Dancer, choreographer, and actress KiKi Shepard has been on our screens for years especially during her run on “It’s Showtime At The Apollo.”

Shepard chats with about her illustrious career which includes a 10-year stint on Broadway and her new series, Highly Favored.

Thank you for joining us on Celebrating Black Excellence. Let’s get started with your humble beginnings. What inspired your love for dancing?

Well, if I go back to what my mom said, I came out dancing. It has always been a part of my life. It’s always been something I’ve loved to do. Both my parents were teachers, but my dad was an athlete. My dad was a minor league baseball player, so the athleticism that came from him came to me. It was three of us, but I was the one that was both most athletic. I remember as a kid watching my mom and dad dance, they loved to dance. I loved watching my dad swing out because I’m from Texas, so we call the dance Swinging Out. I used to love to watch my swing out with my mom and stuff, and then he would put me on his feet, and we would dance and stuff. So as far back as I can remember and like I said, according to my mom, I came out dancing, loving the whole thing about dancing. It’s just been a part of me since the beginning.

You have performed in several Broadway productions for ten years straight, including Alice, Comin’ Uptown, The Wiz, and so much more. What was it like being a part of these Broadway productions?

I tell you; I was blessed to be there. I came to New York at the top of the 80s, and that was that was just a mecca for Black performers. The 80s, that decade was just amazing for Black performers and for Black shows. So, I was blessed that I auditioned once, and I worked for ten straight years on Broadway without having to audition again. I was good. I was a very good dancer. That gave me the opportunity to learn how to act, sing, and dance; how to become a triple threat, not just a dancer. It taught me what you needed to survive in the live entertainment arena. Then it also afforded me the opportunity to start thinking about acting, which takes you to another whole mecca, but it was all it was amazing; it was outstanding. I worked with people like Patti LaBelle, Debbie Allen, Al Green, Jennifer Holliday, all of the fantastic actors that did Dreamgirls: Sheryl Lee Ralph, Obba Babatundé, Clinton Derricks, Loretta Devine… all these people. We were in that mix at the same time. They’re all my good friends even to this day, and most of us transitioned out here to California.  So, it was amazing in the artwork and in the experience that I got as being a dancer and learning how to grow to become a singer and an actor: a triple threat, but even more so, it was amazing with the different friendships that were formed and that have just existed for 30-40 years.

Now, a lot of us remember you from It’s Showtime At the Apollo where you served as the co-host for 17 years. Can you please talk about that experience?

Oh, man, you know, that wasn’t nothing but God. That was nothing but God saying, “Little girl, I have something for you that’s going to establish you in a career for the rest of your life. Don’t worry. Just go there. Make sure you brush your teeth, put on some nice clothes, go, and just learn how to attract and help teach other young Black girls that this too can be you.” It was amazing. Percy Sutton, who was the executive producer and the owner of the Apollo Theater… you know, the Apollo Theater is now a national landmark. So, during the course of us doing Showtime at the Apollo, it became a national landmark. As I said before, Percy Sutton was the top dog of all of it, and Percy made sure that I maintained that job because after the first year, you know, it was an excellent job to have and so many people wanted it and stuff. People were calling every day asking to audition, but Percy Sutton said, “No, As long as KiKi Shepard wants this job, she will keep it because she shows other little black girls all around the country what they can be.” And he appreciated the fact that I did it in a very classy manner. So, it showed what you too can become. So, he made sure that everybody knew that, “No, KiKi Shepard will not be replaced. If Kiki decides to leave, then we’ll get another Kiki, but KiKi Shepherd will represent the young Black women of America as long as she was on this particular show.” So as I said before, it was God. It was a blessing.

You are definitely a lady of class, and you are definitely known as the Queen of Fashion. What inspired some of your looks on the show?

