Gabrielle Brooks

Gabrielle Brooks (born 28 January 1990) is an English actress. She was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for her performance in Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical. She began her career as a child actress in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Whistle Down the Wind. She is creative director of the Mawa Theatre Company and producer of the interview series BlackStage UK.

Gabrielle Brooks
Born	(1990-01-28) 28 January 1990 (age 34) London, England
Alma mater	Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (BA)
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1997–present

Life and career

Brooks was born and raised in London. She is half Jamaican, half Guyanese.^[1] She has two sisters.^[2] She attended Sir George Monoux College in Walthamstow before going on to train at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 2011.^[3][4]

Brooks became interested in acting when her parents enrolled her in an after school acting programme. She got her first role at the age of 7 through her teacher's agency in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Whistle Down the Wind at Aldwych Theatre.^[5]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Grange Hill	Gossip Girl	1 episode[6]
2006	Notes on a Scandal	Choir member	[6]
2007	Coming Down the Mountain	Lisa	Television film[6]
2008	You Will See Life	Anne	Short film
2021	BlackStage UK		Documentary series; creator and producer
2021	Shadow and Bone	Nadia Zhabin	Recurring role[7]

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997–2000	Whistle Down the Wind	Lavonne	Aldwych Theatre
2003–2004	Chitty Chitty Bang Bang	Sewage Child	London Palladium
2004	The Wizard of Oz	Dorothy Gale	(Islington Youth) Sadler's Wells Theatre
	CBBC Proms in the Park	Singer	Hyde Park
2005	The Demon Headmaster	Mandy	Embassy Theatre
2006	BBC Children in Need	Singer	Wembley Arena / UK Tour
2008	Musical Mania	Elphaba	Millfield Theatre
2012	Avenue Q	Gary Coleman (understudy) / Ensemble / Mrs. T / Yellow Bear	Theatre Royal, Bath / UK Tour
	Our House 10th Anniversary Concert	Ensemble	Savoy Theatre
2013	Hairspray	Little Inez	UK Tour
2014	I Can't Sing!	Chenice (understudy) / Ensemble	London Palladium
2015	The Book of Mormon	Nabalungi (understudy)	Prince of Wales Theatre
2016	Red Snapper	George	Belgrade Theatre, Coventry
2017	The Wizard of Oz	Dorothy Gale	Crucible Theatre, Sheffield[4]
	Queen Anne	Jezebel (understudy)	Royal Shakespeare Company, Theatre Royal Haymarket[8]
	Everybody's Talking About Jamie	Becca	Crucible Theatre, Sheffield[9]
	Lazarus	Teen Girl	King's Cross Theatre[10][11]
2018	The Way of the World	Mincing	Donmar Warehouse[12]
	The Light Princess in Concert	Piper	Cadogan Hall[13]
	Kwame Kwei-Armah's Twelfth Night	Viola	The Young Vic[14]
2018–2019	Our Lady of Kibeho	Alphonsine	Royal & Derngate, Northampton[15]
2019	A Midsummer Night's Dream	Hermia	Regent's Park Open Air Theatre[16]
	Anna Bella Eema	Two / Annabella	Arcola Theatre[17][18]
2021	J'Ouvert	Nadine	Harold Pinter Theatre, London
2021–2023	Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical	Rita Marley	Lyric Theatre

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref
2022	Laurence Olivier Awards	Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical	Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical	Nominated	[19]

References

1. V, Tammy (1 October 2019). "Gabrielle Brooks on her role in Lisa D'Amour's 'Anna Bella Eema'". The British Blacklist. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
2. Thompson, Jessie (21 October 2021). "Stand Up! star on Bob Marley and why theatre has work to do on race". Evening Standard. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
3. "West End Actor Interviews – Gabrielle Brooks". Actor Hub. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
4. "Theatre: All off down the Yellow Brick Road". Sheffield Telegraph. 30 November 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
5. Masso, Giverny (15 January 2018). "Actor Gabrielle Brooks: 'To change in theatre, black representation needs to change in society'". The Stage. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
6. "Cast Complete for LAZARUS, Starring Michael C. Hall, in London". Broadway World. 15 September 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
7. Petski, Denise (18 December 2019). "'Shadow And Bone': Netflix Series Adds Seven To Cast". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
8. Gans, Andrew (8 May 2017). "Casting Complete for London's Queen Anne". Playbill. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
9. Bowie-Sell, Daisy (25 November 2016). "Full cast announced for Everybody's Talking About Jamie". WhatsOnStage. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
10. "Team: Gabrielle Brooks". Lazarus Musical. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
11. "Gabrielle Brooks Cast in David Bowie and Enda Walsh's Musical 'Lazarus'". The British Blacklist. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
12. "Gabrielle Brooks: Someone needs to write about black British history". Theatre.London. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
13. "Further Casting Announced For THE LIGHT PRINCESS In Concert At Cadogan Hall". Broadway World. 11 May 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
14. Berrington, Katie (14 October 2018). "Meet Gabrielle Brooks, Shakespeare's Star On The Rise". Vogue UK. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
15. Billington, Michael (17 January 2019). "Our Lady of Kibeho review – startling story of a heavenly 'visitation'". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
16. "Casting Announced: A Midsummer Night's Dream". Regent's Park Open Air Theatre. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
17. Marshall, Jonathan (9 September 2019). "BWW Interview: Gabrielle Brooks Talks ANNA BELLA EEMA at Arcola Theatre". BroadwayWorld. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
18. Longman, Will (11 September 2019). "Gabrielle Brooks: 'Anna Bella Eema is a beautifully told story about women, growth, mental health and hope'". LondonTheatre.co.uk. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
19. Underwood, Kitty (8 March 2022). "Nominations announced for the Olivier Awards 2022 with Mastercard". Official London Theatre. Retrieved 8 March 2022.

External links

• Gabrielle Brooks at IMDb