Erica Michelle, neé Singleton, doesn’t believe in luck as much as natural, divine order.
For the El Dorado native, there was no greater confirmation of that belief than when she received the news that she had landed a role as one of the featured players in the upcoming BET series, “The Quad.”
Michelle worried that she had flubbed her audition for the role of Ebony Weaver, an incoming freshman at the fictional Georgia A&M University, who is a member of the Mighty Marching Mountain Cats Band from the fictional Georgia A&M University.
A series of mishaps and miscues made Michelle think that she would be passed over for the part.
During her first in-person audition in New Orleans, she arrived dressed to the nines but quickly learned it was not the right look for Ebony, a member of Georgia A&M’s Mighty Marching Mountain Cats Band.
“The director told me that I looked beautiful. Then he told me, ‘I need you to take that makeup off and pull your hair back into a ponytail',” Michelle recalled.
She hurried off to the bathroom and returned minutes later, rocking a freshly tied ponytail, without makeup — or shoes, a character choice she improvised on her own.
“I was wearing heels, and I thought that looked too mature because the character wouldn’t wear heels,” she said.
She described Ebony as a young adult who marches to her own beat — no pun intended.
“She’s from down south, and she’s confident. She’s not the typical, all-American girl, but she’s the girl you want to be best friends with,” Michelle explained.
Upon reading a breakdown of the script, Michelle said she instantly connected to those character traits, and like her character, Michelle attended an Historically Black College University (HBCU) — Jackson (Mississippi) State University.
“Ebony Weaver is Erica Michelle,” she laughed.
Three pages into nearly a dozen pages of dialogue, the director had seen enough, saying simply that Michelle’s performance was “good.”
Next, she was invited to Atlanta to meet with producers of “The Quad,” but she missed her flight due to a scheduling mix-up by the airline.
She and her team quickly arranged for an audition tape to be sent in, but afterward, Michelle thought it was a wrap — again, no pun intended — on her chances for the part.
Michelle still looked the part of Ebony when she sat down for lunch a short time later with the pastor and first lady of her church back home in El Dorado — the Rev. Donnell and Sheila Hegler, of Douglas Chapel Missionary Baptist Church — who were visiting New Orleans.
“I was dressed like a 17-year-old, and I told them to excuse me. They said the part must be meant for me, then,” she said.
They were right.
Michelle would soon receive the call that she would portray Ebony Weaver in “The Quad.”
“It was all God. God ordained that whole thing. I had nothing to do with it,” she exclaimed.
The show
Premiering at 9 p.m. (Central Standard Time) on Jan. 31, “The Quad” will take a multi-dimensional look at life on the campus of a HBCU.
Set at Georgia A&M, the series will explore the day-to-day struggles and triumphs experienced by students, faculty and administrators and the dynamics between academics and two of the top extracurricular activities for many HBCUs — the football team and the marching band.
Originally called “The Yard,” Michelle explained that the name of the show was changed because some members of its creative/production team were also behind the 2007 hit movie, “Stomp the Yard,” and the team did not want to confuse audiences by affiliating the show with the movie.
And while many HBCU students and alum refer to their college campuses as “The Yard,” Michelle, herself an HBCU graduate, said “The Quad” is just as relatable.
Plus, the new title tested well among focus groups, she said.
“At a lot of colleges, the hangout is the quad. It’s that common ground. It’s where everybody hangs out together, the people you become lifelong friends with, your boyfriend, the people you join organizations with,” Michelle said.
The show — which will start out as a two-hour movie, followed by weekly episodes — is already drawing comparisons to the hit NBC sitcom “A Different World,” Michelle said.
The Cosby Show spin-off aired from 1987 - 1993 and introduced mainstream audiences to the diverse personalities that populated the fictitious HBCU Hillman College.
In fact, a familiar face from A Different World will be featured in The Quad cast.
For the six-season run of ADW, Jasmine Guy embodied the role of Whitley Gilbert-Wayne, turning Whitley into one of the most memorable sitcom characters in television history.
The veteran actress also starred in the classic Spike Lee film, “School Daze,” which was set on the campus of another fictional HBCU, Mission College.
Michelle said the cast and creators of “The Quad” are acutely aware that there will be collations to ADW, and they are proud to be the torchbearers to bring the culture and spirit of HBCUs back to the television landscape.
Like A Different World, Michelle said “The Quad” will not shy away from complex topical issues.
ADW built episodes around date rape, colorism within the black community, domestic abuse, HIV/AIDS, racism and much more.
Of course, storylines for the “The Quad” will be modernized for a 21st century TV audience and 21st century challenges, many of which are no different than those into which HBCUs were born.
