Nikki M. James Biography

Fast Facts

• Is a first-generation American, with her mother being from Haiti and her father from St
• Vincent in the British West Indies
• Began singing at church at the age of 5
• In 1999, was nominated for a Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Award for her performance in her high school's production of Hello, Dolly! and subsequently attended Paper Mill's summer conservatory
• Made her Broadway debut as Sabina Temple in the short-lived musical The Adventures of Tom Sawyer at Minskoff Theatre in 2001 while she was still pursuing her degree at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts
• Performed the role of Dorothy in The Wiz at La Jolla Playhouse, earning her a 2006 Craig Noel Award for Theatrical Excellence
• In 2008, starred in two leading roles at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet and Cleopatra in Caesar and Cleopatra, opposite Christopher Plummer
• Originated the role of Nabulungi in the widely-acclaimed Broadway musical The Book of Mormon, a role for which she won the 2011 Tony Award for Featured Actress in a Musical
• Played the role of Éponine in the 2014 Broadway revival of Les Misérables
• Worked on a PSA for the United Negro College Fund with Spike Lee