2024 PRODUCTIONS
January Projects
January 28, 2024
"Teresa"
@ Center Theater Group
Directed by Jennifer Chang
January 22, 2024
"Uphill"
@ The Road Theater Company
January 13, 2024
"Clybourne Park"
@ Interact Theater Company
2023 Theater
Performances
Parkside Tools Commercial w/ Arnold Schwarzenegger
Now Playing
Nationally and Internationally
Praise for "Everybody"
"EVERYBODY, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' contemporary riff on a 15th-century morality play, is a creative and chaotic allegory about Christian salvation....It begins with a welcome to the theater that segues into a lengthy and engaging monologue all GRIPPINGLY PERFORMED by Cherish Monique Duke." - Broadway World
"In a STAR-MAKING TURN, Cherish Monique Duke as Usher not only takes your ticket and points you to your seat, but she also begins the show with a much more detailed version of “turn off your cell phone, check your emergency exit” which puts the audience in a playful mood." - Hanies His Way
“BEAUTIFULLY DEVASTATING… slic[es] right through to the heart of humanity’s hang-ups about dying.” — Theater Digest
“FUNNY, PROVOCATIVE, AND UTTERLY URBANE…This is collective theater requiring a highly refined unity of conscience and style.” - PeoplesWorld
“FANTASTIC… AN ACTING TOUR DE FORCE… challenges the audience to keep up and in the end come together… highly recommended.” — On Stage Los Angeles
In this world premiere, Dorothy and Stephen are married co-owners of a failing real estate company. They’re shocked when they learn that their teenage son has committed a disturbing crime – and they’re devastated when they find out why. In three successive waiting rooms, accompanied by three young professionals, Dorothy and Stephen must overcome confusion, acrimony and bitter regret as they struggle to find a way forward.
BELOVED
a play in three waiting rooms
by Arthur Holden
Directed by Cameron Watson
Starring
Sam Anderson
Taylor Gilbert
Cherish Monique Duke
May 29 – June 25, 2022
Reviews:
"And Gilbert, Anderson and Duke are all in top form. In each scene, Duke elevates an essentially reactive role as representative of the Establishment to that of an equal player in the drama unraveling before her." Stage Raw Top 10 Recommended
"It’s a painful story, told with exquisite specificity. Each of these people raw and unfettered, the diabolical turning pretense into farce. We watch them dissolve, perhaps finding at their core some forgiveness. Perhaps not. Either way, the unfolding is mesmerizing, the performances epic and the deftness of the direction sublime. “Beloved” is art, at its finest. Unapologetic, difficult, and so visceral and real it’s hard to leave it behind. Bravo." Noho Arts District
"The answer is it simply couldn’t work without the talents of veteran actors such as Gilbert and Anderson, as well as Cherish Monique Duke in multiple roles, under the leadership of Watson’s nurturing yet omnipresent directorial skills.Don’t miss the chance to see textbook acting and directing at its finest.” " - Ticket Holders LA
Stage Scene LA says, “Beloved is a suspense-filled, twist-packed stunner that will leave you blown-away and breathless. It should come as no surprise that this dream pairing (Sam Anderson and Taylor Bryce Gilbert) once again delivers the dramatic goods, and then some. Duke, vanishes into three very different women, each one of them pitch-perfect."
Pacaso Commercial
Now Playing
Nationally and Internationally
A Noise Within Theater Presents
Seven Guitars
Directed by
Gregg T. Daniel
In 1948 Pittsburgh, old friends gather to mourn the death of a young guitarist and his dream of stardom. This heartrending blues opera combines touching elegy, humor, and emotional grit as the characters strike their own notes in a discordant world that threatens their hopes and lives at every turn. Bursting with musical lyricism and courage, Wilson’s Pulitzer-nominated play continues his theatrical saga that richly captures the spirit and heritage of Black Americans in the 20th Century.
Oct 17th - Nov 14th
LISTEN, A BLACK WOMAN IS SPEAKING
by
Marlow Wyatt
Just two days before she is to speak at a predominantly white conservative women’s luncheon, playwright Penelope Weintraub’s characters start to consume her and force her to perpetrate the most courageous crime a Black woman can commit-speak the truth.
Live on Zoom
Saturday June 12 @ 6:30pm
When Olivia, a musician's wife and climate science advocate, invites Maggie, an old friend turned social media influencer, to spend the weekend while she has an at-home abortion, she doesn't realize that Maggie, although well-intended, is about to throw Olivia off course. These women of different generations, are about to change each other's lives - all because of a woman's right to choose. As both struggle with their decisions, they ultimately help each other in ways they hadn't expected, or imagined. What happens when a woman's right to choose becomes a litmus test for all her life choices.
Streaming Begins
Saturday Jan 23 @ 2pm
(Running for 3 Weeks)
The Sierra Madre Playhouse Presents
"The Realistic Jones"
SHOW INFO:
Monday, November 16 at 7 pm PST
and Tuesday, November 24 at 4 pm PST
With a live talkback discussion immediately after the
second show on Tuesday, November 24 at 6 pm PDT
Directed by Scott Alan Smith
Starring Cherish Monique Duke, Jono Eiland,
Christian Lebano, and Elizabeth Sampson
Runtime is approximately 1 hour and 50 minutes
Meet Bob and Jennifer Jones and their new neighbors, John and Pony Jones, two suburban couples who have even more in common than
their identical homes and their shared last names. As their relationships begin to irrevocably intertwine, the Joneses must decide between their idyllic fantasies and their imperfect realities.
"Plays as funny and moving, as wonderful and weird as The Realistic Joneses, by Will Eno, do not appear often on Broadway.
Or ever, really." - The New York Times
A Noise Within Theater
Presents
"Intimate Apparel"
by Lynn Nottage
Inspired by the story of her great-grandmother, Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage weaves a delicate personal drama about Esther, a black seamstress who fashions exquisite lingerie for her clients as she aches for intimacy in her own life. Caught in the tangled threads of ambition, unspoken passion, and broken dreams, Esther must rebuild her dignity and her future when her quiet world falls apart.
"Well Dressed Lie" is now showing on Amazon Prime
Check out the Trailer for this thriller by director Raymond Williams.
The Road Theater Company Presents
"The Zoom Series: Virtual Plays"
Check out these 10 minute pieces written specifically for Zoom by the Under Construction Playwrights group.
BUBBLE by Jennifer Maisel Directed by Sara Guerrero
"Two women hover on the brink, juggling the insanity of solo parenting in the pandemic. How far will they go for their friendship?
Praise for "At The Table"
2019 Stage Raw Awards
Nominated
Best Leading Actress
Nominated
Best Ensemble
2019 Stage Scene LA Awards
Winner
Best Performance in a Play
Winner
Outstanding Ensemble Cast