We’re watching a career blossom in front of our eyes. Milanis Clark’s steady ascent from obscurity towards eventual stardom has its latest stop with a role in the new Broadway production Ella: An American Miracle. This theatrical production exploring Ella Fitzgerald’s life with the aid of the vast songbook she left behind. It’s attracted other top flight talent such as Charity Angel Dawson and Dee Dee Washington and promises to be one of the most important Broadway productions in recent memory. The experience that Clark will gain from her participation is invaluable.
It’s hard to believe she started on this path when she was only three years old. Her beginnings were singing in local restaurants and appearing in regional talent shows spring boarding her into appearances in School House Rocks and Michael Jackson vs. Prince Collections productions. Keeping a mindful eye over her development, her mother Yeimis is a well-respected professional dancer with numerous credits attached to her name. She’s co-founder, as well, of the nonprofit Designed 2 Dance and her longtime connection with popular artist Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam figures mightily into her daughter’s nascent career. Her stepmother Toni Menage is Lisa Lisa’s personal manager as well as a talented singer and performer.
She’s had excellent teachers along the way as well. Clark’s work with vocal coach Robert Marks and acting coach Wendy McKenzie has exerted an enormous influence on Clark’s growing talents. Her ability to internalize their lessons while maintaining her child-like sense of wonder sets her apart from similar child actors. It marks her for greatness in the future as well.
She boasts other credits as well. Her appearance in the Disney+ production Better Nate than Never with luminaries such as Lisa Kudrow burnished her CV in a big way. It demonstrates her flexibility as a performer to appear in such a wide variety of productions from biographical to light comedic pieces without showing any signs of strain.
There’s a reason why writers such as Ella: An American Miracle’s Anna Deavere Smith are smitten with her skills. She couples unbridled innocence with a canny, beyond her years understanding of what makes an effective performance go for audience members. It is only a matter of time until some enterprising film or theatrical producer notices her talents and scoops her up as the lead in a winning, attention-grabbing work.
It’s her energy as well that draws you in. Few child performers so wholeheartedly embrace the joys of this time in their life as Clark. She has an active Internet presence with her own YouTube channel called Mila Tales and has an active, ongoing interest in dance and painting that sustains her when she’s away from the demands of professional performance. It is this wide-open receptiveness to experience that may be her greatest gift of all – and one that will serve her well as both an actress and overall performer. We’re watching something special with the evolution of Milanis Clark and no one should dare turn away. There are many more brilliant moments ahead for her.
Heather Savage