LaVon Hardison
voiceover | video | actor | singer
What was that crash? It’s just fall
0
Does anyone else share my shock that it’s October? I have nothing personal against October mind you, although I get a little resentful at the sky being grey all of the time and dampness being the status quo. But I move beyond that and get a giddy sense of relief when fall makes it appearance. There is something about leaves turning the color of orange justice and pomegranates that makes me feel that all is right with the world.
I do love summer though, she is defiantly my BFF. She is active, curious, sometime short on attention span and looses all since of time, making the days linger deep into what should be night. She initiates cook outs, picnics and bike rides. She sparks outdoor theater, sun dresses, and skinny dipping. Here in the Northwest when she is adorned with real honest- to- goodness sunshine, she is glorious. I do however in her company, feels compelled to “get things done”; to “take advantage of the weather”. She is so much fun to be around I and feel a little guilty if I am not taking advantage of a non rainy condition. So when I sit and read a book or take a nap in the summer, it is much like I eating an entire can of Pringles, it’s in secret and a little embarrassing.
Now Autumn, she is a grand dame; a come- as- you are kind of gal. She encourages, snuggling and snuggly clothing. She gives you books to read and peaches to can and new beginnings. She lavishly gives the last gifts of the harvest. Everything from the garden tastes better when it is October. Yakima peaches, oh my love for you. Ever prolific and versatile zucchini, this year you were my bread of choice. And home grown tomatoes?! No wonder songs have been written about you. I get a little misty when I think that such tenderness will be replaced by well, hockey pucks. Sigh.
Singing for seniors has been fun and funny, they are an appreciative audience, and honestly, what is not good about that. Many of the residents are active mentally and physically, but there are some that struggle with varying degrees of dementia which often manifest as a refreshing disregard for social etiquette, causing them to speak plainly and bluntly. The last time I was there, I brought some instruments, shakers and bells etc for people to play. When I was done with the activity , I saw that a set of bells had been missed in my clean up and was sitting on the table in front of one of the residents. Teasing, I went over to the table and said, “D are you hiding my bells?” D looking directly at my chest, innocently and with the utmost honesty replied, “No, when I look at your bells, I just want to ring them”. I paused, held laughter and told him I would see him next week. He had proclaimed his love to me earlier in the day so this comment was…well was part of his MO. I do love my life.
It was great to sing at the Royale the last couple of Mondays, I hope to get another show in before the year is up. In November, I start rehearsals with Book-it Theater’s school touring show about Wilma Rudolph. The program takes theater to the schools along the I-5 Corridor. More about that next time.
Til then, be good or least aspire in that direction
Hear, Hear, Music
0You might have noticed that Horizon House is popping up a couple of times on my calendar, I have had the opportunity to share music with this wonderful retirement community in Seattle. Singing for the residence has re- affirmed the healing power of music.
I have often heard that music is a universal language, and I used to roll my eyes a little bit when I did, because it sounded so … well corny. My trip to India to be part of a Sacred Music festival in 2009, made me sneer less at this aphorism ( as well as other cliches); in fact that experience shed more light on the pithy truth of that worn saying.
While some may think that there is one audience in a performance, there are really two. I get to watch the “audience” experience the subtle relationship between music and memory. as listeners recall melodies and words that were not consciously accessible.
Music clears the way for good memories as well as the not so pleasant ones to be acknowledged and felt. The other day, I went to visit a friend who was playing music from our college days. We laughed as the music caused us to cringe and shake our heads at the those vulnerable and “know it all” times. Just a couple of measures woke up a truckload of memories.
Songs are such loaded things, It does not matter how simple or complex the tune, music has the pass key and goes straight to what is important for the individual, because what we often hold in memory, good or bad is what we value.
Music’s power? Well I think a quote from one of my all time favorite sci-fi
shows Firefly sums up the attitude of music right nicely, ” You can’t stop the signal. Everything goes somewhere, and I go everywhere”.
For you late night folks, I will be singing at The Royal, 311 N Capitol Way
Olympia, WA 98511, Monday night, sitting in for Greta Jane. Vince Brown on guitar, Cary Black on bass, and Syd Potter on trumpet. 9:30pm-12.
Also Happy Birthday to one of my favorite singers Ray Charles-there may be many imitators but he is one of a kind. Thank you Ray for making this world more soulful.
