Mikhaiah

American actress, songwriter and vocalist. As a songwriter, she is also known as "Mikayah". Background and professional training is in acting in theatrical stage, film, television and music performance (vocals, arrangement, songwriting, vocal production). Growing up in the Tri-State area, her interests were honed under The Big Apple and the City of Brotherly Love. She grew up outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She hails from a family of nationally and internationally renowned stage performers and artists. Her immediate family and many extended relatives are musicians, composers, writers and stage performers. Her mother, a jazz vocalist and dancer, also mentored vocalist Rachelle Ferrell and trained under Dr. Donald Byrd, performed with the legendary jazz pianist Billy Taylor and bassist Ron Carter. Her father, a composer, vocalist and music producer has written music, performed and recorded with a number of artists. She first began recording, backing vocals and performing music with her parents in elementary school, while learning audio music sequencing and digital composition from her father. She has recalled being so young she had to stand up on a stool to reach the keyboard sequencers in their home studio.

She began theatrical stage acting and musical performance at the age of 5, when she was cast in her first theatrical production and later worked as a child and teen runway model for various designers such as Italian fashion designer Joan Calabrese, whose designs are featured in children's boutiques, bridal salons, Bergdorf Goodman, and SAKS stores internationally. She placed second in the International Modeling Search of America as a teen. She began studying piano, voice and performing as a classical flutist and piccoloist at age 8 years old. Later, she performed in venues in a small orchestral quartet with her peers and larger scale concerts with their symphony orchestra ensemble. She attributes much of her early musical development and interests to her private teacher and conductor Gregory Eskin. At age 9, she attended her first Broadway show, Black & Blue, performed at the Minskoff Theater's Manhattan stages. During her time in New York with her mother, she met three time Emmy-nominated actress and leading lady of the longest-running drama in television, Guiding Light's Maureen Garrett, whose work she'd greatly admired. After talking with Garrett, she was certain that she wanted to become a professional actress and performer. The meeting was an encouraging, enlightening and pivotal moment, influencing the course of her pursuits from that point forward.

Born and raised in the "informally delineated historical and social region of the east coast", The Main Line, in the well-known Lower Merion area of suburban Philadelphia, she later attended the highly ranking, Harriton High School of Rosemont...the alma mater of many notable alumni such as actor Josh Cooke, (Dexter, I Love You Man), actress Katie Wright (Melrose Place), Emmy-Award Winning writer/producer David Crane (creator of Friends), performer/writer Lou D'Angeli (Cirque du Soleil), Lawrence Summers (former president of Harvard University; former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury), Linda Resnik (CEO of POM Wonderful and Fiji Water) and Bonnie Rosen (Gold Medalist-US National Lacrosse Team), among others. As a youth, she honed her craft on the stages of the prestigious and respected Harriton Theater Co. She eventually relocated to the southeast where she continued studies and experiences. She briefly attended Stephenson High outside of Atlanta, also attended by fellow actor/alum Donald Glover (writer of 30 Rock; creator of FX's series 'Atlanta'), studying drama, Shakespearean verse, Classical theater and performance under the invaluable mentoring of actor/director Kiran Narker, also Director of Theater Arts of Dekalb County Schools. She studied a multi-faceted, post-secondary undergraduate educational concentration of Interdisciplinary Studies in acting, theater arts/stagecraft, communications, film studies, dance performance, vocal music production, classical vocal performance, music performance, and clinical psychology. She attributes a time of exploring a fusion of genres and disciplines in musical theater, electronic, pop, classical and cinematic music, to her unique clash of exposure to operatic vocal instruction, classical training, her familial and household upbringing around jazz, pop, electronic music and audio production.

She has been an advocate and/or artistic contributor supporting advocacy, outreach and awareness related to domestic violence, violence against Native American and minority women, sexual assault, human trafficking, Relay for Life, as well as other causes.

She portrays the supporting role of "Karen" in her latest film, 'Faces of Deceit', highlighting the power of love, loss and violence in communities-the film is set for release in 2018.
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While addressing personal and family illness, I have taken a long sabbatical away from performing and I am now seeking fresh material.

Open to all projects. I am primarily focused on acting for film & television and soundtrack contribution at present. Castings for indie films in addition to feature films are especially more than welcome. Seeking principal and supporting roles only. I have an affinity for unique stories, creative and quality films technically and in content. I enjoy working as an actress in US network television, international network television, feature film, independents, shorts, etc. and I would love to branch overseas, so I am open to international bookings. In addition to acting, I am a songwriter, vocalist/vocal producer and arranger and can assist in music for films and soundtracks. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you are interested in booking, even if you are not local, are out of state, including in the northeast, west coast, in Canada and abroad. Please indicate if your project is SAG/AFTRA affiliated or Non-Union in your correspondence. Contact me for more info, inquiries, resume, etc.