Where Are They Now - Tia James

Our great friend Tia James has landed in NYC—well, with Tia, “landed” never seems like the right word. Her spirits are always ten feet off the ground, which is one of the things I love about her. I asked her to write about her new life in the prestigious grad program at the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. She started a couple of weeks ago--a stranger in a strange land. Here’s her first report.

Posted by Tia James (You can click on the label "T James" at the end of this post to read earlier info on Tia's journey.)

Dear Richmond Friends,

I feel like Ms Celie from The Color Purple. "Dear God, I'm here! I'm here!" And that I Am.

I live in New York, and I sleep in New Jersey, just a 15 min ride to the City. Everyday when I walk from the subway to the street, I can just feel the energy. It made me smile the other day as I got off the train and started walking with at least 70 other people, noticing how we all were keeping time with each other, as if we were each a different instrument in a huge orchestra, keeping time, never really getting in each other's way, adding to the song.

What makes me smile even more are the tourists who decide to walk right down the middle of the sidewalk at a snail's pace, definitely changing your 4/4 to 2/4.

Things are truly great! The first week of orientation was loads of fun; I don't know when I’ve laughed so much at myself. In one of the orientations Dean Campbell asked us to stand, say our name and department, and one thing about New York that we found interesting. It was my turn, and I said, "Hey guys, my name is Tia and I'm in Grad Acting, and the interesting thing about New York, well, every time I think about New York I can’t help but think about Broadway. I really want to BE on Broadway. You guys PRAY for me!"

Everyone started laughing at the giddy, naive woman from Virginia. And then from the back of the room, one of the faculty shouted out, "You ARE On Broadway!" (The Tisch Building is located at 721 Broadway.) This of course made us all laugh and prompted me do my Praise Dance! :)

I laughed again when I went to the International Student Welcome. I sat in the front row waiting for it to begin, and as the seats were being filled I noticed that I was the only American. I thought … ahh, it's okay, I'll just hang out ... listen ... until they announced that everyone should stand up and introduce themselves stating where they were from.

Well, it was soon my turn, so I stood and said, "Hey guys, I'm Tia, Grad Acting, and I'm actually from Virginia, but New York seems like another country to me, so I just thought I'd sit in with you guys!" Which of course had everyone including myself laughing some more. I was happy I stayed cause I met a great group of people.

I'm living my best dream! I've met my classmates, who are awesome—the faculty and staff, all the other grads, everyone has been so welcoming. And all of us can't wait to get started.

One thing that really touched me was when Zelda Fichandler (pictured to the right) explained the basis for Tisch Grad Acting ... ensemble ... being a company. That just thrills me! I have had "ensemble" ingrained in me since high school, York County School of the Arts, with my teacher Mrs. Dixon always saying "Ensemble! We're family. Learning together, pushing each other, helping each other. It isn't a competition, we're all good. Now it's about training our instruments so we will be better able to give."

Give to who? Give what? As Zelda asked and answered, "Who's this for? It's for us. But the connections we make for ourselves are all for something greater – what we can give to them, our audience."

I am extremely happy! Praise God! You guys please don't forget me!

LoveLoveLove,
Tia

Tia James Continues to Soar

Great things are in the works for an amazing Richmond woman, and our community has every reason to celebrate. Tia James, who most recently appeared in Theatre IV’s mainstage production of Lyle, Lyle Crocodile and is working crew on The Wizard of Oz even as I type, has taken a major step forward in achieving her life’s dream.

Tia is someone to watch. Read on, and you'll find out why.

For those of you who don’t know her—yet—Tia is one of the nicest, most humble, giving and talented women you’ll ever meet. She graduated from VCU with a BFA in Theatre Performance, and VCU must be mighty proud.

While a student, she performed in Breath, Boom directed by Broadway veteran Michelle Shay, and Playboy of the West Indies and The Trial of One Shortsighted Black Woman vs. Mammy Louise and Safreeta Mae, both directed by the late, great Marvin Sims.

VCU entered The Trial… into the American College Theatre Festival, and the production thereafter received rigorous professional scrutiny from regional adjudicators. In the ACTF, the nation is divided into eight regions; Richmond is in Region Four. After viewing all the productions submitted by colleges and universities in our part of the country, the adjudicators selected the approximately 300 actors with whom they were most impressed. These 300 were then nominated for the prestigious Irene Ryan Award. Tia was one of the 300 in Region Four.

At that point, Tia and her fellow nominees were asked to pick a scene partner and then perform a scene and a monologue for additional review. Out of the 300 couples, two were selected to represent the region at the Irene Ryan finals at the Kennedy Center. Tia and her partner, Aaron Holland, were one of the two couples selected to represent Region Four.

They went to the Kennedy Center for a week, took master classes and had a wonderful time. At the end of that week, there was a night of public performance, and the 16 finalist pairs from around the nation performed their scenes and monologues. Decisions were made immediately, and many awards were given. The last two awards were Best Partner, which was won by Aaron Holland, and, finally, the Irene Ryan Award for Best Actor. In this national competition, Tia won the Irene Ryan in 2003.

Since graduating from VCU in 2004, Tia has spent the last three years touring nationally with Theatre IV, and, this year, interning with our Richmond operations. Throughout the last several months, she has also concentrated on her next goal, which is to relocate to NYC. Along with 800 other actors, Tia has been working this year to gain admission to the three-year Graduate Acting Program at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, one of the top masters programs in the nation. Of the 800 applicants, 18 were admitted—the best of the best.

The entire staff at Barksdale and Theatre IV went nuts when, a couple weeks ago, Tia received the phone call saying that she was one of the eighteen. Best of all, they loved her so much that, in addition to her admission, she has been offered $18,000 per year in scholarship funds!

This blog entry would not be an accurate reflection of Tia if I did not immediately add, as she herself does repeatedly every time she admits to her many achievements, that she gives all thanks and credit to God.

Without taking anything away from that spiritual attribution, I give additional and enormous thanks and credit to Tia. She has worked incredibly hard and thanklessly throughout the time I’ve known her. She has kept her sights set on her dream. And, by sharing her talent and good will, she has contributed enormously to
Theatre IV, Barksdale Theatre and the audiences we serve.

We will miss Tia when she moves on next fall. But she'll always be part of the Barksdale / Theatre IV family. We CAN’T WAIT for the moment that we know is sure to come—the moment when we can turn to the rest of the country that will only be beginning to fall in love with her, and proudly say that we knew her when.

God speed, Tia. All of Richmond theatre is behind you 100%.