About me
A'rese Emokpae ’10 first discovered her love for musical theater and dance at W&L. She graduated with a major in studio art, specializing in printmaking, and a dance minor. After starring as Velma Kelly in W&L’s sold-out production of hit Broadway musical Chicago, she decided to pursue a career in the performing arts. Upon graduation, A’rese auditioned for and became a member of the Black Ensemble Theatre in Chicago, IL . Some of her most notable roles were as The Fairy Godmama in The Other Cinderella, Mya in One Name Only and Mary Wells in The Marvin Gaye Story. She also performed in She Kills Monsters and Once Upon a People for Buzz22 Chicago at Steppenwolf. After working successfully there for three years, she moved back to Lagos, Nigeria to further pursue her acting career. There, she starred in BAP Productions’ Saro: The Musical as Rume and later as Kike Johnson in Wakaa: The Musical. In 2016, A’rese auditioned for the inaugural season of The Voice Nigeria. She made it to the televised "blind audition" stage where she sang Skyfall turning three of the coaches' chairs. In the grand finale, she won the contest singing, Hallelujah. Following her win, she was signed to Universal Music Group with whom she released her first single Uwe No. In 2017, she landed leading televisions roles as Bisola in Tinsel and Senami Minasu in Jemeji, both Africa Magic series. She then went on to another lead role as Marion in an Ebonylife TV series called MMM. In her current career as an audiobook narrator, she channels every skill that she has accumulated in her years as a performer into an immersive listening experience. When she’s not having the time of her life performing in her home recording studio, she’s making noise in other ways: most frequently, singing karaoke and dancing around in the kitchen while baking up a storm!
