The actress won a Tony her role as Emmie Thibodeaux in the 2004 Broadway production of 'Caroline, or Change'

NEED TO KNOW

• Anika Noni Rose recalled the time an agent told her she wasn’t “ready for Broadway” right before her theater career took off
• When she saw the agent again after that, the actress said, “This woman had the grace and class to say, ‘I’m so sorry. I was wrong’ ”
• Rose is a Tony Award- winner who has starred in an array of Broadway projects

Anika Noni Rose recalled a full-circle moment amid her road to theatrical success.

The Tony Award-winning singer and actress, 53, delivered a reflective speech about her career as she was honored at the Igniting the Dream Gala in New York City on May 18.

Recalling her time as a rising actress in New York City, where she moved after receiving her MFA in drama at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco in 1998, Rose said, “[I] met some agents, and one of them asked me what I wanted to do, and I said, ‘Broadway,' and she asked if I trained in musical theater, and I said, ‘No, but I trained in theater and I sing,' and she cut me off to say I should probably look to regional theater and get some lessons before trying to be on Broadway."

Rose eventually made her Broadway debut in 2000, when she replaced actress Stacy Francis as Rusty in a revival of Footloose at the Richard Rogers Theatre.

She said that the agent’s words came to mind “maybe a year” after their initial conversation, when Rose saw her at the stage door of the Broadway show.

“My castmate's agent was there and loved the show and wanted to meet me,” the Princess and the Frog star recalled. “She said, ‘It is so nice to meet you. You are fantastic,' and I smiled and said, ‘We've met before in your office, and you told me I wasn't quite ready for Broadway.’ ” 

Rose added, “This woman had the grace and class to say, ‘I'm so sorry. I was wrong.' ”

Rose's theater career continued to soar. She later received critical praise for her role as Emmie Thibodeaux in the 2004 Broadway production of Caroline, or Change, for which she was awarded the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical and the Theatre World Award.

The actress went on to earn roles in Broadway productions like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in 2008, A Raisin in the Sun in 2014 and Uncle Vanya in 2024. 

Rose currently plays Kyra Marshall in The Balusters, a new play by David Lindsay-Abaire that opened in April and currently runs at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater in Manhattan.

The show spotlights tensions and conflict within a “passionate” neighborhood association and the “neighbor-versus-neighbor battle royale that ensues when a newcomer to the board suggests the unthinkable: installing a stop sign on the corner of the enclave’s prettiest block,” according to the Manhattan Theatre Club, which produces the play.

Rose’s speech at the Igniting the Dream Gala expounded upon her journey to theatrical success and the publication of her 2024 and 2026 children’s books, as well as her own dreams, past and present.

“So often this world tells us that our dreams are too big, untenable, above and beyond our station, but isn't that what dreams are supposed to be?” Rose said. “Big and huge and beautiful and remarkable.”

The annual event is run by Figure Skating in Harlem, an organization that “combines the power of education with access to the artistic discipline of figure skating to build champions in life” and support young girls of color, according to its website.

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