SS
The basics
Quick facts
Intro
American actor, musician, and audiobook narrator
Gender:
Female
Places:
The details
Biography
Introduction
Shayna Small is an American actor, musician, and audiobook narrator.
Personal life
Small attended the Baltimore School for the Arts and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama from the Juilliard School.
Career
Since graduating from the Juilliard School, she has taught and mentoredat the ASTEP, Baltimore School for the Arts, CenterStage, Helen Hayes Foundation, Showdown Theatre Snow College, and Stella Adler Conservatory. She has also served as an Arts Ambassador for the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington, as well as an acting coach for operetta Qadar under the artistic direction of Denyce Graves.
Beyond her career as an actress and audiobook narrator, Small has sung at The Apollo, DC Jazz Fest, Joe's Pub, The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center,Les Poisson Rouge, and Saturday Night Live.
Awards and honors
Awards
| Year | Title | Author(s) | Other narrator(s) | Award | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | How Long 'Til Black Future Month? Stories (2018) | N.K. Jemisin | Gail Nelson-Holgate, Robin Ray Eller, Ron Butler, Kevin Stillwell, Je Nie Fleming, and Jeanette Illidge | Earphones Award | Winner | |
| 2019 | Red at the Bone (2019) | Jacqueline Woodson | Jacqueline Woodson, Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Peter Francis James, and Bahni Turpin | Earphones Award | Winner | |
| 2020 | Overground Railroad (2020) | Lesa Cline-Ransome | Shayna Small and Lesa Cline-Ransome (author's note) | Earphones Award | Winner | |
| 2021 | The Kindest Lie (2021) | Nancy Johnson | Earphones Award | Winner | ||
| Last Stop from Innocence (2021) | Takerra Allen | Earphones Award | Winner | |||
| The Overground Railroad (2020) | Lesa Cline-Ransome | Shayna Small | Audie Award for Young Listeners' Title | Winner | ||
| 2022 | Blackout | Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon | Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Imani Parks, Jordan Cobb, Shayna Small, A.J. Beckles, and Bahni Turpin | Audie Award for Short Stories or Collections | Winner |
Best of lists
| Year | Title | Author | Other Narrator(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Red at the Bone (2019) | Jacqueline Woodson | Jacqueline Woodson, Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Peter Francis James, and Bahni Turpin | AudioFile Best of Fiction, Poetry & Drama | |
| 2020 | How Long 'Til Black Future Month? Stories (2018) | N.K. Jemisin | Gail Nelson-Holgate, Robin Ray Eller, Ron Butler, Kevin Stillwell, Je Nie Fleming, and Jeanette Illidge | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults | |
| Red at the Bone (2019) | Jacqueline Woodson | Jacqueline Woodson, Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Peter Francis James, and Bahni Turpin | Listen List | ||
| Overground Railroad (2020) | Lesa Cline-Ransome | Dion Graham and Lesa Cline-Ransome (author's note) | AudioFile Best of Children's Title | ||
| The Vanishing Half (2020) | Brit Bennett | AudioFile Best of Fiction | |||
| 2021 | The Vanishing Half (2020) | Brit Bennett | Listen List | ||
| 2022 | Flyy Girls | Ashley Woodfolk | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults | ||
| The Gilded Ones | Namina Forna | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults | |||
| The Office of Historical Corrections (2020) | Danielle Evans | Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Nicole Lewis, Brittany Pressley, January LaVoy, Adenrele Ojo, and Janina Edwards | Listen List |
Narrations
| Year | Title | Author | Other Narrator(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism (2018) | Safiya Umoja Noble | |
| 2018 | How Long 'Til Black Future Month? Stories (2018) | N.K. Jemisin | Gail Nelson-Holgate, Robin Ray Eller, Ron Butler, Kevin Stillwell, Je Nie Fleming, and Jeanette Illidge |
| 2019 | It was All A Dream: A New Generation Confronts the Broken Promise to Black America (2019) | Reniqua Allen | |
| Red at the Bone (2019) | Jacqueline Woodson | Jacqueline Woodson, Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Peter Francis James, and Bahni Turpin | |
| 2020 | All the Stars and Teeth (2020) | Adalyn Grace | |
| Antiracist Baby (2020) | Ibram X. Kendi | Guy Lockard | |
| Now That I've Found You (2020) | Kristina Forest | ||
| The Office of Historical Corrections (2020) | Danielle Evans | Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Nicole Lewis, Brittany Pressley, January LaVoy, Adenrele Ojo, and Janina Edwards | |
| Otaku (2020) | Chris Kluwe | ||
| Overground Railroad (2020) | Lesa Cline-Ransome | Shayna Small and Lesa Cline-Ransome (author's note) | |
| Together in a Sudden Strangeness: America's Poets Respond to the Pandemic (2020) | Alice Quinn (editor) | Edoardo Ballerini, Gisela Chípe, Catherine Cohen, Michael Crouch, Catherine Ho, Hillary Huber, Nicole Lewis, Dani Martineck, Prentice Onayemi, Elisabeth Rodgers, andNeil Shah | |
| Trouble the Saints (2020) | Alaya Dawn Johnson | Neil Shah | |
| The Vanishing Half (2020) | Brit Bennett | ||
| 2021 | Feminist AF: A Guide to Crushing Girlhood (2021) | Brittney Cooper, Chanel Craft Tanner, and Susana Morris | Trei Taylor and Robin Eller |
| The Gilded Ones (2021) | Namina Forna | ||
| The Kindest Lie (2021) | Nancy Johnson | ||
| Last Stop from Innocence (2021) | Takerra Allen | ||
| Sister in Arms (2021) | Kaia Alderson | ||
| Stella (2021) | Takis Würger with Liesl Schillinger (translator) | Will Damron | |
| We Are Not Like Them (2021) | Christine Pride and Jo Piazza | Marin Ireland, Kevin R. Free, and Chanté McCormick | |
| 2022 | Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'Round: My Story of the Making of Martin Luther King Day (2022) | Kathlyn J. Kirkwood | |
| Goliath (2022) | Tochi Onyebuchi | Stephanie Willis, Tim Campbell, Kevin R. Free, Adam Lazarre-White, JD Jackson, Juliana Velez, and Nidra Sous La Terre | |
| Last Summer on State Street (2022) | Toya Wolfe |
Stage performances
Off-Broadway
- Parable of the Sower (The Public Theater)
- Rags Parkland Sings Songs of the Future (Ars Nova workshop)
Regional
- Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story (Cincinnati Playhouse)
- The Colored Museum (Huntington Theatre Company)
- The Glorious World of Crowns, Kinks, and Curls (Baltimore Center Stage)
- How to Catch Creation (Baltimore Center Stage & Philadelphia Theatre Company)
- Intimate Apparel (Bay Street Theatre)
- Just Right Just Now (Theater for the New City)
- Closer (Load of Fun Theatre)
- The Oregon Trail (Eugene O’Neill Theater Center)
The Juilliard School
- Assassins
- Henry IV (Part I)
- The House of Bernarda Alba
- Toya in Hurt Village
- Romeo and Juliet
- The Threepenny Opera