We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dana Scurlock a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Dana, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
In early 2021 I got to act in a show that I’d seen in NYC before and had admired for so long. It’s called “By the Way, Meet Vera Stark” written by the great Lynn Nottage – one of the few black female playwrights out there being produced regularly and consistently.
The gig was in Colorado Springs, a warm and friendly town, but unfortunately not one known for a particularly diverse theatre scene. This production had a mostly black cast and was being directed by a black woman.
Although the Springs’ mostly white audiences weren’t customarily asked to confront issues like systemic racism and white supremacy, this show challenged their expectations and required their further self-reflection. This is what makes art so vital to me. You can shift minds and hearts with theatre. You can, with some well placed words, compelling characters, and a meaningful examination of a cis black woman’s struggle to exist at the crossroads of racism and sexism, affect change.
Dana, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I got the acting bug fairly late – around junior year of high school. I had a teacher who needed more students for the upcoming school musical and begged me to audition since he’d heard I was in choir and loved to sing. I’ve been hooked since playing Rosalia in West Side Story all those years ago.
I’m based in NYC and have been since 2006. I love it. It’s the most exciting city in the world and after all these years I still wake up some days, go out, and see things that shock me.
I act and sing in plays and musicals & have always been interested in television & film. NYC has become as competitive as LA for TV these days as more and more shows film here. I’m waiting on my dream of getting to play a hard nosed detective one of these days!
Voiceover work is another huge part of my life. I’ve done over a dozen national commercial campaigns at this point and tons more regional and online ads. My favorite though is providing life to cartoon characters. It’s one of the most fun creative processes to channel the nuance you work to create in your character solely through a vocal performance. I strive for variety and sincerity with my takes.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
What’s interesting is I’ve never been able to pinpoint what it is that compels me to create. It’s not something that I made a conscious decision about…it’s more like the seed was planted and ever since the tree has grown and created branches all on its own. It looks a little different every year…some parts die off, while others grow in directions I wasn’t expecting.
Beyond my personal expression though, my desire most of all is to allow other women, and particularly other black women, to see a facet of themselves in the characters I play. And not just a silhouette, outline or caricature…but a 3 dimensional, complex representation of all that we are and can be.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
If you don’t pursue a career in the arts yourself, the things we put ourselves through as actors can look insane from the outside in. Working for less than minimum wage, teching a musical in heels for 10 hours, living out of suitcase at the drop of hat if the phone rings, etc. But it’s a testament to the compulsion that so many of us feel. Nothing seems to stifle that need to create and be close to creation.
There’s definitely something encouraging happening in the entertainment industry. We are questioning the paradigms that we’ve all been groomed to accept as just the reality of show business. AKA – be grateful to be able to act under any circumstances, don’t ask for more money, and never be “difficult.” Many of us are rejecting that outright. Our work as storytellers is of value. Monetary value (and lots of it!) at that. And we deserve to live comfortably and thrive even in such an unpredictable industry.
Contact Info:
- Website: danascurlock.com
- Instagram: @scurlockholmes1
- Facebook: Dana Scurlock
- Twitter: @scurlockholmes1