In the performing arts world, Nicole Brooks is beyond a triple-threat. Her extensive accomplishments include: filmmaker, director, performer, singer, playwright, composer, curator, teacher and ‘art-ivist’. Brooks has devoted over 20 years producing innovative content (for the stage and screen), with a focus on narratives that illuminate the peoples of the African Diaspora. In 2012, Brooks officially added playwright to her list of talents. Her debut theatrical work Obeah Opera – which she created, wrote, composed and performs in – has been staged in various incarnations from festivals to staged workshop productions in Toronto between 2009 and 2014. Honoured with a Dora nomination for Outstanding New Opera/Musical in 2012 (Toronto, Canada) and with continued development thereafter, an updated version of Obeah Opera premiered in August 2015, as a prestigious commission from the cultural arm of the Toronto 2015 Pan Am / Parapan Am Games. Its final incarnation mounted in June 2019 as part of the critically acclaimed roaster of the Luminato Festival in Toronto supported by the prestigious Canada 150 grant and National Creation Fund and was honoured with two additional DORA nominations in 2020 for Outstanding Choreography and Outstanding Feature Performance. Most recently Obeah Opera was an official Festival Selection of the prestigious National Alliance of Musical Theatre Festival of New Musicals late 2020. Presently Brooks is in the early developments of her newest musical work entitled The Sweetest Sounds exploring Black Canadian life during the prohibition era aka the roaring 20s.
Obeah Opera Book, Music, and Lyrics by Nicole Brooks. Obeah Opera is a hand clapping, foot stomping, spirit lifting, magical musical sensation. Steeped in Black music, sung entirely a cappella by a powerful all-female cast, Obeah Opera is a retelling of the legendary Salem witch trials from the fascinating perspective of Caribbean slave women.