Marishka Phillips on "The Noshing with Nina Show"

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Actor, producer, and drama coach Marishka Phillips joined us in the MNN Studios on West 59th Street in Manhattan for this month’s taping of The Noshing with Nina Show.

Marishka Phillips

A Brooklyn born native New Yorker, Marishka started performing at 8 years old. At age 13, she appeared in a European tour of Raisin and further developed her talents at Alvin Ailey’s School of Dance, the Broadway Dance Center on scholarship, and Fordham University. By the age of 19, she landed a featured role and understudy to the star on Broadway in the musical Uptown: It’s Hot, directed by Maurice Hines. She went on to perform in such musicals as Bubblin’ Brown Sugar, Fame: The Musical, The Wiz and The Me Nobody Knows. While living in Los Angeles, she did character work and was the stand-in actress on the last two seasons of A Different World, the spin-off of The Cosby Show, in which she also appeared. 
Marishka spent 10 years traveling back and forth to Europe, 8 countries in all, performing in various musicals including Tribute to the Blues Brothers, Ludwig: The Musical and Teatro Piazzo. She has had recordings released on Hinterland Records in 2002 and Mole Listening Pearls in 2007, both in Germany.
She has been studying with her mentor Ms. Susan Batson since 2002. Since then, she has been cast as Othello in an all-female cast, and Stage and Screen, directed by Hinton Battle. She starred in the 2006 N.Y. Fringe Festival in Absolute Flight, and earned an AUDELCO nomination for her portrayal of Young Ethel Waters in Woody King’s production of Sweet Mama Stringbean.


Marishka has toured and performed with recording artists Sean “P Diddy” Combs, Latin recording star Christian Castro, and Cece Winans. Most recently Marishka was assistant acting coach along with Susan Batson for Deborah Cox as Josephine Baker. She has also worked with Tasha Smith, Kerry Washington, Nicole Beharie Brown, Bre Skullark, Rafael Sadiiq, Terri Vaughn, Tami Roman, Jeniffer Williams, Daisha Graf,  Nafessa Williams to name a few. Marishka made her film directorial debut with Love Always, Eartha. Now she also serves as Casting Director.

 
Marishka teaching a drama class




Our conversation ran the gamut from tales of working on set for the TV hit show A Different World, to riding in a limo with Bill Cosby, to watching Debbie Allen in action as the show’s director. Allen ultimately inspired Marishka to do what she does. Role-modeling is SO important! Young people need to see successful people who look like themselves. It’s hard to imagine what you’ve never seen.

Sisters: Debbie Allen and Phylicia Rashad

Marishka was also happy to share with us the news of her upcoming projects, including two shortfilms titled Melinda and Girls Night, and a TV series in development called Charlie.

Be on the lookout for the broadcast of The Noshing with Nina Show with Marishka Phillips as our guest in the coming months!

To view the trailer Melinda and Marishka’s appearance on the show, CLICK HERE.
Nina Kennedy is a concert pianist, orchestral conductor, and award-winning filmmaker. She holds a master’s degree from the Juilliard School. Her memoir, "Practicing for Love," is a 2021 Lambda Literary Award Finalist.

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