Writer, Director, Acting Coach, Producer
Cheryl King
Cheryl King
Writer, Director, Acting Coach, Producer
Cheryl’s Story
Multi-hyphenate theatrical entrepreneur and dedicated acting coach
Winner of Lower Manhattan Cultural Council grants in NYC, for her Gender Project in 2015, Cheryl was recognized in the NY Times as “the matriarch of Off-Off B’way Solo Theater.”
Cheryl was named a “Person of the Year” by nytheatre.com
Cheryl served for ten years as artistic director/curator for Sola Voce – the Solo Show portion of the Estrogenius Festival, produced by Manhattan Theatre Source. In 2010, she was honored by Manhattan Theatre Source for Extraordinary Volunteer Service, 2000-2010 for her work as the curator.
Dubbed “the matriarch of the Off-off Broadway solo show scene” (NYT), Cheryl created two benefit festivals to showcase solo shows and small cast plays. All performances were held at Stage Left Studio.
She first began writing for herself as a mime, in 1979. In 1982 she wrote her first standup comedy routine, and within two months had embarked on her career as a touring comic. She worked in most of the US for the following 13 years – first as an opening act, moving quickly to middle act and for her last five years as a headliner. She moved to NYC in 1989, and wrote her first solo show, “not a nice girl” in 1996. “not a nice girl” was produced in LA, NYC, Chicago and Ft. Collins, CO. She studied acting with Carol Fox Prescott (NYC) and Rod Menzies (LA), playwriting with Jeffrey Sweet (NYC) and improvisation with Gary Austin (NYC) and Michael Gellman (Second City).
She began teaching writing workshops in 1999, both in NYC and in Los Angeles, traveling to LA from her NYC base every six weeks to teach multiple workshops. In NYC, she taught a weekly writing workshop, which generated several plays, including Michelle Ramoni’s June and Nancy, and Margaret Morrison’s Home in Her Heart, which Cheryl also directed.
Cheryl created the long-running series Forbidden Kiss LIVE which played monthly at Stage Left Studio, and for which she regularly wrote sketches for herself and other cast members. She has directed over 60 plays and solo shows, including those of award-winning playwright/performers Joe Hutcheson and Frank Blocker.
She closed her NYC theater in 2015, and embarked on her “Love and Work Tour”, traveling around the US for three years, visiting friends and directing shows, visiting national parks, designing websites, and gardening. In 2016, she directed Good People, at Bas Bleu Theatre in Ft. Collins, CO.
In 2016, she directed and performed in The Real Machiavelli, by Monica Bauer, at the 13th Street Repertory Theater in NYC. In 2018, she performed in and directed Boeing Boeing, also at Bas Bleu, in Ft. Collins, and another production of The Real Machiavelli, this time in Tucson, AZ. She continued teaching her Writing Your Heart Out workshop online.
She’s now a Producing Director and marketing coordinator at The California Theater in Santa Rosa, CA. She also teaches improvisation at Artaluma in Petaluma, CA; a weekly writing workshop on Zoom, and a drop-in acting class in Santa Rosa.
“Cheryl King is fantastic! I can’t recommend her more highly. I have worked with her as an inspired writing teacher, acting coach, dramaturge, director, and producer. She’s skilled and intuitive, gentle and direct—and fearless. She’s the steady engine that moves your project forward, keeps it on track, and brings it safely and triumphantly into the station.”
“I’ve known Cheryl King for nearly 20 years. In all that time, she has proven herself to be a champion of the unsung artist. Her work with burgeoning talent, as well as her dedication to new works by established artists, sets her apart in theatre. I’ve seen Cheryl King nurture, encourage, and focus artists at all stages of development. A Renaissance woman, Cheryl can, at each step of the artistic journey, offer expertise or point toward those with expertise beyond her own.”
“Cheryl is an incredible director/acting coach. She is able to pull a performance out of you that you never even knew was in you. I had the pleasure of being directed by her and sharing the stage and it was an amazing theatrical experience. She is able to identify what you need to improve your performance and then give you exactly what you need to get out of you and onto the stage!”
