Joaquina Kalukango

Tony Award winner Joaquina Kalukango makes her Center debut in our 2024/25 Cabaret Series with her phenomenal vocals and stellar cabaret performance.  Kalukango, acclaimed for her versatile performances, received the 2022 Tony and Drama Desk Awards for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for her remarkable portrayal of Nelly O’Brien in Paradise Square. Her nightly performance of “Let it Burn” was such a tour-de-force it would literally stop the show for a standing ovation and her live rendition at the Tony Awards will be talked about for years.

Prior to this, she earned a 2020 Tony Award nomination for her standout performance in the critically acclaimed Broadway production of Slave Play, garnering an Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Actress and recognition from Broadway.com as one of the top five performers of the year. Kalukango was also nominated for a 2021 SAG Award for Cast in a Motion Picture for her role as Betty X in Regina King’s directorial debut, One Night in Miami. Her television credits include recurring roles in Lovecraft Country, Ava DuVernay’s When They See Us, and Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia, directed by Kenny Leon. Additional Broadway appearances include The Color Purple, Holler If Ya Hear Me, and Godspell.