October 2023
Jasmine Brooks 2015
DEGREES:
B.A. Communication and B.A. Theatre
CURRENT EMPLOYER
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
CURRENT OCCUPATION
Part-Time Assistant Treasurer, Kennedy Center, and Local EMC (Equity Membership Candidate) Program Regional Actress
DESCRIBE YOUR CAREER PATH
After graduating, I spent two years working at several local theatres across the DMV [Washington, DC, metropolitan area] in various positions – house management, box office associate, marketing, sales etc. I’d hoped that working in these large-scale, major theatres in any capacity would fast track my career as a professional actress. I was wrong. I rarely crossed paths with any actors as I worked behind the scenes; and if I did, the exchanges were brief. After two years, I began to lose hope. I settled for working in positions that would get me as close to the art as possible since it didn’t seem like I’d ever get the chance to create the art myself.
Then, in 2017, I gave birth to my beautiful baby girl, Calypso, and my life changed. I was broke. I had no professional acting credits. I had zero connections in the industry. But, I did have passion, reignited by my daughter. I knew that I could never tell her to follow her dreams in life if I’d given up on mine. She inspired me to fight for happiness relentlessly. And so, I did. I did research. Took some poor-quality selfies on my phone and turned them into poor-quality head shots. And began submitting for roles at some small, black box local theatres. I booked my first professional acting job at Venus Theatre (Laurel, MD) in 2019. I also received my first ever nomination for Best Performance (from Broadway World Regional Awards) in the 2019, Peter’s Alley Production of The Gulf – another small theatre company that took a chance on me. This happened two years after I’d given up – four years after I graduated from Salisbury. I was hungry for art and desperate to make audiences feel something, anything whenever they witnessed my performance. My partner gifted me with my first ever professional photoshoot for real headshots. Some kind theatre professionals showed me how to properly put together a resume. I created a website. Finally, forward momentum.
Since 2019, I’ve built my resume extensively as a professional actress through extreme mental, financial, physical, and emotional highs and lows. This past summer of 2023, I closed a show at The Kennedy Center (Shear Madness) where I’d performed for four months as Barbara DeMarco, and I am currently contracted to Arena Stage for the production of POTUS. Side Note: Booking a show at Arena Stage was a full circle moment for me because I’d worked there years ago as a house manager desperately hoping to “get noticed” and subsequently, miserably failing.
It’s been almost six years since my greatest creation, my physical embodiment of art personified, my daughter, Calypso, was born. I was able to honor her by writing a poem for her and performing it in a professional production at Theater Alliance in 2021. And thanks to her, in the near future, I fully expect to be working at every single behemoth of a theater in the DMV and conquering Broadway nationally. In no particular order.
MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU LEARNED WHILE ATTENDING SALISBURY UNIVERSITY
I owe all my knowledge on performance art to my theatre professors: Robert Smith and T. Paul Pfeiffer. I had no prior education on anything theatre related before they taught me everything I know now. The wisdom they provided me with was priceless. Not only did they teach me about the craft, they also taught me to discover the art in everyday life, and helped me find beauty within myself. Robert Smith cast me in my first and only Salisbury production, Five Women Wearing the Same Dress, and I will be forever grateful.
WHAT CAMPUS ACTIVITIES/ORGANIZATIONS WERE YOU INVOLVED WITH?
I assisted in a multitude of art projects around campus. I painted murals, wrote art blogs for the school paper, guest hosted on the school radio station to either promo upcoming school plays or give art-based advice. I wasn’t attached to any school organizations officially, but I’d like to consider myself a consultant of sorts, as I typically would help different organizations with a project or two. I also hosted some Homecoming events in 2013, which was a blast. I suppose you could call me a free-spirited floater around campus.
BEST COLLEGE MEMORY
This is tough. I’m torn. My best college memory was either playing Trisha in Five Women Wearing the Same Dress or lounging around Fulton, walking the hallways and seeing all the different mediums of student art on display, hearing people sing or rehearse lines for a production, dancers stretching, casual conversations that felt meaningful with professors if they happened to be available. The time I spent in Fulton, no matter what I was doing, always felt soulful. Like I could feel the art that occurred before me, happening all around me, and the art to come after I’d graduate. The hope that permeates through the walls of college buildings is unparalleled.
Also, the omelet station in Commons was LEGIT.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE SALISBURY UNIVERSITY?
The energy. Out of all the schools I visited, Salisbury just felt right. There was no ego, no pretentiousness. I knew I could simply be myself. Whether I went to class in pajamas or in a gown, I knew I’d be accepted. I could find a crowd to fit in with. Also, the beach being 30 minutes away didn’t hurt either. The vibe was chill and efficient. The professors I had were top notch.
IF YOU COULD DESCRIBE SALISBURY UNIVERSITY IN THREE WORDS, WHAT WOULD THEY BE AND WHY?
Earthy, Diverse, Intimate. Salisbury was so down to earth. I could wear anything to class and feel comfortable – from pajamas to a ballgown. I loved simply hanging out on campus with friends, studying, solo chilling. Salisbury was diverse. Out of all the schools I attended throughout my life, Salisbury was the first school where my class didn’t all look or talk like me. I got to meet people from all different backgrounds and walks of life. Some of my closest friends were people I would’ve never gotten the opportunity to meet if it weren’t for such an inclusive, diverse setting. Lastly, Salisbury was just the right size for me. All my professors not only knew my name, they knew me personally. I felt seen and heard in all my classes. I was granted a personalized experience that felt unique to my needs and strengths as a student.
FAVORITE VACATION SPOT AND WHY?
Anywhere there is a beach. Top places would be Trinidad (where my family is from), Aruba (it really is one happy island) and Jamaica (the food is everything).
GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT
Being an artist and a mom at the same dang time.
WHAT IS SOMETHING PEOPLE DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU?
My favorite literature is gothic fiction. Studying postmodernism is my jam. I have a severe reality TV obsession, I talk to myself incessantly, and I can dance. People don’t know I can dance because they always say, “Jasmine, you can’t dance.” But, I can. I. Can. Dance.
HOBBIES/OTHER INTERESTS
Painting, writing, laughing loudly, traveling, eating any kind of food from anywhere, talking in an English accent around a group of actors and watching every single actor adopt the accent until a frenzy of English accents and dialogues takes over the entire space. Accent mania!