Chinyere, chi chi, talent manager, new york, actor, artist, film, television, representation, agent
PRESS
My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.”
- Maya Angelou
APRIL 27TH, 2022:
Bodies They Ritual will star Jacqueline Guillen (Man Cave), Mahira Kakkar (7 Minutes), April Matthis (HELP), Emily Cass McDonnell (The Antipodes), Keilly McQuail (Lunch Bunch), Lizan Mitchell (On Sugarland), with more casting to be announced. Performances run June 22-July 2.
APRIL 26TH, 2022:
Standout performances include the incredibly talented Melody A. Betts whose big-time vocals can barely be contained on stage.
MARCH 29, 2022:
David Lee Huynh as Lorenzo has the difficult task of conveying misogynistic male behavior and handles it extremely well.
MARCH 7th 2022:
Torée Alexandre plays Riley with intoxicating confidence and has electrifying chemistry with Libya Pugh’s Tami, who can draw laughs with a raised eyebrow and win sympathy in morally gray situations.
MARCH 2nd 2022:
The ensemble for the developmental session includes Tia Altinay, Esther Antoine, Ian Campayno, Jacob Dickey, Casey Garvin, Devon Hadsell, Ashley Elizabeth Hale, Jenny Hill, Jarvis B. Manning, Jr., Brian Martin, Abby Matsusaka, Amber Owens, Destinee Rea, Tyler Roberts, Angie Schworer, Charles South, Brendon Stimson, Anthony Wayne, Raena White and Richard Riaz Yoder.
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FEBRUARY 4th 2022:
Among the standouts is John Edwards as both MJ’s brother Jackie, harmonizing and moving with the Jackson Five, and as James Brown, delivering a blockbuster vocal solo.
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JANUARY 6th 2022:
Nottage’s focus on character keeps the play from becoming dogmatic. There’s a sputtering romance between Rafael (Reza Salazar) and Letitia (Kara Young), both of whose criminal pasts are poignantly revealed between preparations of grilled cheeses and tuna melts. Salazar and Young draw out both the wit and weariness of their characters’ resilience.
DECEMBER 27th 2021:
Casting has been announced for the John Douglas Thompson-led production of William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, which is set to begin performances at Brooklyn's Polonsky Shakespeare Center on February 5 ahead of an official opening on February 15. Performances are currently slated through March 6 before the production transfers to Washington D.C.'s Shakespeare Theatre Company (March 22–April 21).
DECEMBER 12th 2021:
General Motors employee, breadwinner and widowed single mom Marion (Crystal A. Dickinson, heartbreaking) is desperately trying to keep her family's heads above dirty water. Her queer teenage daughter Reesee (a winning Lauren F. Walker) prays to a Yoruba deity to help her little sister, Plum (Alicia Pilgrim), who has leukemia, and their pregnant aunt, Ainee (Andrea Patterson), a recovering addict who's had six previous miscarriages.
December 2nd 2021:
A funny thing happened to Reza Salazar on the way to his star turn on stage -- and a role as standard-bearer for a new, more inclusive Broadway.
NOVEMBER 22nd 2021:
The new play “Clyde’s” is written by Lynn Nottage, directed by Kate Whoriskey and stars Uzo Aduba, Ron Cephas-Jones, Edmund Donovan, Reza Salazar and Kara Young.
The final two weeks of Broadway performances of “Clyde’s” will be simultaneously streamed online, Second Stage Theater announced Monday.
NOVEMBER 17th 2021:
For ChiChi Anyanwu, she got hooked on theater when she and her sister, award-winning playwright Ngozi Anyanwu, began performing in summer musical programs. She found her way to the casting side through an internship with McCarter Theater Center in New Jersey.
OCTOBER 26th 2021:
FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, will present Sarah Anne Fernandez in Now What? on December 12, 2021 at 9:45 PM. Sarah returns to Feinstein's/54 Below after flying across the country by broom as the Elphaba u/s on the national tour of Wicked, fulfilling her ultimate life-long dream and marking her as one of the youngest girls to don the green paint and witch hat in the show's history. So... now what? How do you top your ultimate dream?