Director Credits
Cyndi Freeman – Inside Cherry Pitz
Beth Bongar – Jews Don’t Join the Circus
Anne Wally – Blue Car
River Huston – Sex, Cellulite and Large Farm Equipment
Cheryl Smallman – Dreamless
Susan Rankus – Renaissance
Theresa Gambacorta – Breaking the Glass, The Vegas Project
Marlene Nichols – No Change Given
Joe Hutcheson – Miss Magnolia Beaumont Goes to Provincetown, Geography of a Nervous Breakdown, Son of a Hutch
Frank Blocker – Southern Gothic Novel, Stabilized Not Controlled
Taren Sterry – 180 Days
Karen Thibodeau – I Do, I Do, in Delhi
Margaret Morrison – Home in Her Heart, The Loves of Miss Jimmie LeRoy
Karen Sklaire – Drama at the Point
Erica Herd – Alzheimer’s Blues
William LoCasto plays – 4:01, TEST
TEST
Podcasters
The Adventures of Naughty Nurse Elza
Expiration Date, by Rose-Marie Brandwein
Human Earrings, a play by Cheryl King
Dead Weight, by Christine Rosensteel
JayZ&Me: A (Fast) Talking Memoir, by Brenda Cullerton
Good People, at Bas Bleu, Ft. Collins, CA
Boeing Boeing, at Bas Bleu, Ft. Collins, CA
The Real Machiavelli, 13th Street Repertory, NYC, Roadrunner Theatre, Tucson, AZ
Education
Studied Mime with Tim Settimi, Eddy Cole and Great American Mime Experiment – Atlanta, GA
Studied Acting with Actor’s Studio, NYC; Carol Fox Prescott, NYC; Rod Menzies, LA
Studied Improvisation with Gary Austin (Groundlings), LA; Michael Gellman, (Second City) NYC
Studied Playwriting with Jeffrey Sweet, NYC
Studied Clowning with Hilary Chaplain,NYC; Kenny Raskin, Boston
Résumé
CHERYL KING – ACTOR/COMEDIAN/DIRECTOR/WRITER/PRODUCER
1070 Helman Lane, Cotati, CA 94931 – 917-570-1042 cking3@gmail.com
THEATER/PERFORMANCE ART 2011 – 2019
2019 Solo show Grapefruit by Sally Lambert – Bonita Springs Center for the Arts, Bonita Springs, FL
2018 Marietta Machiavelli – The Real Machiavelli – Roadrunner Theater, Tucson, AZ
2017 Berthe – Boeing Boeing – Bas Bleu Theater, Ft. Collins, CO
2016 Marietta Machiavelli – The Real Machiavelli – 13th Street Repertory Theater, NYC
2016 Emcee and director/company member – Forbidden Kiss LIVE – 13th Street Repertory, NYC
2016 Solo show Grapefruit by Sally Lambert – Tucson Solo Show Festival, Tucson, AZ
2016 Mother – Getting Away with Mother – Stage Left Studio – NYC
2016 Margarita – Margarita and Max – Stage Left Studio – NYC
2014- 2016 Portia/Jessica – Shylock (adaptation of The Merchant of Venice) Stage Left Studio – NYC
2014-2016 Director/Writer/Multiple roles – Gender Project – 13th Street Rep, Stage Left Studio, NYC
2011 – 2016 Solo Show Grapefruit by Sally Lambert – Stage Left Studio, NYC
(Performances between 1978-2011 available upon request)
TELEVISION APPEARANCES
2004 ABC’s 20/20;Good Morning America Drama Coach on TLC’s Faking It; Oprah!
STUDENT FILMS
2002 Student Films New York Film Academy, Lead Roles in Midnight Feast, by Murray Williams and Last of its Kind, by Amanda Raine
TEACHING EXPERIENCE 1981 – 2008
Mime – City Center Dance Theater, Atlanta, GA: Backstage Performing Arts, Atlanta, GA; Emory University, Atlanta, GA, Henrico Co. Schools, Fairfax, VA
Comedy – Private coaching & Funny Women Fest 2000,2001, 2002 Chicago, workshops in NYC and LA; Comedy Forum, Odense, Denmark
Solo Show & Playwriting – Writing Your Heart Out, The Solo Show Workshops and private coaching
Acting/Movement – The Body Language Workshop, NYC, LA, Ft. Collins, CO., Chicago, Nashville. Back-up for Carol Fox Prescott Acting Classes in the Basement Space.
Resident Acting Coach – ABC Daytime Drama “All My Children March 2007 to 2010
Workshop Facilitator – Bailey House, NYC – Transgender Project Workshop
PRODUCING
2000-2001 Santa Fe Project, weeklong acting/writing/performance retreat, Santa Fe, NM
2000-2002 Funny Women Fest, Chicago, IL
2002-2003 East Coast Funny Women Fest, NYC
2003-2005 Co-producer NY Solo Play Lab, NYC
2005-present Director and Producer – Stage Left Studio and Cheryl King Productions, producing up to 200 small productions per year
2008 – 2015 Annual Left Out Festival – LGBTQ plays
2008-2015 Annual Women at Work Festival, works by women
Cheryl won a Lower Manhattan Cultural Council grant for her Gender Project in 2014, resulting in a performance in NYC in April 2015.
DIRECTING
Cheryl has been directing since 1999. In that time she has directed over 60 solo shows and full-length plays, as well as variety shows and cabaret performances. A few highlights from that time include:
NYC Drama Desk nomination for directing Frank Blocker’s solo show Southern Gothic Novel
NYC Drama Desk nomination for producing Tom Gualtieri’s solo show That Play
In 2015 she directed multiple productions in her NYC theater, Stage Left Studio. In March 2016 she directed (and performed in) The Real Machiavelli at 13th Street Repertory Theater in NYC.
In May 2016 she directed David Lindsay Abaire’s Good People at Bas Bleu Theater in Ft. Collins, CO.
In June 2017 she directed Boeing Boeing at Bas Bleu Theater in Ft. Collins, CO.
In September 2018 she directed The Real Machiavelli at Roadrunner Theater in Tucson, AZ