A star on every stage
Actress, model, singer: Anita Grant does it all
Catherine Copeland | 3:54 pm
Published: March 11th, 2009
Actress, model and singer,
Anita Grant. Photo: Rishi Ragoonath
Catherine Copeland | 3:54 pm
If there is anyone who can claim to have made full use of their talents it would be Anita Grant. This talented Trinidadian daughter has gone the whole nine miles, experiencing Hollywood as an actor, singer, model and story teller.
After almost four decades in the United States where she left her footprints on the big screen, theatre and television, Grant is back home at Vistabella, South Trinidad. While Hollywood may still beckon, Grant has intentions of resettling here and sharing her wealth of experience with the local community. In an interview last week, Grant spoke of her love for music, which she attributed to her father, a guitarist, and her early venture as a vocalist.
As a teenager, she recalled that a soloist failed to turn up for a Christmas programme in her church. “I volunteered to sing the song O Holy Night and from there I realised I loved to perform.” At age 17 Grant got involved with the local leg of an international evangelical group Youth for Christ, which presented the opportunity for her to not only continue her singing, but acting as well. The streets became her stage, she said, remembering many sessions on the streets of Fyzabad, Point Fortin and San Fernando.
From the streets she graduated to performing at the Naparima Bowl, San Fernando to Queens Hall and Town Hall (now City Hall) in Port-of-Spain. Bitten by the acting bug Grant had a dream to make acting her career. So in 1971 she plunged into unknown territory, leaving behind childhood fantasy and ventured into the USA in search of her dream. Shocked by the big city culture, after living a very sheltered life, Grant faced many challenges, especially as a young black, Christian woman, who also refused to do drugs.
After settling in New York, Grant joined the Convent Avenue Theatre and was able to land the role of Sister Margarita in the Sound of Music, as well as a character named Diva in The Circle of Life. She later joined the Actors Mobile Theatre and trained under the renowned Bret Warren. Under his tutelage she was cast in the role of Martha in the classic Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf.
Not content with acting, Grant also wanted to savor the experience of being a runway model. In 1973 she became affiliated with Barbizon modelling agency but left after a short stint when her colour became an issue. A similar experience also caused her to retreat from the Ophelia De Voire agency, which she joined in 1974. “Ophelia De Voire was supposed to be for black girls like me, but even so I was darker than the rest of the models so the modelling jobs were few. So I just modelled for upcoming designers looking to showcase their clothes,” she said.
She, however, rejoined Barbizon as a mature model some 20 years later and, in 1994, also became a mature model for Noel Brogan and Silver Fox agencies. The enterprising Grant also became a chorus member with the St Cecelia’s Choir which took her to Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Centre in New York. She also sang with Ebony Ecumenical Ensemble as a gospel soloist, St Mark’s United Methodist as a classical soloist and as a jazz singer with the Jazz Club from New York. To date she has recorded two songs, a jazz number called A Day in the Life of a Fool and gospel classic When You Walk Through the Storm.
In between the stage, Grant also used the opportunity to educate herself so she could have “something to fall back on.” In 1973 she received a diploma in General Education. Six years later, in 1979, she graduated from the Marketing Training Institute with a diploma in Office Management. Holding fast to the adage that you’re never to old to learn, between 1996-2001 she continued her educational pursuits, graduating in Public Relations and Marketing with the New School of Social Research. She also enjoyed a stint with the Edwin Gould Services for Children, which brought to the fore her story telling skills.
She also narrated and recorded the Evolution of the Steeldrum at the Montclair Public Library in New Jersey. The mother of “a wonderful son named Kevin, age 22,” Grant said, “I am unfortunately separated from his father. However Kevin is doing extremely well, he is currently studying psychology and linguistics at the University of Cologne in Germany.” Since coming back to Trinidad in 2007 Grant has starred in two local programmes—The Pearl Grayson Story and Generation Gap.
In October, 2008, she also graced the local stage as a runway model for Donna Mae Baptiste in the Coloured Souls fashion show. She has also beeb booked by designer Claudia Pegus for Caribbean Fashion Week in May. Last year, she returned to the USA to be an extra in three episodes of the television series Law and Order, as well as, an extra in the series Kings and Fringe. “Sometimes my friends and manager from the States ask me why I would come back here. I think Trinidad is awesome and I am not looking to be a major star, I want to be comfortable.
“I want to give back to Trinidad. I want to teach drama and singing and story telling. I also want to teach young people how to walk, sit, enter a room. I want them to be finished and be able to present themselves properly as they pursue their own dreams
