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Carol Sutton Interview
2012
In 2012, Sutton received a New Orleans Lifetime Achievement Award.
Carol Sutton Video Portrait
2019
Artistic Career
Carol joined the Dashiki Project Theatre in the 1960s.
“The Dashiki Project Theatre was founded in 1968 and was initially funded by a grant from the Office of Economic Opportunity. The primary goal of the theatre was to present “an accurate portrayal of the Black experience for the Black community.” The Artistic Director for the company was Dr. Ted Gilliam, who is also the Director of the Drama department at Dillard University. The majority of the Actors and Actresses came from Dillard University’s Players’ Guild.” – Wikipedia.org
Marie Slade, Harold Evans, Danielle Edinburgh-Wilson, Carol Dickerson Sutton, Gwendolyne Foxworth, Adella Gautier, Donald Matthews, Norbert Davidson, and Patricia Hill
The Amistad Research Center and Dashiki Project Theatre celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Dashiki Project Theatre, one of the country’s prominent community theaters.
“Dashiki Project Theatre demonstrated a rare commitment to excellence and freedom in the arts of the South. Dashiki Project Theatre compellingly spoke to the needs of the Black community, at a time when Black identity was in crisis. By the year 1975, Dashiki Project Theatre was known in New Orleans as “New Orleans Most Productive Theatre” (Dashiki Project Theatre Fifteenth Anniversary1968-83).” – Stanley R. Coleman
At Dashiki she honed her acting skills and became one of what former Times-Picayune theater critic David Cuthbert dubbed the Dashiki Divas.
“Women were also central to the company as performers and directors. The plays that Dashiki Project Theatre selected gave great opportunities to women to perform and garner praises from the media. From Dashiki’s inception, theatre critics in the New Orleans area were fascinated by the performances of the women. Numerous critical and positive reviews give evidence of the power of these actresses.”
Pat McGuire Hill, Gwendolyne Foxworth, Adelle Gautier, Barbara Tasker, and Carol Sutton
“Critics like David Cuthbert acclaimed the performances of such Dashiki notables as Carol Sutton, Patricia McGuire, Claudia Miller, Adella Gautier, Barbara Tasker, Thelma Hinson, and Andre Cazenave.” – Stanley R Coleman
Sutton devoted much of her career to the theater and also served as an acting teacher in her hometown. She recorded a large number of supporting roles in American film and television, participating in productions such as The Pelican Brief, Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh, American Horror Story: Coven, True Detective, Kidnap, The Last Exorcism, Outer Banks, and Killer Joe.
Carol Sutton | One Womxn, One Show: An Ode to Breonna Taylor
Petition
Scores of people around the city of New Orleans and beyond are devastated by the loss of an icon: Carol Dickerson Sutton. She was our Cicely Tyson, starring in over 100 television and movie roles as well as dozens of theatre productions across decades. I can’t tell you how many actors she has influenced over the years, including myself! This petition is to garner support for a way to honor unsung artists such as Ms. Sutton and so many other New Orleans natives in a tangible way.
This petition is to show support for the idea to create a New Orleans Walk of Fame, starting with recognition of Ms. Sutton’s legacy. Please add your name if you stand behind the creation of Stars, cemented publicly in the same spirit of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, celebrating New Orleans’ own.
