Mekhi Phider makes his Broadway debut this season in Stick Fly. Born and raised in New York, Phifer’s acting career began when he was selected for the leading role in director Spike Lee’s Clockers. He can currently be seen in Starz new series “Torchwood: Miracle Day” as Rex Matheson.

His additional film credits include Flypaper; Last Man Standing; Puff, Puff, Pass (directorial debut and featured role); Dawn of the Dead; 8 Mile; Paid in Full; O; I Still Know What You Did Last Summer; Soul Food; Hell’s Kitchen, NYC; Tears of a Clown; An Invited Guest; and The Imposter.  In June of 2002, he was honored by the American Black Film Festival, receiving the organization’s “Rising Star” award. Mekhi is most recognizable for his role as Dr. Gregory Pratt on ER, for which he received NAACP Image Awards in 2004 & 2005. His other TV credits include Fox’s “Lie To Me, MTV’s Carmen: A Hip-Hopera, the HBO Original Movie A Lesson Before Dying (NAACP Image Award nomination), the ABC television special Brian’s Song and the HBO Original Film The Tuskegee Airmen. Mr. Phifer has also made guest appearances on the popular police dramas “Homicide: Life on the Street” and “New York Undercover.”

Born December 11, 1973, Mos is an American actor and MC known by the stage name Mos Def. Mos Def grew up during the golden age of hip-hop and has rapped and acted since he was six. He attended Philippa Schuyler Middle School in Bushwick, Brooklyn. He majored in Musical Theater at Talent Unlimited High School of the Performing Arts in Manhattan. He studied at New York University in the Gallatin School of Individualized Study. Mos Def started his hip hop career in 1994 with a group called Urban Thermo Dynamics, after which he appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. With Talib Kweli, he formed the duo Black Star, who released the album Black Star in 1998. He was a major force in the late 1990s underground hip hop explosion spearheaded by Rawkus Records. As a solo artist he has released the albums Black on Both Sides in 1999, The New Danger in 2004, True Magic in 2006, and The Ecstatic in 2009.

Mos Def has also been active in several social and political issues and was particularly vocal in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Mos Def has been a contributor to the recovery of the oil spill in the Gulf, performing concerts and raising money towards the repair of the damages. In June 2010, he recorded a cover of the classic New Orleans song originally by Smokey Johnson, “It Ain’t My Fault” with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Lenny Kravitz and Trombone Shorty.

Initially recognized for his musical output, since the early 2000s, Mos Def’s screen work has established him as one of only a handful of rappers who have garnered critical approval for their acting work. He began his professional acting career at the age of fourteen. His most notable acting role before his music career was that of Bill Cosby’s sidekick on the short-lived detective show, The Cosby Mysteries. In 1997 he had a small role alongside Michael Jackson in his short film and music video “Ghosts”. After brief appearances in Bamboozled and Monster’s Ball, Mos re-invigorated his acting career with his performance as a talented rapper who is reluctant to sign to a major label in Brown Sugar. He was nominated for an Image Award and a Teen Choice Award. In 2001, he took a supporting role to Beyoncé Knowles and Mehki Phifer in the MTV movie Carmen: A Hip Hopera as Lt. Miller, a crooked cop.In 2002, he played the role of Booth in Suzan-Lori Parks’

Topdog/Underdog, a Tony-nominated and Pulitzer-winning Broadway play. He and co-star Jeffrey Wright won a Special Award from the Outer Critics Circle Award for their joint performance. He also received positive notices as the quirky Left Ear in the blockbuster hit, The Italian Job in 2003. In television, Mos Def has appeared on Comedy Central’s Chappelle’s Show, and has hosted the award-winning HBO spoken word show, Def Poetry since its inception. Mos Def won Best Actor, Independent Movie at the 2005 Black Reel Awards for his portrayal of Detective Sgt. Lucas in The Woodsman. For his portrayal of Vivien Thomas in HBO’s film Something the Lord Made, he was nominated for an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe, and won the Image Award. He also played a bandleader in HBO’s Lackawanna Blues. He then landed the role of Ford Prefect in the 2005 movie adaptation of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Mos Def starred in the action film 16 Blocks alongside Bruce Willis and David Morse. He has a recurring guest role on Boondocks, starring as “Gangstalicious”. He made a cameo appearance — playing himself — in the movie Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.

In 2008, Mos Def starred in the Michel Gondry movie Be Kind Rewind, playing a video rental store employee whose best friend is played by co-star Jack Black. He also portrayed Chuck Berry in the film Cadillac Records, for which he was nominated for a Black Reel Award and an Image Award.

In 2009, he appeared in the House episode entitled “Locked In” as a patient suffering from locked-in syndrome. His performance was well-received, with E! saying that Mos Def “delivers an Emmy-worthy performance.” He was also in the 2009 film Next Day Air.

He also made an appearance on the children’s show Yo Gabba Gabba! as Super Mr. Superhero.

Most recently, he appears in A Free Man of Color, John Guare’s play at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre.

Denzel Hayes Washington, Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor, screenwriter, director and film producer. He has garnered much critical acclaim for his work in film since the 1990s. Washington has been awarded three Golden Globe awards and two Academy Awards for his work. He is notable as the second African American man (after Sidney Poitier) to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, which he received for his role in the 2001 film Training Day. Denzel Washington is currently starring in an adaptation of August Wilson’s Fences on Broadway.

