Kel Mitchell, a former eta teen student, starred in the movie “Good Burger” after starring on the Nickelodeon Channel in the shows, “All That” and his own series spin-off, “Keenan and Kel.” Kel Mitchell is the voice of “T-Bone” in the popular children’s cartoon, “Clifford the Big Red Dog.” He also had a recurring role on the TV series, The Steve Harvey Show. He received eta’s Milton Davis Award in April 2003. T’Keyah “Crystal” Keymah (Star of “That’s So Raven,” “In Living Color,” “The Cosby Show”) began her association with eta with the productions of “The Regal Theater” (Mainstage) and “A Place To Be Me (Showfolk).” Simbi Khali (“The Black Fairy”) was in eta’s Youth Performance Workshop in the late 70’s and 1980 as a scholarship student, along with her sister. She rose to commercial prominence as “Nina Campbell” on the hit series, “3rd Rock from The Sun.” Simbi was also featured in the Eddie Murphy, Angela Bassett film, “A Vampire In Brooklyn” (1995), “A Thin Line Between Love And Hate” with Martin Lawrence and Lynn Whitfield (1996), “Pulp Fiction” (1997), “Masquerade” (2000), as well as appearances on “Martin” (1995), and in 1994’s “Sinbad” series. Simbi has completed two screenplays: “Sanctuary,” a coming-of-age-story which was directed and read by Don Cheadle at the HBO Workspace, and a comedy called, “Wallflower.” Rhonda Bennett (“A Place To Be Me,” “Young John Henry”) was a former child student with eta whose professional career took off with a contract with Disney Studios as one of “The New Mouseketeers.” She also starred in the TV series, “Home Boys in Outer Space,” was a regular on “The Jamie Foxx Show,” “Living Single,” “Martin;” Ms. Bennett is currently on tour as the lead vocalist in the popular singing group, En Vogue. Mel Jackson (“The Positive Evolution Of Bongo Baker” & “The Black Fairy”) was a regular in our Showfolk (daytime productions for schools) and has now starred in the following films: “Soul Food,” “Deliver Us From Eva,” “Playing With Fire,” “Little Richard;” in addition to appearances in the following TV series: “J.A.G.,” “Living Single,” “The Steve Harvey Show,” “In The House,” “NYPD Blue,” “The Parent ‘Hood,” “The Jamie Foxx Show,” and the NBC mini-series, “The Temptations.” Darius deHaas (“The Black Fairy,” “Mama Ebony”) was a member of eta’s Youth Performance Workshop in the early 80’s, where his stirring rendition of “Africa, My Home” in “The Black Fairy” made all aware of his special musical gifts. Since then, Darius has been making waves on the Broadway stage in shows such as “Rent;” opposite Stephanie Mills in “Children of Eden.” He won an Obie Award for his performance in “The Running Man” in 2000. He was featured on the PBS series, Great Performances, “My Favorite Broadway: The Love Songs.” It is now on VHS, Metropolitan Entertainment, released in 2001. Darius was included in a tribute to New York, a USO-style cabaret show to entertain the United Trade Center troops at ground zero in 2001. Darius has a CD in stores called “Day Dream: Variations on Strayhorn,” a tribute to the music of Duke Ellington’s esteemed collaborator, Billy Strayhorn, on the Image Entertainment label. Avery Kidd Waddell (“Kasimu & the Coconut Palm,” “The Positive Evolution Of Bongo Baker”) came to eta as a teen and studied in our Youth Performance Workshop. After graduating from New York University, he was cast in the action drama “In Too Deep” starring L.L. Cool J., Stanley Tucci and Nia Long. He became a popular “guest artist” in several hit television series, including work in “NYPD Blue,” “Third Watch,” “Oz,” “Law and Order,” “Homicide: Life on The Street,” and an on-going role on “Boston Public.” Other film work includes: “Tempest Eye” and the zany road comedy, “Road Trip.” Carl Seaton and Kenny Young are Co-Founders of GriotFilmworks. After a year in eta’s Adult Drama workshop (after which they decided to start their own company, Actin’ Up Performance Troupe, with Kenny Young serving as Artistic Director), the Columbia College films students decided to write and direct their own film, “One Week” (a popular Chicago independent film that also featured eta veterans: Cynthia Maddox, Charles Michael Moore, Eva D., J. J. McCormick, Jesse Dean Standford and Sharyn Grose). Carl Seaton is in post production on his new film, tentatively-titled, “Sacred.” Mark David Carter (“Young John Henry”) former eta teen student, is now CEO and Director of Fashion Events Planning for Beauty Fashion Affair, specializing in the training and development of fashion models, with focus in the areas of runway, tradeshow and print. Sabrina L. Miller (“The Black Fairy”) a former eta teen who became a feature writer for the Chicago Tribune / Metro, Sabrina is now a member of eta’s Board of Directors and the owner of her own media representation company.