Tracie Thoms

Graduated from the Baltimore School for the Arts in 1993. Hosted a premiere of Rent in Baltimore as a benefit for the school in November 2005.

Graduated from Juilliard, where she was classmates with "Wonderfalls" (2004) co-star Lee Pace.

Has stated publicly that she saw the original Broadway cast in the stage production of Rent and their performances inspired her to audition several times for the show (all unsuccessful). She finally had her opportunity to join the cast in 2005 when she became one of two "new" principal actors to join most of the original Broadway cast in the feature film version.

Like the other seven lead characters, her character in Rent (2005), Joanne, is based on a character from La Boheme. Hers was based on Alcindoro, a counselor of state. Hers is the only character whose predecessor was the opposite gender, a change made by Jonathan Larson to make reference to his own ex-girlfriend leaving him for another woman.

In 2008, Tracie was asked to join the final Broadway cast of RENT, playing Joanne Jefferson, the role that she played in the 2005 film and had always wanted to play on stage. She accepted and was on stage from July 26 2008 until the final show on September 7, 2008.