I could have this part for the next decade depending on how it goes,” she said, and meanwhile she has the freedom to audition for movie and TV parts.
I brought up two of her San Diego theater performances that I admired in particular: as Pecola in Moxie Theatre’s “The Bluest Eye” in 2013 and as Billie Holiday in “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill” at Ion Theatre in 2015.
“People still talk to me about ‘Bluest Eye’ and ‘Lady Day,’ ” said Monya. “If I could get residuals just from people mentioning them, it would be awesome.”