Frenchie Davis, who rose to national prominence by wowing the voters on American Idol – and who remains one of the show’s most popular past contestants, will be performing on the dance floor at Play on Friday, June 1.
Frenchie was born in Los Angeles, and began her career as a theatre student at Washington DC’s Howard University. While studying there, she got her first acting/singing job playing one of the street urchins in a production of Little Shop of Horrors with a small theatre company in Germany.
The same German company hired her for a production of Jesus Christ Superstar. After her return to the states, she auditioned for American Idol, made it to Hollywood, made a lasting mark by becoming the overwhelming fan favorite to win the show. Fate dealt a different hand, and her star has continued to shine.
Frenchie worked in 2003 as a “Grammy” correspondent for Entertainment Tonight and performed the song “And I Am Telling You" on the set of ET for the show. She was cast in the Broadway show RENT, from which she took a leave of absence to portray the role of “Effie White” in the West coast tour of the play DreamGirls.
Frenchie was originally signed to star in RENT for six months but it turned into nearly four years. RENT, featuring book, music and lyrics by the late Jonathan Larson, has played almost 11 years at the Nederlander Theatre, where it opened on April 29, 1996.
Frenchie is in the process of moving back to Los Angeles to finally start recording her “debut” CD, which will be a combination of the “classics,” Broadway and a few original new songs.
Frenchie will perform just after midnight in the dance bar of Play, 1519 Church Street. Cover for the night, including Frenchie’s performance will be $10. Play is an 18+ club.
