Excerpt from UniSun story on E. Faye Butler:

For E. Faye Butler, it's still a little surprising when she belts out songs onstage and receives the audience's warm response. She's a classically trained actor who built her career on musicals, but singing was never part of the plan.

The Chicago native was more interested in performing Shakespeare classics, but after graduating from theater school, Butler found jobs for black actors were limited. She was often offered parts as maids and washerwomen, roles that she wasn't interested in. So she began singing in musicals, the bread-and-butter of the theater industry, and hasn't looked back since.

Butler is starring in the title role of the Center Stage production of Caroline, or Change, a Tony Award-winning musical that opened last week and continues through Jan. 18. She plays Caroline Thibodeax, an African-American housekeeper for a Jewish family. The musical, written mostly by Tony Kushner, takes place in November of 1963 and mixes blues, gospel and Jewish melodies.

Read the entire UniSun story by Ericka Blount Danois to learn more about E. Faye Butler.