This week on Black Oxygen, host Angela Russell sits down with the extraordinary Lachrisa Grandberry—singer, actor, writer, speaker, and Milwaukee native whose journey from fifth-grade teacher to professional theater artist is nothing short of inspiring.
Lachrisa shares the powerful story of how a fifth-grader named Daniel changed her life by challenging her to chase her own dreams. What started as a promise to audition for one show became a full-time career in theater, supported by a network of Black women mentors who helped her navigate the industry with remarkable success.
From opening The Color Purple at Chicago's Goodman Theatre to becoming one of ten fellows selected from 792 applicants for the prestigious Dramatist Guild National Fellowship Program, Lachrisa offers profound insights on overcoming fear, betting on yourself, and the principle that has guided her career: "Don't let the no come from you first."
This conversation explores the radical care found in theater communities, the responsibility we have to show up for each other, and the importance of breaking the brooms and shredding the rugs that keep us silent about our trauma. Lachrisa closes the episode with a stunning reading from her poetry collection, "Shredding Rugs: A Poetic Cleansing."
Key moments include discussions of mentorship, the scariest thing being our own thoughts, finding your people to turn up the volume on positivity, and what it means to have both the strength to hold and the vulnerability to be held.
#BlackOxygenPodcast #BlackInWisconsin #Mentorship #FollowingYourDreams #LachrisaGrandberry #WisconsinTheater #TheColorPurple #ForwardTheater #NorthernSkyTheaterCompany #Dreams
Links for this episode:
https://www.lachrisagrandberry.com/ (https://www.lachrisagrandberry.com/)
https://northernskytheater.com/ (https://northernskytheater.com/)
https://forwardtheater.com/ (https://forwardtheater.com/)
https://www.goodmantheatre.org/ (https://www.goodmantheatre.org/)