OCTOBER 21st 2021:
The cast includes Abena (School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play), Charlie Hudson III (A Raisin in the Sun), Nana Mensah (Man from Nebraska), Sandra Okuboyejo (Hamilton), Ade Otukoya (Gem of the Ocean), and Emana Rachelle (In the Name Of). Yao Dogbe (Homebound), Shiro Kihagi (Summertime), and Marsha Regis (Intimate Apparel) are understudies for the production.
SEPTEMBER 29th 2021:
The plays will run in rep at New Ohio Theatre November 1–20, featuring an acting company including Celeste Arias, Latoya Edwards, Jonathan Fielding, Rebecca S’Manga Frank, Nicholas Gorham, David Greenspan, Iliana Guibert, Rebecca Jimenez, Elise Kibler, Robert Kropf, Brian Miskell, Ricardo Vázquez, Naren Weiss, and Brenda Withers.
OCTOBER 22nd 2021:
The cast features Crystal Dickinson as Marion, Jennean Farmer as Marion/Ainee Understudy, Lizan Mitchell as Big Ma, Ta'Neesha Murphy as Plum/Reesee Understudy, Andrea Patterson as Ainee, Alicia Pilgrim as Plum, Chavez Ravine as Big Ma Understudy, and Lauren F. Walker as Reesee.
OCTOBER 20th 2021:
Sarah Anne Fernandez returns to Feinstein’s/54 Below after flying across the country by broom as the Elphaba u/s on the national tour of Wicked, fulfilling her ultimate life-long dream and marking her as one of the youngest girls to don the green paint and witch hat in the show’s history.
OCTOBER 2nd 2021:
Check out this week's edition of UPFRONT Inside the Entertainment Industry. It features my interviews with HANDS UP directors Keith Arthur Bolden and Alexis Woodard; actor and CAU theatre professor Eric J. Little and renowned Green Book playwright and author Calvin Ramsey.
SEPTEMBER 30TH 2021:
Jenn Gambatese is going to guest star as Naomi Chesnick. She is most recognizable for her career performing in plays, such as Disney’s “Tarzan” as Jane and as Glinda in “Wicked.” Also appearing in “Blue Bloods” will be David Lee Huynh and Carmen M. Herlihy, they are set to play Minh Tran and Han Tran.
SEPTEMBER 16TH 2021:
“On Broadway, you’re speaking to the world,” said the playwright Lynn Nottage, center, with Kara Young and Reza Salazar, two of the actors appearing in her new play, “Clyde’s.”
SEPTEMBER 15TH 2021:
Gingold Theatrical Group will return to live, in-person performance with a rare revival of Bernard Shaw's Mrs. Warren's Profession starring Robert Cuccioli, David Lee Huynh, Alvin Keith, Nicole King, Raphael Nash Thompson, and Tony® Award winner Karen Ziemba as Mrs. Warren.
SEPTEMBER 10TH 2021:
We had the good fortune of connecting with Jasmine Sharma and we’ve shared our conversation below.
AUGUST 24TH, 2021:
Gingold Theatrical Group will return to in-person performances with a revival of Bernard Shaw's Mrs. Warren’s Profession beginning October 12 at Theatre Row - with David Lee Huynh (NAATCO’s Henry VI)
AUGUST 24TH, 2021:
Emmy winners Uzo Aduba and Ron Cephas Jones, Reza Salazar, and Kara Young will star in Lynn Nottage’s Clyde’s on Broadway this fall.
AUGUST 13TH, 2021:
And so the hilarious Brandon St. Clair is the obliging slave Davy as well as a very Black — and priceless — George Washington, resurrected from the dead.
JUNE 30TH, 2021:
Ashland New Plays Festival announces the five emerging playwrights chosen for the inaugural New Voices Retreat: Jasmine Sharma. The retreat, held virtually August 1–7, will allow the artists to fully engage with the writing process. They will be paired with established theatre professionals as mentors who will assist with the development of a script in progress.
