Toni Seawright

Toni Seawright

Toni Seawright Miss Mississippi 1987
Born Toni Deniece Seawright
June 25, 1964 (1964-06-25) (age 47)
Pascagoula, Mississippi
Occupation Actress
Singer-Songwriter
Years active 1987–present

Toni Deniece Seawright (born June 25, 1964 in Pascagoula, Mississippi) is an international actress and singer-songwriter. Seawright made history as the first African American to become Miss Mississippi and went on to place 4th runner-up in 1987’s Miss America Pageant.[1][2]

Contents

Biography

Seawright attended Mississippi University for Women in Columbus, Mississippi,[1] where she was the first African American to earn a degree in music at Mississippi University for Women, and majored in Vocal Music and Business at that university. Toni became the first African American to hold a recital in vocal music at MUW as well. She went on to compete for Miss W, the local chapter preliminary to the Miss America Pageant and won. This win put her in the position to compete for the state's Miss Mississippi Pageant in 1987.[3] She went on to capture the coveted crown, making history as the very first African American to ever win.[1][3] She was the 4th runner-up in the Miss America Pageant,[2] representing the state of Mississippi in 1987.[1]

Seawright sang background vocals for artists such as Teena Marie, Freddie Jackson, Tony Terry, RuPaul, Shaggy, and Laura Branigan. Seawright has performed in the touring cast of The Wiiz with Stephanie Mills & Andre DeShields, which was directed by George Faison. Ms. Seawright made her Broadway debut in Street Corner Symphony and Delta Rising at 651 Arts Theater. She also starred in the off-Broadway play Josh (The Black Babe Ruth)/Satchel (Requiem for Racism) at the National Federal Theater (Abron Arts Center), Sister Ann in the AUDELCO award winning play, "What Would Jesus Do?" at the Billie Holiday Theater. Seawright most recently appeared starring as Miss Mamie in "The Widow and Miss Mamie" at the Harlem School of the Arts.

Seawright is currently writing and producing material for her two sons, Qaasim & Khalil Middleton. The duo have worked with hit producers Full Force as well as Magick Blyss Entertainment, who's CEO and founder is Kevin Hunte of So You Think You Can Dance. Seawright's former husband is Keith "Wild Child" Middleton of the cast of STOMP. The two had two sons together, Qaasim Middleton and Khalil Middleton.[4][5] Seawright has guest starred twice on the Nickelodeon television series The Naked Brothers Band,[6] which co-stars her real life son, Qaasim Middleton who has made an appearance on HBO's The Music in Me. Seawright's younger son, Khalil Middleton has also starred on Noggin's Jack's Big Music Show.

Filmography

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Black Is Miss Mississippi". The New York Times. July 20, 1987. http://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/20/us/black-is-miss-mississippi.html. 
  2. ^ a b "Miss America 1988 Delegates". Yahoo. Archived from the original on 2009-10-26. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/missusamagicf/MA1988Delegates.html&date=2009-10-26+02:45:20. 
  3. ^ a b Jackson/Winbush, Don (November 16, 1987). "Mississippi Rises Again". TIME. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,965978,00.html. 
  4. ^ Shattuck, Kathryn (October 7, 2006). "Big Sounds, All but Bursting Out of Small Packages". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/07/arts/television/07musi.html. 
  5. ^ "Qaasim Middleton - Pictures, Rumors Qaasim Middleton from The Naked Brothers Band Updated". BuddyTV. http://www.buddytv.com/qaasim-middleton.aspx. 
  6. ^ "The Naked Brothers Band: Everybody's Cried at Least Once". TV.com. http://www.tv.com/everybody-cried-at-least-once/episode/1184949/summary.html?user_rating=0&rating_ref_type=103. 

External links