Washington’s impressive career in motion pictures began in 1981 with his role as Roger Porter in Carbon Copy. His last movie to date is Book of Eli where he starred as the main character Eli. Over the past 29 years, some of his most notable performances were in Mighty Quinn, Glory, Mo’Betta Blues, Malcolm X, The Pelican Brief, Courage Under Fire, The Preacher’s Wife, The Hurricane, The Bone Collector, Remember the Titans, Training Day, John Q, Antwone Fisher, Man on Fire, The Manchurian Candidate, Inside Man, American Gangster, The Great Debators and The Taking of Pelham 123.

Actress. Born Phylicia Ayers-Allen on June 19, 1948 in Houston, Texas. The daughter of a dentist and graduate of Howard University, Rashad made her television debut in 1978’s The Wiz. She is best known to American audiences for her portrayal of mother and attorney Clair Huxtable on the seminal ‘80s hit The Cosby Show. She stayed with the sitcom for its eight-year run from 1984 to 1992.

Rashad continued to appear on television throughout the 1990s, often in made-for-TV movies that ranged from ill-conceived thrillers like The Babysitter’s Seduction to more dramatic fare that ran close to Rashad’s heart, including Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Once Upon a Time…When We Were Colored.

Rashad has performed in numerous Broadway and Off-Broadway shows throughout her career, including Jelly’s Last Jam and Dreamgirls. In 2003, she won a Tony Award for her portrayal of Lena Younger in A Raisin in the Sun, becoming the first black woman to win the coveted honor for a dramatic lead role.

Rashad’s sister is choreographer and actress Debbie Allen. She was married to Village People member Victor Willis in 1975 and to Minnesota Viking and sports announcer Ahmad Rashad from 1985 to 2001.

Actor and comedian John Leguizama was born on July 22, 1964 in Bogotá, Colombia. With his chameleon-like ability to satirize a range of ethnic groups, Leguizamo is pheraps best known for his one-man stage shows.

Although born in Colombia, Leguizamo spent his formative years in Jackson Heights, a formerly-rough neighborhood in Queens, New York. His parents spent much of their time either working or bickering. His turbulent home life would become the basis of some of Leguizamo’s most popular creative work.  His parents eventually divorced when he was 14. Meanwhile, Leguizamo began experimenting with the milder forms of delinquency. He was arrested twice, once for hopping a subway turnstyle and another time for truancy. He also ran afoul of the law when he and a friend commandeered a subway public address system and performed an impromptu comedy routine. While his comedy stylings would later amuse Broadway audiences, the Queens police were less than tickled by the effort.

In order to “straighten him out,” Leguizamo’s parents sent him back to Colombia for a year. Upon his return, Leguizamo continued to demonstrate a penchant for mischief. At the prompting of teachers, Leguizamo attended a local acting school, funding his classes through a job at Kentucky Fried Chicken. This led to a stint at New York University in 1991, but Leguizamo soon left school to join the Off Center Theater, a Manhattan comedy troupe.

Leguizamo spent the mid- to late-1980s performing in comedy clubs,polishing his material and working on the various stage personas that would later populate his live shows. He made his film debut in Brian De Palma’s critically acclaimed Vietnam drama, Casualties of War (1989). Other film roles followed in quick succession, from bit parts in big-budget vehicles like Die Hard II (1990) and Regarding Henry (1991), to featured roles in independent films, like 1991’s Hanging with the Homeboys.

Despite his rising professional fortunes, Leguizamo was frustrated by the roles offered him, which often involved playing thugs or drug dealers. He turned to live theater as a means of blasting Latino stereotypes through fierce comedic caricature.

His first effort, Mambo Mouth (1991), opened off Broadway and was later picked up by HBO for broadcast on their HBO Comedy Theater series. The performace won an Obie Award from the Village Voice, an Outer Critics Circle Award, a Vanguard Award, and a CableACE Award. Although some critics contended that the show perpetuated the very stereotypes is purported to undermine, audiences disagreed. Leguizamo’s 1992 follow-up, Spic-O-Rama, continued on in the same vein. His 1998 offering, Freak, was equally successful and turned into an HBO special directed by Spike Lee. 2001 saw John return to the stage with Sexaholix…a Love Story, which was based on his sold-out national tour, “John Leguizamo Live!”

Savion Glover (born 19 November 1973) is an American actor, tap dancer and choreographer. Glover is a graduate of the Newark Arts High School. Born in Newark, New Jersey, while a student at Broadway Dance Center in Manhattan, Glover’s teacher arranged an audition for him with Broadway choreographer Henry LeTang.

This led to his Broadway debut at age 12 in The Tap Dance Kid. He made his film debut in 1989′s Tap co-starring with Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis, Jr. In 1990, he joined the cast of the children’s television series Sesame Street and stayed on the show until 1995. He came to prominence in 1996, starring in the George C. Wolfe-produced musical Bring in ‘da Noise/Bring in ‘da Funk. He also starred in Spike Lee’s 2000 film Bamboozled. He also appeared with Barbra Streisand in her “Timeless” tour, and appears on the New Years Eve 1999/2000 DVD of this show.

Glover also appeared on Episode 15 of Cedric The Entertainer Presents “Tap Dawgs Returns”.

In 2003, Glover appeared on the DVD The One, a 40-minute retrospective look at the career of pop legend Michael Jackson, which was originally intended to air as a special called Number Ones in November 2003, to coincide with the release of Jackson’s Greatest Hits package of the same name. The show was postponed after Jackson’s arrest.