The show will delve into the back-biting and political push-and-pull that sometimes crops up among the administrative factions of colleges and universities in real life.
“The Quad” revolves around Dr. Eva Fletcher, the newly appointed president of GAMU.
Fletcher is tasked with saving the leading HBCU from bankruptcy and her 20-year marriage from crumbling while managing a tumultuous relationship with her rebellious daughter, according to a synopsis from BET.
She also finds herself at odds with other administrators and faculty, including Cecil Diamond, the ornery and obstinate director of the GAMU marching band.
Another storyline will tackle hazing within the band, Michelle revealed.
The practice has infiltrated many teams, clubs, fraternities, sororities and other groups, including HBCU bands, over the years. It has been embraced by some and excoriated by many.
One incident made national headlines in 2010 when Robert Champion, a 24-year-old drum major at Florida A&M University, died as a result of a hazing ritual.
While not part of the marching band in school, Michelle said she was familiar with many of the traditions, rituals, and yes, scandals of HBCU bands, having shared space with the Sonic Boom of the South, Jackson State’s marching Tigers
“Being in an HBCU band is not much different from pledging a fraternity or sorority. They’re two different organizations with the same mantra. They break you down and then build you back up into whatever they want you to be,” Michelle said.
Of her character, Ebony, a saxophonist, she said, “She makes it into the band as a freshman, and that is huge.”
One of the show’s lead characters, Bo John Folsom is also dealing with a certain theme that may be more common than some people think. He is a white quarterback playing on an HBCU football team.
“So there will be racial issues. Plus, his parents want him to play at a Division - 1 school,” Michelle said.
In addition to Guy, Michelle is working alongside some other heavy hitters in the entertainment industry.
Tony-award winning actors Anika Noni Rose and Ruben Santiago-Hudson play Fletcher and Diamond, respectively.
Rose starred in the 2006 film adaptation of “Dream Girls,” with Beyoncé and Jennifer Hudson, who won an Oscar for her star turn as Effie White. Rose also voiced Tiana, the lead character in the 2009 animated Disney film, “The Princess and the Frog.”
Santiago-Hudson, who splits his time between acting, directing and writing plays, wrote “Lackawanna Blues,” an autobiographical screenplay that was refitted for the small screen in 2005.
The critically acclaimed HBO movie snagged an Emmy Award for its lead actress, S. Epatha Merkerson,
Santiago-Hudson has appeared in dozens of TV shows, including installments of the Law and Order franchise. He also starred in the 2007 film “American Gangster” with Denzel Washington and “Selma,” which was released in 2014.
Hollywood, here I come
For Michelle, being surrounded by such immense talent on the set of “The Quad” has given her another education.
She has had the chance to see firsthand Guy’s evolution as an actress, noting that many fans still cannot look past the iconic ADW character.
“I’ve learned more from Anika on a personal level outside the show. She’s been in this industry for a long time. She’s very sure of herself,” Michelle said.
A piece of advice she recently received from Rose has prompted her, in part, to take the next step to advance her acting career.
Michelle said she is planning to relocate from New Orleans to Hollywood, the entertainment Mecca of the world.
It will actually be a return for Michelle, who originally moved there in 2006 when she was not much older than the character she plays on “The Quad.”
She had hopes then of jump-starting her career, but things did not work out. She stumbled — hard — falling into petty crimes that led to stints in jail — all experiences about which she has been open.
Michelle had also flunked out of Jackson State, but she returned at the age of 23 as a nontraditional student who worked her way through the four-year curriculum of the theater program in less than two years.
She graduated Magna Cum Laude in the spring of 2012, having been honored with an Academic Achievement Award for maintaining the highest GPA.
Singleton was also the first theater student in the history of Jackson State to be selected as Grand Marshal for the College of Liberal Arts. She led her entire graduating class onto the field during commencement exercises.
Now, she is hoping to repeat that success in Hollywood.
The plusses she has achieved after a decade in the entertainment industry will certainly help to propel her along.
Michelle has appeared in “American Horror Story: Coven,” “The Last Exorcism Part II,” and “NCIS: New Orleans.”
Also a casting director and tv/film creator, Michelle founded her own entertainment company, EMpire On 86.
She admitted that she had been reticent about moving back to Los Angeles, but this time, she’s ready to follow her bliss.
“It’s time to stop making pit stops. It’s time to elevate myself. I know I’m ready,” she shared. “I don’t use many quotes, but I will say there’s one thing my dad used to always tell me: ‘If it’s meant for you, it will find you. You can be a rose in concrete anywhere,’” she shared.
Divine order, indeed.