Summary
Rose Weaver is an American actress, singer, director and writer in Rhode Island. Weaver is described as a "major figure in Rhode Island entertainment,"[1] and she is known for her role in the film Poetic Justice.
Rose Weaver | |
|---|---|
| Occupation(s) | Actor, playwright, director, songwriter, vocalist |
| Years active | 1973–present |
| Website | roseweaver.com |
Early life edit
Weaver grew up in McDonough outside of Atlanta, Georgia. Her family were sharecroppers. She was one of the first black people to attend Joseph Emerson Brown High School, an all-white high school in Atlanta, Georgia[2] and participated in the Emory University Upward Bound program in her youth.[3]
Career edit
Weaver began singing in Boston and Rhode Island clubs in the 1970s.[2] She graduated from Wheaton College in 1973 and was awarded a three-year fellowship by Trinity Repertory in 1973.[4] She spent 11 seasons acting at Trinity, including roles as Silvia in Two Gentleman of Verona,[5] Dussie Mae in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom,[6] and Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues.[7] In 1994, she returned to Trinity in 1994 for another 11 seasons, taking roles such as the Witch in Into the Woods[8] and Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill.[9] In addition to her time at Trinity, Weaver was the producer and host of the television program "Sunday Sunday" on WJAR TV in the 1980s.[10]
In 1993 she played Aunt Audrey in the film Poetic Justice alongside Janet Jackson and Tupac Shakur.
Weaver continues to act, sing, write and direct. She performed at the state inauguration in Rhode Island, 1999.[11] In 2000, she earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing from Brown University.[12] She was an artist in residence at Brown University's Rites and Reason Theatre in 2015 where she developed her play about Alzheimer's disease and memory, Skips The Record.[13] Her play Menopause Mama, which she wrote, directed and starred in toured internationally and earned her a fellowship in play writing at the Rhode Island State Council for the Arts in 2017.[14] In 2022, her play Silhouette of a Silhouette, a semi-autobiographical play, received its world premiere at the Wilbury Theatre Group in Providence. [15]
Awards and distinctions edit
2019, Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame[16]
2018, Rhode Island Woman of the Year, GoLocalProv[17]
2018, Wheeler School Community Spirit Award[17]
2018, Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts, Wheaton College[18]
2016, Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts, Providence College[14]
2002, Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts, Marymount Manhattan College[14]
2001, Rhode Island Historical Society History Makers[19]
2000, Pell Award for Excellence in the Arts[14]
1991, "Who's Who in Rhode Island Jazz"[20]
1973, Miss Massachusetts - Miss Congeniality[2]
1973, Miss Foxboro[2]
Selected film and television roles edit
A Snow White Christmas, 2018, Mrs. Woods
Brotherhood, 2006, Mrs. Lynch
Poetic Justice, 1993, Aunt Audrey
Tales From The Crypt, "Mute Witness to Murder", 1990, Desk
The Accused, 1988, Nurse
Go Tell It On The Mountain, 1984
In the Heat of the Night, 1989
Brother to Dragons, Great Performances, 1975, Family Slave
Published works edit
"Mama's Helper" and "Chips on My Shoulder", Monologues for Women by Women, Tori Haring-Smith ed., 1994[21]
NuMuse: an anthology of plays from Brown University's New Plays Festival, 1994[22]
References edit
- ^ Wye, Sara (November 9, 1980). "The blooming of Rose Weaver". Providence Journal. pp. 20–28.
- ^ a b c d "Rose Weaver: Her life story is like a movie melodrama". Providence Journal. October 21, 1973. p. D-12. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
- ^ "ROSE GOES She's taking her act and her life to L.A.". Providence Journal. November 18, 1984. p. H-09.
- ^ "Preservationist, PawSox owner among R.I.'s 'history makers'". Providence Journal. April 29, 2001. p. C-05.
- ^ Safford, Edwin (3 January 1976). "Trinity's Verona a Love of a Show". Providence Journal. p. 31. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
- ^ GALE, BILL (20 January 1988). "Theater/Dance: Rose Weaver's back in town, for a while". Providence Journal. p. B-11. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
- ^ "This woman's not done: Rose Weaver's Menopause Mama returns". Cranston Herald. 3 March 2017. Retrieved 2019-09-21.
- ^ GALE, WILLIAM K. (31 January 1997). "THEATER REVIEW Trinity's 'Woods' is rougher but more solid". Providence Journal. p. E-01. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
- ^ Gray, Channing (26 July 2015). "Rose rising - Following a string of heartbreak, Rose Weaver is back in R.I. to heal and perform". Providence Journal. p. 1. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
- ^ "Outdoor Concert to Feature Rose Weaver, Wardson Trio". Providence Journal. 22 July 1980. p. 71. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
- ^ BAKST, M. CHARLES (10 January 1999). "Cianci, Almond inaugurals sound good - now let's see results". Providence Journal. p. D-01. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
- ^ Isenberg, Robert (May 2009). "The Show Goes On". East Side Monthly: 12–13.
- ^ Blankenship, Tim (2015-05-20). "Volunteering with WaterFire | Rose Weaver at Rites and Reason Theater | Gendo Taiko". The WaterFire Ignites Rhode Island Radio Program. Archived from the original on October 1, 2019. Retrieved 2019-10-05.
- ^ a b c d Flanagan, Mollie (2017-09-12). "Meet The Autism Project and Rose Weaver". RISCA Blog. Retrieved 2019-10-05.
- ^ "Silhouette of a Silhouette". thewilburygroup.org. Retrieved 2023-05-15.
- ^ "Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame: Dr.Rose E. Weaver, Inducted 2019". www.riheritagehalloffame.org. Retrieved 2019-10-05.
- ^ a b Fenton, Josh. "RI's Woman of the Year". GoLocalProv. Retrieved 2019-10-05.
- ^ "Honoring Rose Ella Weaver '73". Wheaton College Massachusetts. 19 May 2018. Retrieved 2019-10-05.
- ^ "Preservationist, PawSox owner among R.I.'s history makers". Providence Journal. 29 April 2001. p. C-05. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
- ^ Kaplan, Lloyd S. (1991). Who's who in Rhode Island jazz, c. 1925-1988. Petteruti, Robert E. West Greenwich, R.I.: Consortium Pub. ISBN 094013926X. OCLC 27938754.
- ^ Monologues for women by women. Haring-Smith, Tori. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. 1994. ISBN 0435086308. OCLC 29703968.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ Rahman, Aishah (1997). NuMuse: An Anthology of Plays From Brown University. NuMuse Press.
External links edit
- Rose Weaver at IMDb