By Stanley O. Williford
Director of Publications
Nanci Nixon and her daughter Deirdre Weston have acting in their blood.
Nanci’s career was honed on the stage, while Deirdre’s calling has been mainly in teaching, directing and writing – with some acting thrown in.
A modeling class in her hometown of Philadelphia inadvertently launched Nanci’s career. However, concerned that the students were “too stiff” in their attitude and movement, the instructor brought in an acting coach.
At that point modeling ended for Nanci.
“The coach gave us acting exercises and improvisation skits,” said Nanci, a graduate of Temple University. “I realized that modeling for me was very plastic, and I liked what he was doing. He was touching some areas where you could be someone else and start feeling good about it.”
That experience led her on a search to find acting classes. She discovered that the Freedom Theatre was seeking students, so she began there. Being such a natural at the craft, she was soon skipped from beginner classes to the Company, a touring group.
“They saw a potential in me that I didn’t even see,” she said.
Her introduction to the stage was a portrayal of a militant named Umbalia, which she performed at the Sheraton hotel in downtown Philadelphia.
“All my training came from the stage,” she said. Her skills have been displayed in such productions as MoJo and Zooman and the Sign, among many others.She had a “cameo” in a television series produced by Oprah Winfrey called The Women of Brewster Place. The series included such notables as Oprah, Cicely Tyson, Lynn Whitfield, Paula Kelly, Paul Winfield and others.
Besides Oprah, she has worked in productions with Phylicia Rashard, Virginia Capers, Ed Cambridge, Juanita Moore, Lynn Hamilton, Esther Rolle, Johnnie Hobbs Jr. and with writer Charles Fuller. She also did a commercial for the Lou Rawls United Negro College Fund Telethon, which raised funds for black colleges.
Says Nanci: “In 1984, Virginia Capers brought me out here to do Zooman and the Sign. I came to further my career. I did mostly background work. Finally, I got a great agent, but at that point my mother’s health was failing. She and my father had moved to North Carolina, and when she passed I stayed there to help dad.”
Before her career began, she was already 27 years old with two children – Deirdre and a son Derek. Derek, a biomedical engineer, continues to live in Philadelphia. He is married and is the father of five children and has one grandchild.
Nanci has been a member of CCC for 34 years and has been active as a minister for 19 years. Having taught Monday Night Women’s Bible Study, as well as fundamental classes, she continues to serve in the Ministerial Assistance Program (MAP), which is an extension of the arm of the pastor.
MAP volunteers minister to shut-ins, administer communion, teach Bible studies, do hospital visitations and assist with memorials. Nanci served as a counselor in the Personal Ministries auxiliary for 11 years in addition to serving with the Community Outreach Program and the mother-daughter adoptive program. She holds an honorary doctorate of divinity from St. Thomas Christian University in Jacksonville, Fla.
Besides her involvement in the church, she teaches a weekly Bible study at a transitional living center for men and women.
She is the author of the book Can the Elect Be Deceived? which was written under the pseudonym of Ashira Bellamy. The book is sold in the CCC bookstore, and she is presently working on a second book.
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Deirdre, like her mom, is a Philadelphia native. She recently returned from directing the first international stage production of her play Three Women & You, which was performed three times in the African nation of Namibia. Two performances were held in Windhoek, the capital, and one in the beach town of Swakopmund. The play has been performed several times at CCC.
“Last year, Brenda Daniel [a CCC member and missionary who wrote the book on which the play was based] was asked to bring the play to Namibia,” Deirdre said. “The director flew in from Namibia to witness the show at the Corona Civic Center Theatre in October and returned to cast it. I was able to co-direct the play, which was performed before a sold-out house at the National Theatre of Namibia.
“With the exception of 13-year-old Grace Jones from the cast in America, who plays one of the lead roles, it was performed with an all-Namibian cast,” she said. “I learned that only twenty-three years prior, blacks could not even set foot in the National Theatre of Namibia, let alone perform there. I felt that we were making history.”
The production was a debut – a first – for several cast members who had never acted before, she said. “They were very well pleased with the play and their performances.”
Deirdre didn’t come by her vocation organically. She was “dragged to rehearsals after school when her mother was in a play,” she complains jokingly.
“Mom would always make sure she had a quick dinner for me on the nights of her rehearsals.”
Those dinners were usually SpaghettiOs or TV dinners. After completing her homework, she could watch the rehearsals. Deirdre said it was a joy to watch her mother and other cast members in action.
“I learned every word, song and dance verbatim!” she said.
At one of those rehearsals she was surprised to see “a young girl came out on the stage to perform.” According to Dierdre, “it was over. My mouth fell open and I yelled, ‘I didn’t know kids could act!’ The funny thing is Mom never asked me if I wanted to do theater. She later told that she never wanted to force me. She wanted it to be my idea.”
Bitten by the theater bug, Deirdre spent the years prior to college in lead roles and assisted in classes at Freedom Theatre. She had found her passion. After high school, Deirdre headed to Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, where she received a bachelor’s degree in fine arts, with an emphasis in theater. After graduating, she aspired to live and work in New York, but after a brief visit there to audition for A Different World, a Cosby Show spin-off, she left.
“When I didn’t get it, I thought: ‘I want to go to L.A.,’” she said. “I knew that L.A. was a great place to act, and plus I wanted to be with my mother.” Other major L.A. attractions, she noted, were the weather and enjoying “delicious Mexican food for the first time.”
“Most of my career was spent developing other people’s careers,” she said. “I had a school called Faith Acting Studios, where we trained youth in the performing arts. The studio was very well known in Los Angeles. When they booked the cast of The Lion King, two of my students were hired immediately. Many others were showcased on notable television sitcoms. Numerous students were showcased on well-known television sit-coms,” including such shows as Martin, Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper, Meet the Browns, Coach Carter, Touched by an Angel, The Jamie Foxx Show and NCIS, among others.
Deirdre has also served as artistic director of Crossroads Arts Academy, a school founded by actress-comedian Marla Gibbs, who gained fame as Florence, the sassy maid on the long-running sit-com, The Jeffersons.
“My strengths for a while were focused on writing and directing,” she said. However, she has acted in two feature films – The Brand New Heavy and Against the Grain. The latter movie was featured at the Pan African Film Festival and has won numerous awards.
She has written five plays: Missing . . . the Main Ingredient; Three Women & You; Secret Parts . . . Wounded Spirits, Broken Hearts; P.O.W. (Power Over Weapons); Romyo & Julie Mae. Romyo & Julie Mae is currently being made into a feature film.
However, she maintains: “My love of theatre is my first love. I will never leave the stage no matter what.”
As the saying goes, the show must go on. And for this mom and daughter, it always will.
