Antoine L. Smith is an Emmy Award winner, originally from Gary, Indiana. His Broadway credits include the original cast of "MJ: The Musical", where he starred as Berry Gordy and Nick; "The Color Purple" (2015 Revival); "Carousel"; "Miss Saigon"; and "Memphis".
Smith also starred as Curly in the award winning all Black cast of "Oklahoma" at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, where he went on to win the Henry Award for Best Lead Actor in a Musical. Additionally, Smith is an accomplished Voice-Over actor. He has voiced the Nickelodeon animated series "Nella the Princess Knight" as King Dad, as well as several television and radio commercials for Squarespace, Pepsi, Lowe's, Smirnoff, North Carolina Lottery, Mylanta, Chili's, Chase, Silent Hill, and KFC, along with several video games.
On January 24, 2018, as part of the "Broadway at The Pierre" cabaret series in association with Broadway Sings for Pride, a concert was held at Two E Bar/Lounge — the sophisticated saloon located inside the New York City luxury hotel, The Pierre. The concert featured a performance by Smith, backed by pianist and musical director Chris Curcio.
Smith performed the song "Bui Doi" during the concert, where Shefik served as Videographer. "Bui Doi" is the opening song of Act II from the musical "Miss Saigon", sung by the character John with the chorus. John, who is now working for the Bui Doi Organization, addresses a conference in Atlanta which the character Chris and his wife Ellen are attending as per John's request.
The title of the song refers to the Vietnamese term "bụi đời", which literally means "dust of life", and in the musical, refers to the children of American soldiers and Vietnamese mothers abandoned at the end of the Vietnam War. However, "bụi đời" is actually used in Vietnam to refer to street children regardless of the race. People from Vietnam normally refer to Amerasians as "Mỹ lai" (mixed American and Vietnamese), "con lai" (mixed-race child), or "người lai" (mixed-race person).
Credits
- Videographer: Shefik
Last Updated: April 30, 2023
