Biography
Nicole Maxali was born and raised in San Francisco, California. After graduating from high school, she followed her grandparent's advice and decided to pursue her college degree in a more "stable" career: Broadcast Journalism. While still a student, in 2000 Nicole began working at ABC7's Public Affairs Department. There she produced "Filipino-Americans in the Bay Area: Past, Present & Future" and "Local and International Efforts to Stop Sex Trafficking" for ABC's Emmy-nominated Beyond the Headlines.
Finding Her Light
As a child of a successful samba dancer and a local musician, it didn't take long for Nicole to grow weary of putting her OWN dreams as an artist on hold. In 2005, she quit her job running scripts for highly-stressed news producers and began her journey as a working actor and non-profit humanitarian. Since that first day she stepped out of the newsroom and onto the stage she has evolved creatively and spiritually through various local artistic productions at Bindlestiff Studio, Shelton Studio, StageWerx Theater, Off Market Theater, Brava Theater and Herbst Theater to name a few.
Acting On Set
Her film credits include "Amy" in the indie movie, Glory Boy Days, which premiered at the 2008 Slamdance Film Festival & the 2008 SF Asian American Film Festival. Nicole then stretched her action adventure abilities as "Esther" in the Sci-Fi web series Eve: Beauty & the Blade. EVE: Beauty and the Blade was an 'Official Selection' for the Action on Film International Film Festival in Pasadena, California. In 2009, she starred as "Grace" in the dramatic short film REVE, which premiered in Spain at the Marbella International Film Festival. In 2012 she was cast as a resident doctor in the independent film, Fruitvale, directed by Ryan Coogler and featuring actors Michael B. Jordan and Octavia Spencer.
Pulling No Punches
Wanting to perform more of her own writing, Nicole took her first stand-up comedy workshop under Kevin Camia in 2007. In just a year, her stand-up experience exploded. Nicole has brought laughter to the following venues: Bindlestiff Studio, Speech Therapy's Comedy, San Jose Improv and the world-renowned, San Francisco's Purple Onion. Nicole also had the honor to open for comic genius Dave Chappelle at the San Francisco Punchline and Oakland's New Parish.
Shining Solo
Under the tutelage of acclaimed comic/solo performer and FX's "Totally Biased" host, W. Kamau Bell, Nicole Maxali wrote and performed her very first one-woman show, Identification Please, in 2008. Identification Please, directed by Allan Manalo & produced by Bindlestiff Studio, played a three week run at The Thick House in April 2009 and was selected as part of the 2009 Kearney Street Workshop's festival, Apature.
With the continued help of W. Kamau Bell (SF's Solo Performance Workshop Series) and under the direction of Paul Stein (Comedy Central Stage, Hollywood), Nicole performed her first full length one woman show, "Forgetting the Details", in November 2011. Funded by Theatre Bay Area and the Zellerbach Family Foundation, "Forgetting the Details" premiered at Bindlestiff Studio in San Francisco with sold out shows, rave reviews and standing ovations.
Calling the Shots
Nicole is no stranger of what happens behind the scenes of a theater production. In 2008 she successfully co-produced an original musical Love in the Time of Breast Cancer at Off Market Theater with fiscal sponsorship by California Pacific Medical Center and South of Market Health Center. From 2009 to 2010, Nicole also co-produced "City Solo" at Off Market Theatre. City Solo was a weekly solo showcase which featured the best of the best solo artists in the Bay Area. During it's highly successful twelve month run, City Solo was highlighted in the SF Chronicle, SF Examiner, SF Weekly, East Bay Express and the Bay Area Reporter.
Just this past August, Nicole produced the highly acclaimed two week run of "Fortunate Daughter" at the 2012 New York Fringe Festival. "Fortunate Daughter" is written and performed by Thao P. Nguyen (a fellow solo performer from SF's SPW series). The run was a wild success with sold out shows and rave reviews from NYTheatre.com and TheatreReviews.com
