Arts & Entertainment
Southwest Atlanta Actress Co-Stars in 'Stripped' Play with Lisa Wu Hartwell
Triple-threat Mays High School graduate Arle Michel's star is on the rise. Play opens Wednesday at Georgia Tech's Ferst Center.
When singer/actress Arle Michel was growing up in southwest Atlanta she knew at an early age that she wanted to be an entertainer.
“My mother will tell you that my brother and I have always been entertaining people,” Michel said during an interview at the Barnes & Noble at Camp Creek Marketplace. “It's in my blood.”
She admits, however, that like most people trying to maintain and build a show business career, it has been discouraging at times. “There have been moments when I have quit every other week, but I keep coming back to it," she said. "I just love it.”
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Michel even came back to it after receiving a B.S. In Psychology and a Masters in Counseling at Xavier University. But the graduate of Sutton Middle School and Benjamin E. Mays High School in Atlanta also knows that now is not the time to quit when movie and television production is at all-time high in Georgia.
Besides she has a role in the new stage play “Stripped” and a role in an upcoming independent film being shot in Atlanta which starts shooting this week.
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“Stripped” is her second stage production and the second time she has worked with former NFL player Dorsey Levens and Tiffany Brown who co-wrote “Stripped.” Levens also stars in the production and Brown is the director.
"Stripped" peels away the layers of the life of professional football player Jayden Dorsey (Dorsey Levens) and the price that comes with being a high profile athlete. The story also focuses on the lives of four other pro players and the women in their lives.
Levens and Tiffany each have their own production companies in Atlanta and they aren't sitting around waiting on Hollywood to greenlight one of their productions.
Although, Michel is busy building her “brand” in the entertainment she is savvy enough to know that in this economy a performer needs to be multi-talented if they want to work more.
“You have to be. It just increases your options. Sing, dance, acting, voice-overs, I want to do it all,” she said.
“Stripped” runs July 27-31 at the Georgia Tech Ferst Center. The production also stars Lisa Wu Hartwell, Rashan Ali, Emily Reily Russell, Ryan “Two Live Stews” Stewart, Ed Hartwell and Anthony Hall. For more information about the play go to www.levenscommunications.com.