This summer for Inside the Arts, we’ve been introducing you to actors you might see on stage in mid-Michigan productions.
Lansing area actor Ny’Kieria Blocker's roles, mostly in musicals, have earned both local praise and awards.
She says filmmaker Tyler Perry influenced her early interest in acting.
Known for his comedic movies with predominantly Black casts, she explains Perry got his career started writing for the stage.
“They’re hilarious! They are more funny than the movies,” she said.
“I try to tell everyone please watch them because they are so funny, and they’re musicals, pretty much, because there’s music throughout them. And, watching those, I was like, wow, it would be so cool to do something like this!”
Blocker is best known for her singing, and her talent has brought her increasingly important roles in shows like “Big Fish,” “Beautiful” and “The Spongebob Musical," where her performance as Sandy Cheeks garnered a Riverwalk Barney Award for Lead Actress in a Musical.
Playing Trixie in “The Rocky Horror Show” at Riverwalk in 2023 won her another Barney Award.
She says it’s been one of her favorite roles because it gave her the flexibility to ad lib from night to night.
“It’s just so much fun! I got to do whatever I wanted to do up there,” Blocker said. “I made sure that I didn’t just sit on the sides and navigate when to use the newspaper or throw the rice, like, all that stuff. It was really nice to have that creative freedom and just have fun with all my friends.”
Music remains important to Blocker, and she’s put out some original work.
She performed her song “Wish You Loved Me” last year for a 517 Poetry Room audience.
In 2025, Blocker also landed her first lead in a non-musical, playing Casey Clark in “First Date." It was a chance for her to put Black love on stage.
"That was my first lead in a show, too. To be able to be a lead, and then to also have the story not be about my history or a traumatic experience, to just have fun, and spoiler alert, to fall in love, like that, it was really, really nice.”
Together, Blocker’s “First Date” and “Spongebob” parts earned her a special local Thespie Award encompassing all the Lansing area theatre companies last year.
Asked to name a favorite actor, Blocker points to Oscar winner Viola Davis, star of movies like “Fences” and “The Help."
"Her acting is so authentic and raw and vulnerable, and just so honest,” she said. “It’s really powerful, and when I see her in shows, I think to myself, ‘I’ve got to step my game up’. It’s, like, I don’t know how she does it. It is just amazing to see.”
If Blocker could land a dream role, it would be in the musical “Hadestown.” She loves both the story and the music.
“I would honestly love to be anyone in that show, but Eurydice and Persephone are the two that I feel like I would have so much fun acting and singing and dancing in!" she said. "I love a show when I can do all three of those things.”
Ny’Kieria Blocker’s next role comes up in September. She’ll be playing the hostess of a drug den in the musical comedy “Reefer Madness” at Riverwalk.
TRANSCRIPT
Scott Pohl: With Inside The Arts, I’m Scott Pohl. This summer, we’ve been introducing you to actors you might see on stage in mid-Michigan productions.
This week, a talk with Ny’Kieria Blocker.
Her roles, mostly in musicals, have earned both local praise and awards.
Ny’Kieria Blocker says filmmaker Tyler Perry influenced her early interest in acting.
Known for his comedic movies with predominantly Black casts, she explains Perry got his career started writing for the stage.
Ny’Kieria Blocker: They’re hilarious! They are more funny than the movies, and I try to tell everyone please watch them because they are so funny, and they’re musicals, pretty much, because there’s music throughout them. And, watching those, I was like, wow, it would be so cool to do something like this!
Pohl: Blocker is best known for her singing, and her talent has brought her increasingly important roles in shows like “Big Fish," “Beautiful," and “The Spongebob Musical," where her performance as Sandy Cheeks garnered a Riverwalk Barney Award for Lead Actress in a Musical.
Playing Trixie in “The Rocky Horror Show” at Riverwalk in 2023 won her another Barney Award. She says it’s been one of her favorite roles because it gave her the flexibility to ad lib from night to night.
Blocker: It’s just so much fun! I got to do whatever I wanted to do up there. I made sure that I didn’t just sit on the sides and navigate when to use the newspaper or throw the rice, like, all that stuff. It was really nice to have that creative freedom and just have fun with all my friends.
Pohl: Music remains important to Blocker, and she’s put out some original work.
She performed her song “Wish You Loved Me” last year for a 517 Poetry Room audience.
(Soundbite of song, "Wish You Loved Me")
Blocker: (Singing) You're gonna wish that you loved me.
Pohl: In 2025, Blocker also landed her first lead in a non-musical, playing Casey Clark in “First Date." It was a chance for her to put Black love on stage.
Blocker: That was my first lead in a show, too. To be able to be a lead, and then to also have the story not be about my history or a traumatic experience, to just have fun, and spoiler alert, to fall in love, like that, it was really, really nice.
Pohl: Together, Blocker’s “First Date” and “Spongebob” parts earned her a special local Thespie Award encompassing all the Lansing area theatre companies last year.
Asked to name a favorite actor, Blocker points to Oscar winner Viola Davis, star of movies like “Fences” and “The Help."
Blocker: Her acting is so authentic and raw and vulnerable, and just so honest. It’s really powerful, and when I see her in shows, I think to myself, "I’ve got to step my game up." It’s, like, I don’t know how she does it. It is just amazing to see.”
Pohl: If Blocker could land a dream role, it would be in the musical “Hadestown.” She loves both the story and the music.
Blocker: I would honestly love to be anyone in that show, but Eurydice and Persephone are the two that I feel like I would have so much fun acting and singing and dancing in! I love a show when I can do all three of those things.”
Pohl: Ny’Kieria Blocker’s next role comes up in September. She’ll be playing the hostess of a drug den in the musical comedy “Reefer Madness” at Riverwalk.
With Inside The Arts, I’m Scott Pohl.
