Starletta Dupois is recognized from her roles in many cult classics including Friday After Next with Ice Cube and Mike Epps, Big Momma's House with Martin Lawrence, and Oliver Stone's, South Central. She was most recently seen in the screen adaptation of the popular book True To The Game. Millions around the world, however, still rememnber her playing the late, Whitney Houston’s mother in Waiting to Exhale.

Her theater roots run deep and have garnered her numerous recognitions including her Tony Nomination for The Mighty Gents , an NAACP Theater Award nomination for Miss Evers Boys at the Mark Taper Forum. She has receives many awards including The Woodie Award, named for her theatrical mentor and dear friend Woodie King Jr., for Before It Hits Home at St Louis Black Rep where she also had the distinction of originating the role of Bernice in August Wilson's The Piano Lesson directed by Lloyd Richards.

She also received an NAACP Image Award for her portrayal of Ruth Younger in the landmark PBS American Playhouse production opposite Danny Glover, she was awarded Best Actress award for playing Lena Younger at the Royal Exchange in London, England…and many more.

A Philadelphia native, Starletta holds a B.S. in Biology from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and an MFA from UCLA in Theater Arts where she graduated magna cum laude. A lifelong philanthropist she has a passion for mentoring aspiring artists, Starletta has proudly served as an adjunct professor at USC. This unstoppable talent has successfully toured the solo play Order My Steps and is hard at work on her autobiographical solo play which will be premiering onstage in the very near future. Starletta lives in Los Angeles, California and is the proud mother of an incredible young musician named Deandre.

David Koté is an award winning director, actor, and educator. He began at Tri-Cities High School of Visual and Performing Arts and acclaimed Freddie Hendricks Youth Ensemble of Atlanta. Koté earned a B.A. degree in speech and theatre arts from Dillard University and M.F.A. in directing from Indiana University. His theatre credits include The Roommate, Jitney, Pill Hill, In the Red and Brown Water, Purlie, Flyin’ West, Once on this Island, Times, The Last Season, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, My Children! My Africa! and Macbeth. He has also appeared in HBO's A Lesson Before Dying, CBS's Mama Flora's Family and TNT's Passing Glory. He has performed in South Africa, Belgium, Amsterdam and all over the United States. Koté served as Director of Theatre Arts at Tri-Cities High School Visual and Performing Arts Magnet where he received many awards for his work including The Charles Loridans Foundation for excellence and leadership in theatre education. Koté's production of The Color Purple at Actor's Express is winner of 6 Suzi Bass Award including Outstanding Production Musical and Outstanding Direction Musical.

Dr. Garey A. Hyatt, Vice-President of the National Association of Dramatic and Speech Arts (NADSA), earned his B.A. in speech and theatre from Bowie State, his M.A. in African American Literature (Drama) from North Carolina A&T and his Ph.D. degree in Theatre/Arts Administration from Texas Tech University. His research interests are in Black Theatre, Fundraising and Community Engagement. His journey in higher education spans more than 30 years, with stops at North Carolina A&T, College of Charleston, Florida A&M University, University of Louisiana-Lafayette and Dillard University prior to his arrival at Coppin State University in 2005. He served as department chair from 2005 to 2014 and currently serves as Program Coordinator of the Visual and Performing Arts area. Dr. Hyatt is actively recruiting potential theatre majors with scholarship money in hand.

In the national struggle for civil rights, Tisch Jones was arrested seven times, and this experience helped shape her deep commitment to theatre for social justice. At the University of Northern Iowa she developed an extensive outreach program, and at the University of Iowa she founded the Darwin Turner Action Theatre which brought students into classrooms and community centers around the state to explore social and political topics. She directed major productions, often by African American writers, throughout her tenure in the Theatre Arts Department. With Jim Hatch she developed Klub Ka, which was performed in Iowa and New York City. Before she held faculty positions in Iowa she served as assistant to Lloyd Richards, Dean of the Yale School of Drama and Artistic Director of Yale Repertory Theatre, where working directly with Wilson, she helped transfer three plays by August Wilson fro the Yale stage to Broadway.