From Deena Jones to Dorothy

Author: Photo courtesy of Fiddlehead Theatre Company(left to right) Damien Norfleet as Lion, Quiana Holmes as Dorothy, Carl-Michael Ogle as Scarecrow and Justin Raymond Reeves as Tin Man in the Fiddlehead Theatre Company production of The Wiz.

One of four siblings raised in a musical family in Rome, N.Y., Quiana Holmes always knew she wanted to perform.

“I actually started acting in the church where my mom plays,” says the actor, speaking by phone with the Banner earlier this week.

Currently starring as Dorothy in Fiddlehead Theatre Company’s production of The Wiz, the Berklee College of Music student almost missed the opportunity to be in the show. She found out about the audition for The Wiz at the last minute from a friend who was auditioning.

“I sent in my resume and my headshot and I was like, ‘I’m just going to go for it,’” she says. “I was actually preparing that summer for my proficiency exam for Berklee. I [thought], ‘Wow, this is a great way to go out there and do it.’ I had been wanting to look in Boston for musical theater gigs.”

From singing in the gospel choir to acting in middle school and in high school, Holmes pursued her dream. In her hometown, she acted in the musicals Jesus Christ Superstar and Rent, as the characters Judas and Mimi. In addition to acting and singing, the Music Education major has been playing the piano for 10 years and also plays violin and percussion. As part of her major, she’s also learning different instruments each semester and is currently learning how to play the guitar.

Attending the nationally-renowned music school has created opportunities for the budding actress.

“I chose Berklee because I didn’t want to give up my jazz side,” she says. “I felt like other schools just wanted me to do classical and here I saw they did musical theater, they did classical, jazz and everything. That’s why I chose to come here. It’s right near The Boston Conservatory and they do musical theater. I thought it was a nice way to branch out and meet a lot of people in the musical theater scene in Boston.”

Dreamgirl debut

In October 2014, she made her Boston musical theater debut as Deena Jones in Berklee’s production of Dreamgirls.

“It was a very exciting experience, and it was really cool to work with students and trading ideas for the show.”

Landing the Dreamgirls role only helped to reinforce her passion for performing, especially after she had taken a year off from acting.

“I definitely missed it. I felt I needed a certain part of me,” she says. “So, auditioning for Dreamgirls was really big for me. I was really, really excited to go out there and show that side of me. I didn’t know that I was a musical theater person. I was always in gospel choir. I loved that, but I love musical theater and it’s really what I want to do. And so [Dreamgirls] spurred that love. I thought, ‘I have to do more of this.’ What better way than finding Fiddlehead and branching out to a bigger Boston audience?”

At the opening night of The Wiz last Friday, Meg Fofonoff (the producing artistic director) announced that Fiddlehead has two great productions coming in the 2015/2016 season: West Side Story and Rent.

When asked if she would be auditioning for either one, Holmes’ response was, “Gosh, you know it. I’m so excited for these shows.”