I would not take credit for it… well, I’ll take a little credit. There were few designers that I did bring on the show, like Linda Stokes of Linda Stokes Originals. There were a few designers that I did bring on, but we had amazing wardrobe people that I would go into New York for two weeks in September and two weeks in January. We shot two weeks. I will go in for three weeks really because the first week, we would go to all the designer houses in New York, and the show was so popular, and I guess I carried the clothes in a way that made the designers say, “Okay, it’s being represented well.” We would have a whole week of just going to the designers houses, picking and choosing, trying on this, trying on that. At that time, I was very, very tiny. I was like a four to a six. Clothes for models are usually an eight. So, we had to go to these different designer houses, try on all these clothes, and see what they could make to fit little ole’ me, but it still was an absolute joy to be put into these clothes. You know, my oldest sister, Von Gretchen McAlpin, used to be Shepard, was a model all of her life, and I remember watching her and how she put these amazing clothes on and carried them. She was an outstanding runway model, as well as a photo model, but I used to just marvel at how she carried itself and how she walked. She would stride.  I would tip. I walked sort of like my mom. I would just tip, but Von would stride. So, I got the experience to see what it was like to be my sister and wear amazing wardrobes, walk out of that stage, and just have people appreciate the way that the clothes flowed and the clothes that were contributed. It was just an amazing experience to be a part of that, and I think it established a level of expertise for anybody that came after this that wanted to deal with wardrobe and clothes. It showed what we could look like. So, I was blessed. I keep telling you, I’m not kidding. This is God. This is all God. God said, “I have something for you, little girl from Tyler, Texas. Just do what I say and be the best that you can be, and we will roll.” And that’s exactly what happened in all areas: dancing, Showtime At The Apollo, etc. I have been blessed to have been led and gifted by the blessings of God.

As you mentioned, you were trained on Broadway with acting, and speaking of acting, you have a brand-new show on Impact, Highly Favored. Can you please tell us about that show and about your character?

Okay, I play the character of LaVesta Crawley. I’m the first lady of the church, and the story is basically about a church pastor, his wife, their two sons, grandbaby, girlfriends, all the things, and the whole church: deacons, the ladies of the church that have something to say, etc. It’s just basically a real-life story of a church family, and all of the shenanigans that go on in the family and all the shenanigans that go on in the church as the church tries to progress and become more daily what it wants to be. The oldest that wants it to go to the live streaming kind of church, and the youngest son didn’t even want to be in the church. He wanted to do secular music. So, it’s just the day-to-day things. Of course, we are led by the amazing Michael Colyar, who’s pastor of the church, and I’m his first lady and his wife, and it’s just a wonderful experience every time. Y’all please, please, please watch this show. We want a second season. You know what I mean?

How can people watch Highly Favored?

You can watch it on streaming, impacttvplus.com. On your cable services, you have to go to your own cable service and just put in the name, and it’ll tell you where to watch it. Every Thursday of every week, a new episode drops on impacttvplus.com.

Can you please give some words of advice or encouragement to someone who may be watching right now as far as wanting to get into the entertainment industry?

Decide what it is that you want to do, and if you can’t decide what you want to do, study. Study your craft whether it is acting, singing, dancing, cartoons, writing, etc. Whatever it is that you want to do, study your craft. Get advice from people that are already doing it. Understand and know that nothing is going to be smooth and easy, not if it’s worth it, but if it really is what you want to do, study your craft, be ready so you don’t have to get ready, and be respectful of those upon whose shoulders you will stand because nobody can re-invent the wheel. This is not new. There are so many amazing talents that have come before us that do the same thing that we want to do. So, learn your craft, study your craft, be respectful of those that came before you, and thank God for all your blessings.

I have always known that I have the blessings of God on me at all times, and because of that and the respect and love that I give to others: to those that I work with and those that are teaching me, it comes from knowing that this is a blessing. To whom much is given much is required. Remember that. Always remember that. You are not doing it by yourself. No one is doing it alone.

We thank you so much for that. Now for people who want to know more about you, or if they want to follow you, how can they do so?

My social media is @thekikishepard on Facebook, Instagram, and all the other platforms you want to find me.