Multi-Hyphenate Talent Germôna Sharp Expands Repertoire with Writing, Directorial Debuts

In one story, a 6-year-old Black boy is suddenly transported into a strange new world that floats above a planet. There he meets his grown-up self, who is lauded as the savior of this future society.

In another, set in the 1950s, a magnetic and ambitious Black singer and dancer prepares for her nightclub act at Manhattan’s prestigious Copacabana. Amid stardom, fame, accolades and admirers, she struggles to be true to herself.

These two scenarios, separated by vast stretches of time, space and dimension, are both products of Germôna Sharp’s vivid imagination. The Charlotte-based actress, singer and dancer has recently expanded her repertoire with writing and directing projects, showing a willingness to dabble in realism with one story while exploring Afrofuturism with another.

Her futuristic The Great Maximillian will receive staged readings during the BOOM Charlotte arts festival in University City in May while the period drama Runnin’ Wild debuted on March 28 with a dramatized reading at Charlotte Off Broadway’s black box theater in Uptown’s VAPA Center.

“I want people to see that I did it all — singing, dancing, acting, writing,” Sharp says. “It goes very deep for me to be an all-around performer. There’s so much that I have that I have to get out.”

That’s why Sharp remains active as a performer, recently cast in Theatre Charlotte’s production of the musical The Color Purple, which goes up May 8 at the Queens Road Barn. In that production, Sharp plays the brash and defiant Sofia, who defies male dominance, stands up to racism and inspires the show’s protagonist Celie to stand up for herself.

It seems like perfect casting given Sharp’s ambition, dedication to her craft and pointed opinions, which sometimes touch on Charlotte’s theatre, film and broader performing arts scenes, and how the local landscape can help or hinder up-and-coming artists.

Charlotte’s theatre ecosystem – opportunity and insularity

On one hand, Sharp sees plenty of opportunities in Charlotte for performers, producers and directors in theatre and film. She points to the city’s vibrant local theatre scene, where actors audition for companies like Three Bone Theatre, Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, Theatre Charlotte, and Brand New Sheriff Productions. In addition to local independent films, big TV and film productions like The Hunting Wives and 2025’s Roofman also offer local and regional actors work and networking opportunities.

“There’s an ecosystem where everybody is doing kind of the same thing, but in different formats, and trying their best to help each other out the best way they can,” says Sharp, who notes that directors and producers who work primarily with one company will freely recommend performers to other companies.

“You’re not seeing walls between [companies].” Sharp notes. “It’s a community where people say, ‘Can I help you out?’”

At the same time, many talented people continue to move to Charlotte.

“They’re bringing their talents here to grow in a different soil,” Sharp says. “It brings a lot of good and new ideas and … brainstorming.”

The downside with such a supportive scene is that it can also devolve into insularity and parochialism, Sharp warns, which results in a scene where producers and directors reuse the same pool of talent.

“They trust this person and know they’re going to get it done, but how do they know that they can’t trust another person?” Sharp queries. “You gotta try new things out. Theatre is about taking risks.”

That’s partially why Sharp wrote Runnin’ Wild. She was met with silence after approaching a few local theatre companies last spring about directing shows, so she created her own opportunity by writing a show she could direct herself.

Runnin’ Wild, the first play Sharp has written, is about real-life multi-hyphenate performer Joyce Bryant. The show takes its name from Bryant’s 1954 album Runnin’ Wild. With a four-octave range, bold and boisterous stage presence, glamorous gowns and distinctive short, silver hair, Bryant was “the Beyonce or the Tina Turner of her day,” Sharp insists.

Bryant quit performing in 1955 to devote time to the Seventh-day Adventist Church and subsequently became a civil rights activist and vocal instructor.

Sharp’s current project, The Great Maximillian, jumps centuries into the future to tell a tale designed for a different audience.

“The Great Maximillian is a children’ s book,” Sharp says. “Actually, I’m torn between a play and a book, but it’s going on stage as a staged reading.”

After being whisked into a world of flying cars and levitating buildings, the story’s titular young character encounters people who already know him for the superhero he is to become.

“I want Black children to see themselves in that world as well,” continues Sharpe, an avowed lover of science and tech who desires to see Black kids aspire to more than the stereotypical careers of actors or athletes.

Building community in Charlotte’s performing arts scene

Born in Pittsburgh, Sharp grew up primarily in North Carolina. She became enamored with singing at age 3, joining the chorus in elementary school. Sharp caught the writing bug when she started jotting down journal entries and poetry in middle school.

Her interest in acting soon followed. Her first stage role came in a high school production of Ntozake Shange’s for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf.

“I wanted to grow beyond high school musicals,” Sharp remembers. “I wanted this to be my career.”

After returning to Pittsburgh to attend Kaplan Career Institute and Point Park University, Sharp settled briefly in Raleigh before moving to Charlotte in 2022. Once in the Queen City, Sharp acted in a few short films — A Mendacious Duty (2024) and Rise of ReSILiENCE (2025) — but concentrated on theatre.

Her stage credits include Detroit 67 with Theatre Charlotte, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical at Matthews Playhouse, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding with Three Bone Theatre, The Wild Party with QC Concerts, and Stick Fly with Theatre Charlotte, all between 2023-’25.

Actress and singer Trinity Taylor made her debut as assistant director on Runnin’ Wild. She met Sharp when both were in the cast for Beautiful: The Carole King Musical at Matthews Playhouse.

“Germôna’s honest [and] passionate,” Taylor says. “She is always striving for excellence, and I think that she expects that of the people around her as well.”

Taylor maintains that Sharp’s greatest strength may be her affinity for innovation.

“She’s able to create new things from within herself,” Taylor says.

Charlotte actor Roman Lawrence met Sharp in 2018, when both were performing in a Raleigh production of Sister Act. They reconnected and became friends while performing in Beautiful at Matthews Playhouse. In Runnin’ Wild, Lawrence portrays piano player Eddie, Bryant’s confidant as well as accompanist. Lawrence calls Sharp a hardworking director who is knowledgeable about her craft.

“Germôna’s also a bit of a perfectionist,” Lawrence says. “The work she does is meticulous and to the point.”

Sharp says she has three driving forces: “I’m willing to shut up and learn, I’m willing to do the work, and I have confidence in the work.”

She knows she needs to challenge herself and not become too comfortable within the Queen City’s creative community.

“You have to ask yourself, as an artist, what is your goal?” Sharp says. “Anybody from Charlotte that I’ve seen on Broadway stages or on national tours, it’s because they stepped out of Charlotte. If your goal is to grow, then it really doesn’t help you if you’re not stepping out.”

It’s characteristic advice from a bold, multi-talented artist who is prepared to take risks and make her own opportunities. Sharp’s work serves notice that it’s inevitably necessary for artists to keep moving, whether through striking out for larger markets or stretching talents and tackling challenging projects here.