These concerts are the North Carolina Symphony debut of Capathia Jenkins.

Brooklyn-born and raised Capathia Jenkins most recently starred on Broadway as “Medda Larkin” in the Disney production of Newsies. She made her Broadway debut in Gregory Boyd and Frank Wildhorn’s The Civil War, where she created the role of Harriet Jackson in 1998. She then starred in the Off-Broadway revival of Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael Tebelak’s Godspell. She returned to Broadway in The Look of Love, which featured Burt Bacharach/Hal David hits, then created the roles of “The Washing Machine” in Jeanine Tesori and Tony Kushner’s Caroline, Or Change and “Frieda May” in Daniel Goldfarb and Martin Short’s Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me.

In 2007 she went back to Off-Broadway and starred in Joan Ross Sorkin’s one-woman show (mis) Understanding Mammy: The Hattie McDaniel Story, for which she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award. She was also seen in Nora Ephron’s Love, Loss, and What I Wore.

An active concert artist, Jenkins has appeared with orchestras around the world including The Cleveland Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (with Marvin Hamlisch), National Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Utah Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Colorado Symphony, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, and the Hong Kong Philharmonic. She was a soloist with the Festival Český Krumlov in the Czech Republic. In 2011, she performed in the Broadway Ambassadors to Cuba concert as part of the Festival De Teatro De La Habana. She has been a guest soloist with Peter Nero and the Philly Pops and with the Cincinnati Pops.

Her television credits include 30 Rock, The Practice, Law & Order: SVU, The Sopranos, and Law & Order. She can be seen in the 2012 film Musical Chairs, directed by Susan Seidelman, and appears on the film soundtracks for Nine, Chicago, and Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde.