Aaliyah “Aali” Habeeb is the quintessential multi-hyphenate. An author, filmmaker, and musician, she began her journey in entertainment as a child in choir and musical theater before transitioning to straight plays in college. Prior to receiving her MFA in acting from Rutgers University, Habeeb graduated from the University of Pittsburgh where she minored in theater, working with Pittsburgh Playwrights and Kuntu Repertory Theatre under the tutelage of the late Dr. Vernell A. Lillie, colleague, early collaborator, and close friend of the late August Wilson. It was in Pittsburgh where her love of storytelling blossomed, and at the urging of Dr. Lillie, decided to pursue the artist’s work full-time, going on to New Jersey to receive her masters degree in performance from Mason Gross School of the Arts.
Upon graduating with her MFA, Habeeb wrote her inaugural full-length play, Love Ya Like a Sis (LYLAS), in which she starred & produced in New York City. In 2018 she was awarded the Natasha van Kampen Grant and had the pleasure of working behind the scenes on the production of Othello at Shakespeare’s Globe in London, shadowing award winning director, composer, and playwright Claire van Kampen, and Tony and Olivier Award winning actor, Mark Rylance, with the former directing and latter starring as the play’s antagonist, Iago. Habeeb credits this experience as her professional “sliding door moment,” forever changing the course of her career towards the greatest good.
Two years later Habeeb would make her directorial debut in her short film, America Again, inspired from 10 years spent working as a teaching artist in New York & New Jersey. Adapting to the restrictions of the global pandemic, America Again was cast, rehearsed, and filmed entirely over Zoom. It is available to watch here.
As an actor Habeeb was last seen at Connecticut Repertory Theatre playing the titular role in Henry IV. Other favorite credits include the title role in The Rape of Lucrece, Yelena in Uncle Vanya, & Ruth in A Raisin in the Sun. She has been seen across the country performing in a number of both contemporary and classical plays, in addition to over a 100 readings, workshops, and developments of both plays and musicals.
Fueled by a the dissolution of a long-term relationship & the pandemic following immediately thereafter, Aali was called to write Godward: 99 Reasons to Love You, an inspirational wellness journal that takes the 99 Names of God in Islam, the Asma al-Husna, and through personal anecdotes and journal prompts, encourages the reader to explore how they apply the attributes of the Divine in their daily lives. Through this journey of faith, self-exploration & self-love, Habeeb has uncovered a path that transcends the physical reality and the human mind’s limited conception of space & time. It is her hope that the more we awaken as individuals, the more we awaken & enlighten the world, vibrating together on the highest frequency of all: LOVE.
Godward: 99 Reasons to Love You is available for purchase here.