presents Angela G. King the thespian...
A SQUARE PEG / ROUND HOLE CREATION, LLC
With seemingly precious little ability to get the hang of such basic movie-making technical skills as loading and operating a film camera, or even rigging a set for lights and other equipment, King did what she could to help her classmates at the Motion Picture Institute of Michigan produce the respective thesis projects they all needed to graduate. Which basically meant serving as a production assistant on her fair share of student films. And taking on the occasional acting role in those films. A turn that prompted some classmates to share with King that she might have some actual talent for the more theatric realm of bringing motion pictures to life.
Soon after taking their encouragement to explore this as well in pursuit of a filmmaking career, King landed her first paying acting gig from the mostly unlikely of venues – as a "standardized patient" helping to teach communication skills to students at the Wayne State University School of Medicine. In time, King began to study the renowned Sanford Meisner acting technique through the School of the Arts at Kensington Church in Troy, MI. And to learn about improvisation, voice and diction, and scene study through acting workshops at the Detroit Repertory Theatre.
The commitment paid off. King was cast in her first screen role as Neicy, the widowed mother of high school senior, Bilal Mahdi, and his younger sister, Mila, in the independent feature film, Bilal's Stand. Produced as part of a community-based youth program launched by University of Michigan film-school graduate, Sultan Sharrief, Bilal's Stand was an official selection in the 2010 Sundance Film Festival's NEXT category.
King went on to showcase her foray into acting with a stage debut at the Paul Robeson Theater in Detroit's Northwest Activities Center. There, she sang and appeared in a dramatic musical written by Repertory Theater of Hope artistic director, Robert L. Douglas. From this stint in community theater, King moved on to work at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. It was at this seminal Detroit institution where she conducted daily tours for nearly three years portraying various historical figures, and appeared in special performances as well at both the museum and the likes of the Michigan State Fair and W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
King with Gabriel Johnson and Harold Hogan (center) in "A Lesson Before Dying"
at the Detroit Repertory Theatre
King with Sarab Kamoo in "Luce"
at Meadow Brook Theatre
A career breakthrough came for King when she was given the opportunity to reprise a role that she had performed at The Wright Museum later at the Detroit Repertory Theatre. Playing Hurricane Katrina survivor Mona Lisa Martin once again, King became part of an all-female cast whose rendition of venerated author and playwright Pearl Cleage's A Song for Coretta was voted "Best Play of the Season" by the subscribers to Michigan's oldest professional theater. King went on to also appear at the Detroit Rep in the late Romulus Linney's stage adaptation of the Ernest J. Gaines novel, A Lesson Before Dying; as well as the morality mystery murder, Taking Care of Mimi; and the comedic spin on elder care in a post-Medicare existence, A Facility for Living.
King made her debut at Michigan's largest professional theater, Meadow Brook, in Luce, the thought-provoking story of a star high school student gone awry. More recently, she portrayed two different characters in Mary Jane, the drama by Pulitzer Prize finalist, Amy Herzog, that was Meadow Brook's final production before COVID-19 besieged the world. King appeared as black South African psychologist, Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, in A Human Being Died That Night, the wrenching post-apartheid account based on Gobodo-Madikizela's book of the same name, with the Outvisible Theatre Company to critical acclaim. In fact, her performance earned her a 2018 Bricolage Award for Best Actress: Ally Theatre from Black and Brown Theatre. King is currently an understudy in the world premiere of the play "Under Ceege" by Jeffry Chastang at the Purple Rose Theatre Co. Now a stalwart in the Detroit-area theater community, she is a member of Actors' Equity Association, the labor union for professional stage managers and actors. She was also an adviser to the Detroit Rep board of trustees, and still serves on the board of directors for Meadow Brook.
On screen, King has appeared in commercials, public service announcements and industrial videos for the likes of General Motors Corp., Uber, Beaumont Health System, the University of Michigan, Ford Motor Co. and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. She has also added roles in such productions as the short film, American Prophet, and the full-length movie, The Messenger's Box, to her acting credits.
King with Robert Schorr in "A Human Being
Died That Night"
at Outvisible Theatre Company
