Gina Naomi Baez is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. With a flourishing acting career having landed roles in Spike Lee's She's Gotta Have It, Orange is the New Black and most recently CBS's FBI. She has appeared in numerous Off-Broadway and regional stage plays including as Celia in Rattlesnake Kate, Esmeralda in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Dulcinea del Toboso in Man of La Mancha, and Agnes in A Taste of Things to Come (among others). Baez has also seen great success with her YouTube channel which has built an impressive following. Her infamous "Lizzo's Truth Hurts x Hocus Pocus" parody music video went viral after LIZZO herself reposted it, as well as Bette Midler. She has also released several songs, including a 2015 EP (You and Me) and a variety of covers on her YouTube channel (often with Tinkerbelle the Dog).[1]
Early life and education
Baez is a native of Rockville Centre, New York.[2] She began singing as young as age six and started writing songs in eighth grade. Around that time, she was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma.[3][4] She underwent chemotherapy and radiation therapy which caused her to lose her hair. While undergoing treatment, she founded the non-profit, Kids Performing Who Kare, which continues to exist and raise money for the NYU Winthrop Hospital's Cancer Center for Kids where she was treated. The non-profit puts on stage productions and concerts with children ages 6 to 18.[2][5]
Baez attended South Side High School in Rockville Centre and graduated in 2006. She moved on to Pace University where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in musical theatre in 2010.[2][4] Prior to graduating college, Baez earned a role in Under Fire which ran during the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) at the Theater at St. Clement's in September and October 2009.[6][7] In January 2010, she appeared in the ensemble cast for Pace's production of Quanah at the Schaeberle Studio.[7][8]
Career
After college, one of Baez's first roles came as Anna Leonowens in an August 2010 production of The King and I with the St. Gregory Theater Group.[2] In October 2010, she directed a production of the musical, 13 in association with the Rockville Centre Guild for the Arts.[9] The following month, she and select cast members from a Kids Performing Who Kare production of Sweeney Todd were asked to perform for a benefit at the New World Stages theater.[10] In October 2011, she played Jo March in a Rockville Centre Guild for the Arts production of Little Women.[11]
In September 2013, Baez premiered a music video for a song entitled, "Downtown," at a movie theater in Westbury, New York. Tinkerbelle the Dog was featured in the video.[4] In January 2014, she released a video cover of the song "Let It Go" from the 2013 Disney film, Frozen. The video again featured an appearance from Tinkerbelle the Dog,[12] who also appeared in the August 2014 music video for Baez's song, "Cupcakes."[13][14] In November 2015, Baez independently released an EP entitled, You and Me.[15][16]
In May 2018, Baez appeared in Women on Fire: Stories from the Frontlines at the off-Broadway Royal Family Arts Space.[24] In November 2018, she took on the role of Esmeralda for a production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame at the Argyle Theatre in Babylon, New York. In 2019, she will have a recurring role as Marisol in the second season of Spike Lee's Netflix series, She's Gotta Have It.[3][25]
