Caroline “Lynnie” Godfrey (born 1952) is an American actress, singer, author, director and producer.
Early life
Lynnie Godfrey was born in 1952 in New York City.[1] She began performing as a child, singing with her mother and family members in Pentecostal churches in Harlem and Brooklyn.[2]
As a child, Godfrey attended The Modern School,[3] a private school for black children in Harlem (Sugar Hill). It was founded by Mildred Johnson,[4] whose uncle, James Weldon Johnson,[5] wrote the Negro National Anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing.[6]” Godfrey later attended George Washington High School in Washington Heights, whose alumni include, Harry Belafonte, Henry Kissinger and Ron Perlman. Godfrey also studied voice with Dr. Chauncy Northern, one of the first black opera singers to perform on the Italian stage[7] at the Northern Vocal Arts School[8] at Carnegie Hall.
After graduating from college, Godfrey performed in both theatre productions and nightclubs, including the new Cotton Club. She appeared as Elaine in Christopher Durang’s “The Nature and Purpose of the Universe”[10] and appeared in the title role of “Mama Liberty’s Bicentennial Party”[11] for Theatre for the New City, a street theatre performance for children.
In February 1978, Godfrey appeared in a new musical showcase: “Shuffle Along” with Dabriah Chapman, Vernon Spencer and Roger Lawson, which led to a new musical revue, “Eubie!.” Based on the life and work of Eubie Blake, who, along with collaborator, Noble Sissle, created “Shuffle Along,” one of the first Broadway musicals written and directed by African Americans.[12] The show moved to Broadway in September 1978 and Godfrey was cast to perform several Eubie Blake songs, including “Daddy, Won’t You Please Come Home?” and “I’m Cravin’ for That Kind of Love”; along with “I’m Just Wild About Harry.”[13] She was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for her Broadway debut.[14] The show’s original cast includes: Gregory Hines, Maurice Hines, Alaina Reed, Janet Powell, Marion Ramsey, Ethel Beatty, Terry Burrell, Leslie Dockery, Lonnie McNeil, Jeffery V. Thompson, Melvin Johnson Jr.[15]
Godfrey has also originated several theatre roles, including The Snow Queen,[18] which she continues to perform today. One of the first women of color to be cast in famous musical roles, these include Lola in Damn Yankees[19] and Jenny Diver in Three Penny Opera.[20]
In 2002, Godfrey founded Godlee Entertainment, a production company committed to nurturing emerging playwrights and producing new work. As Producing Artistic Director, she also oversees “The Essence of Acting,” a New York City-based acting group, created to encourage aspiring African American actors.[21] Most recently, she has been directing, producing and performing in a new play, “Greenwood: An American Dream Destroyed,” by Celeste Bedford Walker.[22] The play chronicles the rise and fall of Greenwood, a black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma.[23] Known in the 1920s as “Negro Wall Street,” Greenwood was a prosperous community, destroyed over two days in 1921, when a white mob burned it to the ground.[24] Godfrey has produced the play at the New York Theatre Workshop, University of Delaware,[25] Theatre Institute at Sage in Troy, NY[26] and ArtsQuest, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.[27]
In 2023, she became the president of the League of Professional Theatre Women, a multidiscliplinary membership organization for professional theater women working in the theater.
Awards and honors
Drama Desk Nomination – Best Supporting Actress in a Musical
