Celia Rose Gooding

Gooding was raised in New York, New York. She was born to actress LaChanze,[1] and Calvin Gooding, who passed away in the September 11th attacks, and has one sister, Zaya.[2] With her sister, Gooding attended the Hackley School in Tarrytown, New York,[3] and graduated with honors in performing arts. Gooding had to take leave from her high school occasionally to do readings for a musical she was involved in developing, Jagged Little Pill. During the workshop during her junior year, she had three hours of tutoring in the morning before rehearsals to replace regular schooling.[4] Gooding’s senior project revolved around her participation in the show's out-of-town tryout at the end of her senior year. Her other training included studying dance at the Alvin Ailey Institute and studying Acting and Film with a concentration in Shakespeare at the Berridge Conservatory in Normandy.[5]  Gooding attended Pace University starting in 2018. She double majored in Musical Theatre and Child Psychology for one semester and only Musical Theatre during her second.[6] Gooding left Pace after her freshman year since rehearsals for the Broadway run of Jagged Little Pill started in September 2019.

Gooding is an out, bisexual woman. She uses She/They pronouns. She is a vocal activist for the queer community as well as the BIPOC community. Gooding has been particularly vocal about the issues surrounding being Black on Broadway. Despite being so young in the industry, Gooding has participated in the New York Times’ “Offstage” [7] program in June 2020 that discussed racial justice on Broadway,[8] was part of a panel on ABC about the realities of being Black on Broadway for Black History Month,[9] and a Black Theatre Matters benefit panel hosted by Samantha Williams.[10] Through her participation in the show Jagged Little Pill, Gooding had also been vocal about justice for the LGBTQ+ community and the transracial adoptee community, and she also participated in a panel for normalizing consent and advocacy for sexual assault victims for the summer 2020 series, Transformation 2020: Popular Democracy Defined with co-star Kathryn Gallagher.[11]

Gooding has two cats named Pongo and Sushi.[12]

Gooding first wanted to become an actor when she watched her mother win the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for The Color Purple on TV. However, she only started participating in musical theatre productions starting in ninth grade.[13] Throughout her high school experience, Gooding played various roles such as Carmen in The Rosetta LeNoire Musical Theatre Academy’s production of Fame.

In 2016, when Gooding was only 17, she was cast in the first 29 hour reading of the musical Jagged Little Pill,[14] an original musical written by Diablo Cody based on the music of Grammy-winning artist, Alanis Morissette, that included stars such as Idina Menzel. She originated one of the lead roles of the show, Frankie Healy: a 17-year-old Black, bisexual activist who was adopted into an affluent white family in a suburb in Connecticut.[15] Gooding participated in the 2018 lab and later the world premiere of the show at the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, MA in May 2018.[16]

Gooding reprised her role as Frankie when the show transferred to Broadway in November 2019 at the Broadhurst Theatre.[17] Gooding received accolades including Broadway World’s Debut of the Month,[18] a Clives Barnes Award nomination,[19] Broadway.com’s Debut of the Year, and being honored as one of BET’s Future 40.[20] She also performed on Late Night with Seth Meyers,[21] Dick Clarke’s New Year's Rockin Eve with Ryan Seacrest,[22] and Good Morning America.[23]

Celia and her mother, LaChanze, made history in 2019 by being the first Black mother and daughter duo to star in Broadway show at the same time, with LaChanze starring in A Christmas Carol and Celia starring in Jagged Little Pill. [24]

After Jagged Little Pill closed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Gooding has continued to receive accolades for her performance. Gooding received the award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical at the inaugural Antonyo Awards[25] and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.[26] Gooding also participated in the 2020 Playbill Pride Spectacular along with co-star Lauren Patten.[27]