Tina Fabrique

Tina Fabrique is an American singer and actress born in Harlem, New York, in 1944 or 1945. She grew up singing in her church, and at sixteen she received an award from the Apollo Theater in Manhattan. Her Broadway career spanned from 1990 to 1998, encompassing productions including Once on This Island, Truly Blessed, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk, and Ragtime.

Before her Broadway work, Fabrique originated the role of Mother Vera in the musical Abyssinia, presented by Musical Theater Works in 1987 at the CSC Repertory Theater. Her off-Broadway and regional theater credits extend across several decades and include Rose in Dessa Rose at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater in 2005, Melba Jones in a 2006 Encores! staging of 70, Girls, 70, and Mattie Michael in Women of Brewster Place in 2007. Later stage work includes Grandmother Ethel in The First Noel in 2016, Medda Lark in Newsies in 2017, Vivienne in The Haunted Life in 2019, Duppy Mary in Marys Seacole in 2022, and Hattie McDaniel in (mis)UNDERSTANDING MAMMY: The Hattie McDaniel Story in 2023.

In 2005, Fabrique originated the role of Ella Fitzgerald in Ella: Off the Record, a production that was later renamed Ella The Musical. She continued performing in various productions and tours of the show through 2022. Her portrayal of Fitzgerald earned her the Kevin Kline Award and Florida's Carbonell Award.

Fabrique is also recognized for her work in television and recording. She sang the original theme song for the children's television series Reading Rainbow and recorded the theme song for the HBO film Mike Mulligan's Steam Shovel. Her television appearances include The Today Show, the soap opera One Life to Live, and All My Children.