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JUNE 25TH, 2021:
"In this episode, we speak to ChiChi Anyanwu, founder of CHI Talent Management: a management company that aims to advise, guide, and empower a diverse array of talent in the entertainment industry. ChiChi founded CHITalent Management during the COVID-19 pandemic after 10 + years working in talent representation in New York. We loved hearing her story of how she started her career in casting and what led her decision to start her own company."
JUNE 23RD, 2021
BY AISHA JORDAN: During the pandemic, ChiChi Anyanwu made the bold decision to start her own talent management company, CHI Talent Management, managing the careers of actors in theater, film, and television. Her company is part of a small number of Black woman-owned agencies, so I chatted with ChiChi to see just how she makes it all happen.
JUNE 18TH, 2021:
Today, The 24 Hour Plays, creators of The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway, The 24 Hour Musicals and the Viral Monologues, announced this year's company for The 24 Hour Plays: Nationals, which will be held as a virtual program. The 24 Hour Plays: Nationals 2021 company will include actor JASMINE SHARMA.
JUNE 8TH, 2021:
Keith Arthur Bolden plays Sgt. Clay in "The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made me Do It," in theaters now and streaming on HBO Max.
By Scott Mendelson for Forbes Magazine : Keith Arthur Bolden offers solid support as a skeptical but dedicated police sergeant while John Noble does his thing as a local collector of Satanic “stuff.”
JUNE 8TH, 2021:
By Alexa Criscitiello: Opening the Hertz Stage in October is THE NEW BLACK FEST'S HANDS UP: 7 PLAYWRIGHTS, 7 TESTAMENTS. HANDS UP depicts the realities of Black America from the perspective of varying genders, sexual orientations, skin tones, and socioeconomic backgrounds. This production of HANDS UP is co- directed by Spelman Associate Professor Keith Arthur Bolden and Spelman alumna and Alliance Spelman Fellow Alexis Woodard.
APRIL 9TH, 2021:
By Emma Stern: ChiChi Anyanwu is a talent manager, a producer, and an overall force to be reckoned with. She has a clear vision of who she is and a welcoming yet determined energy that instantly creates an environment where you feel you can be honest. She works tirelessly for her clients and for the entertainment industry she wants to see. She launched her company, CHI Talent Management during the pandemic. Read about her journey, how it’s been after launching her own company, and about the changes she wants to see when the theatre industry is able to return fully from the pandemic.
MARCH 15TH, 2021:
As I watched this year’s Oscars nominations be announced, the nods were surprisingly not abominable with at least nine historic firsts. However, people were quick to comment on the lack of Latinx representation. While true, one significant moment remained disregarded: Shaka King, director and co-screenwriter of Judas and the Black Messiah, was nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay.
King is of Panamanian descent, but as history shows, Latinx folks and Hollywood will not see this as a Latinx win, and in this denial, will continue to negate the presence and nuance of Blackness in Latinidad.
MARCH 9TH, 2021:
Ars Nova has announced its fourth slate of 2021 programming including four events from Tuçe Yasak, Tislarm Bouie, L Morgan Lee, and Emily Wells, curated by Obie-winning choreographer and director Raja Feather Kelly.
Bianca Leigh will have her writing featured in 'The Women', a play that highlights what it means to be a woman and overcoming the societal and gender expectations put on them, created by L Morgan Lee & Raja Feather Kelly. April 8th at 7PM ET
MARCH 5TH, 2021:
"Call and Response Podcast" talk with talent manager and entrepreneur ChiChi Anyanwu about her game-changing experience at the McCarter Theatre, the origin story of creating her own management company, and the important three C-words that inform her work with her clients.
FEBRUARY 12TH, 2021:
CBS’s FBI is taking a three-week break between new episodes and will return on March 2, 2021 with season three episode seven. Directed by Carlos Bernard from a script by Andy Callahan, episode seven finds the team hunting for a shooter.
Episode seven guest stars include James Vincent Meredith, Narci Regina, Alex Morf, Kate Villanova, Benja K. Thomas, and Kate MacCluggage. Alex Michael Stoll, Anne-Marie Cusson, Marsha Regis, Douglas Rees, Daniel Martin, and Joshua James Dye also guest star.
FEBRUARY 10TH, 2021:
STORRS, CT – Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) continues its 2020-21 virtual season with Pericles, Prince of Tyre by William Shakespeare, directed by Raphael Massie. All performances will be presented online, beginning on Thursday evening February 25 at 7:30pm, and continuing through Sunday, March 7 at 2:00pm.
Two AEA actors have been cast in this production. CRT is pleased to announce that Damien Thompson has taken the role of Pericles and Lauren Walker will play Diana and Gower.
FEBRUARY 10TH, 2021:
In celebration of Black History Month, The Mountaintop by Katori Hall will be playing Friday, February 26 and Saturday, February 27.
The action takes place in the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee on April 3, 1968. It will be the last night Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will spend on earth. He had earlier in the day delivered his famous "I've been to the mountaintop" speech. Dr. King's interaction with the motel maid delivers more than room service in this reimagined final night of the civil rights leader. Directed by Keith Arthur Bolden, the cast includes Yusef Seevers as Martin Luther King Jr. and Assata Amankeechi as Camae. The reader is Lewis Powell.
JANUARY 29TH, 2021:
“There’s different ways you can be racist,” said Esosa Edosomwan, a certified nutrition specialist and behavioral coach in Washington, D.C. “You can be racist by omitting people, by making guidelines that only cater to a specific group.”
Edosomwan — a Nigerian American also known as the Raw Girl — began her nutrition journey while trying to find a diet that would alleviate persistent acne. She found a raw food class and began writing about her food-as-medicine reeducation on her blog, Raw Girl Toxic World.
JANUARY 17TH, 2021:
FBI's“ Clean Slate” – As the team searches for a young girl who was kidnapped from a cabin during a family vacation, they discover that the abduction may be tied to a skeleton in her family’s closet.
Also, Maggie questions her relationship with Nestor when she learns he hasn’t been completely honest with her, on FBI, Tuesday, Jan. 26 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.
JANUARY 17TH, 2021:
Since its official launch on January 23, 2020, the Broadway Women's Alliance has developed into a legitimate and thriving enterprise.
Over the past year, BWA has hosted numerous salons, seminars, happy hours and networking events, creating a tight- knit community of women from all corners of show business, unified in the cause of empowering and advancing female professionals on Broadway and beyond.
JANUARY 16TH, 2021:
Rachel Schur Chase, 33, is a Broadway actress and the founder of Schur Thing Media. When Broadway shut down in March due to the pandemic, Schur Chase began to expand her social media management side hustle into a full-time small business.
She helps brick-and-mortar retailers launch online shops, mentors fellow stage actors who want to build an online presence, and manages clients' social media accounts and analytics.
JANUARY 1ST, 2021:
This list features ten African-American standouts in one of the following categories: agent, attorney, manager, publicist and financial advisor in the sports and entertainment industry.
"What is your theme word for 2021?
ChiChi Anyanwu: Courage."
DECEMBER 28TH, 2020:
The Williamstown Theatre Festival season on Audible continues with the world premiere of Chonburi International Hotel & Butterfly Club by Shakina Nayfack. It is available December 29 within the Audible Plus catalog.
Nayfack also stars alongside a cast that includes nine actors of trans experience. The complete company features Ivory Aquino, Kate Bornstein (Straight White Men), Liz Lark Brown, Samy Figaredo, Annie Golden (The Full Monty, Violet), Bianca Leigh, Telly Leung (Allegiance, In Transit), Dana Aliya Levinson, Pooya Mohseni, Angelica Ross (Pose), Ita Segev, and Jason Tam (Be More Chill).
DECEMBER 27TH, 2020:
This episode blends the theory of wellness with the practical application to provide inspiring perspective on enhancing your physical health. Nutrition specialist and behavior coach Esosa Edosomwan deep dives into the design of modern wellness and health habits that work.
DECEMBER 27TH, 2020:
As a part of our series about “How Anyone Can Build Habits For Optimal Wellness, Performance, & Focus”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Esosa E., MS, CNS, LDN.
