The 2013 “A Taste of YEA” Honorees
The Youth Ensemble of Atlanta is proud to honor Boris Kodjoe and Nicole Ari Parker as this year’s honorees at “A Taste of YEA“! We’ve created a SPECIAL TRIBUTE for our honored guests that you won’t want to miss. Read more about their inspiring careers in TV, film, and stage.
Boris Kodjoe, a native of Austria, has established himself as one of Hollywood’s most versatile actors with lead roles in television, film and Broadway. A former model for the legendary Ford Modeling Agency, his print and runway work includes collaborations with such designers as Versace, Ralph Lauren, Abercombie & Fitch, and Yves St. Laurent, among others.
Kodjoe is currently featured in BET’s hit reality-comedy series, The Real Husbands of Hollywood. He is also remembered for roles in such diverse TV shows as Soul Food, The Undercovers and Second Time Around. Film roles include Love & Basketball, The Surrogates, The Gospel, Madea’s Family Reunion and The Resident Evil series.
Named by People Magazine as one of “The 50 Most Beautiful People in the World”, he speaks French, German, English and Spanish. Kodjoe’s Broadway credits include the plays Cat on A Hot Tin Roof and A Streetcar Named Desire.
Nicole Ari Parker has established herself as one of Hollywood’s most talented actors. A graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, her leading roles include television, film and Broadway.
She may best be remembered for her role as Teri Joseph in Showtime’s award-winning original series, Soul Food. A champion of independent films, her acclaimed roles include The Adventures of Two Girls in Love, 200 Cigarettes and Sundance Film Festival winner, The Adventures of Sebastian Cole. Hollywood films include Remember the Titans, Blue Streak, Welcome Home Rosco Jenkins and Boogie Nights. Theatrical work includes The Vagina Monologues and For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, among others.
In 2012, Parker became the first African American actress on Broadway to play the role of Blanche DuBois in Tennessee Williams’s classic American play, A Streetcar Named Desire. Receiving rave reviews in her Broadway debut, critics described her performance as “ powerful …moving…and thrilling.”