Nikki M. James most famously, originated the role of Nabalungi in the Broadway hit musical, Book of Mormon, for which she won the Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. After her award winning performance, Nikki went on to star as Éponine in the 2014 Broadway revival of Les Misérables. James starred on the Fox series Proven Innocent.
James received rave reviews for her starring role as Viveca in Kirsten Child’s musical The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin in Encores! Off-Center production at City Center. The musical review was an ambitious follow up to Nikki’s portrayal of Portia, Brutus’ proud wife, in The Public Theatre’s extremely press worthy and politically prescient version of Julius Caesar at Shakespeare in the Park in 2017. Nikki reprised her role of Viola in the musical version of Twelfth Night this past summer under the direction of Oskar Eustis at the Delacorte Theatre.
Recent notable work in television includes a starring role in CBS’ quirky series Braindead and a recurring guest arc on the hit series The Good Wife, CBS’ Bull, Escape From Dannemora on Showtime and reprised her role of Monica from The Good Wife on the CBS All Access series The Good Fight. Her film credits include: Lucky Stiff and The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby.
She has also performed several sold-out, one-woman cabaret shows at popular New York City venues such as 54 Below and Joe’s Pub.
No stranger to Broadway, Nikki has starred in productions of All Shook Up and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Other memorable theater productions include; Romeo and Juliet, Caesar and Cleopatra alongside Christopher Plummer, The Wiz, Bernarda Alba, House of Flowers and Preludes.
She resides in New York City and holds a BFA in Drama from NYU.