Esosa E. also known as “Raw Girl” of therawgirl.com is a dynamic Certified Nutrition Specialist, Behavioral Coach, host of the Staying Ageless Podcast, and published author with ten years of experience inspiring others to live their best healthiest lives.
OCTOBER 18TH, 2020:
If I had no day job, I literally would consider taking to the streets as a professional conspiracy theorist carrying placards that read: “Don’t let them take your vagina, sis!” or “Watch out for the pussy snatchers!”
Instead as a certified nutrition specialist and behavioral coach who has clientele that is comprised almost 100 percent of Black women over the age of 30, I am in my busy virtual office every day listening to the horrific stories of Black women who have developed fibroids, and developing holistic regimens to help them rebalance hormonally.
SEPTEMBER 15TH, 2020:
I founded CHI Talent Management in May 2020, after 10 plus years working in talent representation in New York. Whether you used to work in a spacious office and now have a cramped closet as an at-home workspace, or are juggling teaching your children in between client calls and Zoom meetings, COVID-19 has thrown a wrench in everyone’s work situation.
If COVID-19 has left you feeling overworked and stressed, here are some tips on how to practice self-care and create a better work-life balance for yourself.
© 2020 CHI Talent Management LLC. All Rights Reserved 287 Park Avenue South, 2nd Floor New York, NY 10010
SEPTEMBER 15TH, 2020:
When ChiChi Anyanwu launched her new company Chi Talent Management, a couple of things made her new shingle stand out. For one thing: She launched it in the middle of a pandemic, when most of the news coming out of the theater business, and the entertainment industry in general, was (and remains) pretty grim.
And as she’s well aware, she’s one of the very few Black agents, managers or casting directors in the business — and setting up her own company, with a roster focused on diverse voices and talent, felt like an important step in an industry working toward making all aspects of the business more inclusive.
AUGUST 8TH, 2020:
Talent manager ChiChi Anyanwu talks with RyeTheNewsGuy.com about her new talent management company, CHI Talent Management.
Born out of there COVID-19 pandemic, CHI Talent Management aims to advise, guide, and empower a diverse array of talent in the entertainment industry. In the interview below, ChiChi shares her story about her company's launch, how she got started, her ideal client, diversity in the industry, advice for aspiring/current performers, and MUCH MORE!
AUGUST 4TH, 2020:
Listen to ChiChi Anyanwu's interview with Broadway Radio about Chi Talent Management.
JULY 29TH, 2020:
Kicking off the new year will be The New Black Play Fest’s Hands Up: 7 Playwrights, 7 Testaments (February 2021), from playwrights Nathan James, Nathan Yungerberg, Idris Goodwin, Nambi E. Kelley, Nsangou Njikam, Eric Micha Holmes, and Dennis A. Allen II.
Originally commissioned in 2015 in response to the shooting of Michael Brown, Hands Up has been reimagined by Spelman College students as a full ensemble performance. Keith Arthur Bolden and Alexis Woodard will direct and Alliance Theatre will host preview conversations this fall around the themes of the monologues.
JULY 13TH, 2020: Talent manager ChiChi Anyanwu has launched her own company, CHI Talent Management, to represent stage and screen artists. The company's mission is to advise and empower a diverse array of talent in the entertainment industry.
“Initially I thought about switching careers or going back to school when the pandemic struck, but my clients insisted they still needed me, and I did not want to let them down,” says Anyanwu. “I have always been passionate about connecting a diverse arts community and providing opportunities that advance and strengthen artists’ careers.”
Anyanwu’s clients have appeared in a variety of works, including the Broadway and national touring productions of Wicked, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Jesus Christ Superstar.
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JUNE 11TH, 2020: The Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, will present a fully staged production of Hands Up in the fall during its 2020–2021 season, in an effort to provide a platform for Black artists and tell contemporary stories. The work depicts the realities of Black America from the perspective of varying genders, sexual orientations, skin tones, and socioeconomic backgrounds.
Alexis Woodard and Keith Arthur Bolden serve as co-directors, with sound design by Lorenzo Moore and choreography by Keri Garrett. Exact production dates and casting will be announced at a later date.
