There are several words that can be used to describe ?Sia?, but only one comes to mind quickly ? ghetto-fabulous.

Sia, a.k.a. Scooter Girl, is brought to life by young actress Nishanthi (Shanti) Bailey.

Many familiar with the local entertainment scene will know her brother Nadanja Bailey of Two Fools ? and their father saxophonist Wendell (Shine) Hayward.

Miss Bailey?s one-woman show, entitled ?Sia Says: A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste?, opens at the City Hall Theatre tomorrow night and runs until Saturday.

The production is presented by THE Company and was developed by playwright Patricia Nesbitt, who is also the author of the PHAT Girls and the Ya Mama series.

The show is comprised of many skits including Bedside Baptist; Beau-tay; and, Show de dough.

Sia will also launch her new CD, ?Give Dem de Tease? at 2005 Summer Soca Jam.

The 21-year-old actress has been seen in lead, co-starring and supporting roles in the popular ?Two Fools? series, with brother Nadanja and Jahrizhino Simons, and Listen to Ya Mama, The Story of Ruth, The Story of Ester, S?his Got Issues, the P.H.A.T. Girls series, Ma Baker?s Tonic, Switching Places, Who Dunnit: A Murder Mystery, Mary and Martha, Well, Well, Well, Well, Well, WOMBman Wars, Shakin? the Mess Outta Misery, Today?s Special, Love Poem 98, and I Am A Journey.

Miss Bailey, who is currently studying at Spelman College, is looking forward to the challenge of her one-woman show.

?I am. I am,? she repeated, ?A one-woman piece was something that I had always thought about ? I knew it was probably coming soon, but I didn?t know when.

?I am excited and there are so many emotions going on, because it is the first time that I have ever done anything like this with no one else on the stage ? and the audience is relying on me.

?And so, I am nervous. I am excited and I know it is going to be a challenge for me.?

Mrs. Nesbitt wrote the show?s script specifically with Miss Bailey in mind. The author told her her character would be ghetto.

?I had to take it from there,? Miss Bailey said. ?I basically developed the character from the things she would say, to what she wore, the walk, the talk, the everything.

?A lot of people remember her... (The) character stands out ? and when you see her, you?ll see how she stands out.?

Although Sia might seem unintelligent ? it?s not a good idea to judge this book by its cover, Miss Bailey said.

?When you look at Sia you will get the impression that she is ghetto-fabulous.

?Basically, Sia has her own style, her own opinion, she says what she has to say, does what she wants to do, and she can be very intelligent, it is just the way she goes about things.

?The character has her points and I think she is someone who speaks what everyone thinks and she can because of who she is.

?Her rationale doesn?t always fit the mainstream, but most of the time things can be justified. She is outside of the box and, actually for Sia, there is no box because she erased it.

?She is the type of character, that if you saw her on the street, people will just talk about her and she can get away with it ? umm hmm. And I think that is why I like Sia ? I think there is a lot of me in Sia, but you know, I can?t be Sia.

?And they all laugh at me because I love ? L-O-V-E to be Sia, to put on my pumps, my wig, my gold tooth, the cap and all ? I dig that.?

But Miss Bailey, unlike her character Sia ? who sports two gold teeth ? was dressed normally when she turned up for her interview at

?She is blinging,? she said, ?But it is accentuated blinging and Sia is always smiling.

?I do believe that when I created the physical aspects of Sia I did put some exaggeration into it, whereas I don?t think there is a person who dresses like that everyday.

?But when you take something from this person, and that from that person, and put them all together you get Sia ? the epitome of ghetto-fabulous.?

?I mean people like to see that as entertainment,? she said, ?And that is a very nice thing.

Miss Bailey first stepped on stage when she only a tyke and acting has been her hobby ever since.

?I guess it was a gradual process because between my mother (Georgette Bailey) and my father they had me performing since I was four years old,? she said. ?My dad would have me up saying a prayer during his jazz suppers and my mom made sure that I was also active in productions because of my bother, Nadanja.?

When she was a Berkeley Institute student she was also involved with theatre.

?My friends always called me a drama queen. I tend to be very expressive at times,? she said.

Her decision to seriously pursue the performing arts came after a year as a Rotary Exchange Student, in Ecuador, however.

?I would have to say it was the total experience of me being a Rotary Exchange Student,? she said.

?At the end of high school I really wasn?t sure what I wanted to do. I wanted to do actuarial science, but I had also applied for the Rotary Exchange. So, I was all over the place.

?I went and it was a life-changing experience down there. I was the only black person in my city for three months and I really had to know who I was as a person. For these people, their interpretation of black people depended on how I carried myself.

?At the end of my year, I was able to speak Spanish fluently and I really got to understand how important it was to have English and another language.?

While there she taught English for her community service.

?Also while I was down there, I had the opportunity to choreograph some pieces for the younger students ? I guess because I was black they thought I had talent,? she laughed.

?Three of us in our city decided that we would go to one of the low income schools (and teach English) once we were fluent in Spanish.

?From January to June we were the English teachers at this school and the gratification of seeing the students and what we were doing for them ? they looked at us as heroes. Everyday when we went they would run to us because they were excited about learning.?

Once she returned to Bermuda she continued on in the same trend.

?I was sure,? she said. ?And I also knew that I wanted to go to an historical Black College because I went through a whole development of personal growth as a black woman and Spelman offered everything that I wanted to do.

?And everything else ? thank God ? just fell into place and that works for me. I know that if I continue doing whatever I am doing well right now, it will come to a point when everything just works for me. I love it.?

Where does she see herself in ten years time? Miss Bailey simply says: ?In ten years, I see myself being 31 years old.

?When people ask me that question I really don?t know how to answer because, when I look at my life up to this point, a lot of things have happened spontaneously. I would have a plan and something would always happen to change my direction just a little bit...

?That may sound bad or that I don?t have a direction, but I know where I am going.?

She does plan to continue on in theatre: ?Because it is my passion, definitely, although I don?t know to what extreme or extent.

?It has been a part of me for about 17 years and I really couldn?t see myself not doing it.?

On working with director Freddie Hendricks on this production, she said: ?He is a-w-e-s-o-m-e!

Tickets for ?Sia Says? are $20 for tomorrow?s preview night, and $30 for Friday and Saturday night. Thursday and Friday?s performances are at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 9 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at Eurotile, Court Street, Logic, Burnaby Hill, Queen of Sheba, Angle Street, and Dean?s Bakery, Somerset.