The patient was shocked that the actress in the play, dressed up with full stage makeup and wig, was now her doctor, Berry said.
‘‘I guess she didn’t realize the woman sitting across from her in this little white coat and salt and pepper Afro was her,” Berry said.
Berry, a 53-year-old Russett resident, has been acting and singing in the Washington Christmas Revels musical production for seven years. The popular winter production presents a different play each year in celebration of the winter solstice.
This year’s production, now in its 25th year, runs over two consecutive weekends, starting Dec. 8 at George Washington University’s Lisner Auditorium.
Berry said she always wanted to be a doctor, but she’s been singing and acting ever since her childhood days in New York City.
‘‘Those are the two things in my life: music and medicine,” she said.
Her mother taught music in New York City public schools, gave private piano lessons out of her home and was a church organist.
‘‘I was surrounded by music. We would clean the house with the Metropolitan Opera [playing] on Saturdays,” Berry said. ‘‘We’d be vacuuming and cleaning the house and opera would be playing in the background.”
Berry acted in ‘‘every little play there was” while attending elementary school, and eventually sang in the New York City All High School Chorus. She also sang in the school choir while attending Hampton University. She acted in end-of-year shows while attending Howard University’s Medical School. Even during her residency at Bridgeport Hospital in Bridgeport, Conn., she found a place for her musical abilities as the musical director of the hospital’s annual talent show.
Berry first acted in The Washington Revels in 1997. Throughout the years, she’s played different roles, sometimes singing in the chorus, and sometimes with solo parts.
She also sings with a travelling Revels group that presents shows at the World Bank, health clinics and schools in the metropolitan area.
‘‘She has this magnificent, low, rich voice,” said Roberta Gasbarre, artistic director for Washington Revels.
Berry is the quintessential Revels performer because, like many other cast members, she is a professional but makes time for the production, Gasbarre said.
‘‘We have lawyers, government folk, doctors, teachers, [people] of all walks of life who happen to be very skilled performers, who just don’t make their living off of this,” Gasbarre said.
Berry said it’s not too difficult for her to find time for the one production she does every year as rehearsals are conveniently on her day off.
Other professionals, such as lawyers, are also involved with the play, Berry said.
The production is national, with Revels companies in various cities. Every year, each company presents a different play from the year before. The plays have elements of life, death and rebirth, Berry said.
