Marvin Jefferson has an extensive background as a professional actor. Since 1998 he has performed a Chautauqua (first - person characterization of a historical figure) of the life of Paul Robeson as singer, athlete, scholar and social activist for the Newark school district, performing in every school in the district. He prepared for his portrayal of Paul Robeson by attending, in the summer of 1997, the Annual Great Plains Chautauqua in West Fargo, North Dakota. Having taught at Essex County College, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and the Newark Community School of the Arts, he currently teaches acting at Bloomfield College. From 1985 to 1988 he served as the director of the drama program at the Franklin Township Department of Social Services. Betwwen 1991 and 1996 he was the producer, artistic director, and the manager of the Ensemble Theatre Company (ETC), a Newark- based drama company that he cofounded. In addition to directing and producing plays, he has received critical acclaim for performances as an actor in the ETC productions of Uncle Tom's Children and Sizewe Bansi is Dead; the Crossroads Theatre Company productions of To Gleam it Around, To Show My Shine, Roads of the Mountaintop, Slowdance on the Killing Ground, and Playboy of the West Indies; and George Street Playhouse production of The Meeting. He has also appeared in My Father's House at the Billie Holiday Theatre in New York City. Mr. Jefferson studied acting at the Mason Gross School of Arts, Rutgers University.

Millicent Sparks is a gifted actress, singer, and playwright. She has appeared on television and radio in the filem Beloved. Among her theatrical roles are: Marian Anderson in My Lord, What a Morning; Billie Holiday in Lady Behind The Gardenia and Lady Day; Dorothy Dandridge in Love Scrawls And The Top 39; Ophelia in Hamlet; and Mrs. Powell in Trail of Adam Clayton Powell. Her performances have occurred in numerous theaters and festivals throughout the nation and abroad. In Philadelphia she has appeared at the following: Shubert Theatre; Walnut Street Theatre; Arden Theatre; Freedom Theatre; Venture Theatre; and Theatre Center. Places at which she has performed elsewhere include: Crossroads Theatre, New Brunswick, New Jersey; LaMama's, New York, New York ; St. Louis Black Repertory, St louis, Missouri; Madison Repertory, Madison, Wisconsin; Ambrosia Dinner Theater, Wilmington, Delaware; Piccadilly Theatre, London, England; and International Arts Festival, Tianjin, China. Her professional work experiences include teaching crative writing and drama at the International School, Monrovia, Liberia, directing the United States Embassy's CulturalCenter, The Gambia, and serving as a playwriting instructor for the Philadelphia Playwrights Festival. She has studied at the School of Communications, Temple University, and Freedom Theatre School of Performing Arts.