Anika Noni Rose is an American actress and singer. Growing up in Bloomfield, Connecticut, she became interested in acting through high school musicals. She later studied at San Francisco's American Conservatory Theatre, relocated to New York City and landed her first Broadway role—as Rusty in the year 2000 production of Footloose. In 2004, Rose was won a Tony Award for her performance as Emmie Thibodeaux in the Broadway production of Caroline, or Change. Tony in hand, she was offered the role of Lorrell Robinson in the 2006 film production of Dreamgirls, starring opposite Beyonce Knowles, Jennifer Hudson, Eddie Murphy and Jamie Foxx. In 2008, she joins Terrence Howard, James Earl Jones and Phylicia Rashad on Broadway, in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.