Aural Tastiness
1So yesterday, I sat and listened. It’s something that I need to do more often because when I do, I am completely sated. Just sitting and listening to music. Not cleaning and listening or cooking and listening but listening to music as the primary activity. I admit that sitting down just to listen feels like a luxury, but I always get fed, educated and humbled when I do. Courtesy of my favorite online time machine, juke box and university YouTube I spent some time with Mel Torme, Anita O’Day and even Doris Day as well as a few others.. And like all good field trips, my curiosity led me to explore other songs and other singers. An honorable mention of the day was Barbara Higbie, more about her at a later date, but the chewiest sound of yesterday’s audio wander was Timi Yuro. I was intrigued by her name and when I saw what she looked like and the sound that came out of that mouth, well, I was delighted. The color, depth and soul of her voice pulled me in and made my ears go mmmmmm. Enjoy.
Behind the scenes
0In the past couple of weeks, I attended Village Theatre’s, 11th Annual Festival of New Musicals as well as a reading of local playwright Duane Kelly’s new work Hobbes and Rousseau.
Seeing and being a part of a new work is the new car feeling for the creative soul for me. I find it stimulating and bubbling with potential.
Village, brought to life a diverse group of works: a screwball comedy called Sunday at Tiffany’s ( which I was a part of ) about a childhood imaginary friend reconnecting with his charge as an adult. Trails, an engaging story about two friends embarking on the 2,000 mile Appalachian Trail. Lizzie Borden, well, do I really need to say more? It involved 40 whacks and songs about the fall out. Hello! My Baby, a tin pan alley musical review and CLOAKED, a moody exploration of the dark world of the internet There was also an adaption of the wonderful book, The Giver. Yep, Virginia, the American musical is growing up and out!
The authors and lyricists were present and were paired with directors and musical directors and a bunch of actors to bring to life what had only been on paper. With a week rehearsal, and a live audience, everyone gets to see what works and what doesn’t. Later the writers get to figure out why something doesn’t work and re-write, re-write, re-write.
The Hobbes and Rousseau reading was more intimate. Just a bunch of actors with the playwright and the director sitting around a table reading out loud. I still got that new car smell feeling though! Hobbes and Rousseau is about how the genocides in Rwanda affect a small group of people. It is a very interesting perspective with much promise.
Did I mention in all of this that it is very cool to be rubbing shoulders with some really fine actors? Well it is, and I hope to share the stage again with many of them. You can read more about playwright Duane Kelly at his website: duanekelly.net
Also I will be singing and swinging about town. For the month of September, I will be sitting in for the lovely Miss Greta at the Royal, 311 Capitol Way, Olympia 9:30-midnight. Cary Black on bass, Andrew Dorsett on piano and good smelling, fine dressin Vince Brown on guitar
I have gotten a few requests to do some “earlier” shows for the non- night owls. I’ll work on that–talk to me and tell me what you would you’d like.
New head shots on the Photo page, check em out! In the mean time I leave you with this wonderful quote from the great trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie: I don’t care much about music. What I like is sounds.
May you have some good sounds, until next time.
I’m baaack….
0It has been a while since I have written and I know that that’s a death knoll for a blog in the fast pace world of the blogeshere: but honestly I had nothing to say. I know, I know, how can I say that I had nothing to say when I was doing Jesus Christ Superstar (JCS) 5 days a week since May? Well, when you put it that way, all I can say is that the JCS run squashed my alphabet. Maybe too much was going on and the words were flying around like swallows at sunset. Whatever the reason i couldn’t find a net or a broom and being silent for a spell was the result.
My silence was just limited to the news page of Lavonhardison.com, my husband can vouch that my opinion was overflowing at home. Never the less, after a few weeks away from the wild energy vortex that is the theatre. I realized why I have been so silent. I needed to recharge, the cheese whiz handy aerosol can of creativity was empty. I wasn’t burned out like a dead crunchy oak leaf more lightly grilled to banana chip dryness. I just needed a break.,
The short report of Jesus Christ Superstar: Jesus and Judas died over 80 times, and it was still interesting the 83rd time. We wrapped up the show July 31st to a few tears, but it was time. So since I’ve been home I have had a few discoveries:
Husband.The man that shares my bed at night is not the man servant but my husband who has given me enormous slack while I have been in rehearsals and performance. He really needs a raise.
Sunshine. We have not had a lot of it this year and when we did I have been inside of a dark theater. Sun is a good thing indeed, add a bicycle and a picnic and well, my friend that is heaven on earth.
Friends. The folks who listen to me kevetch, cry, laugh and help me learn lines are wonderful people, hanging with them is time well spent.
I could patter on with this list, but you get the idea and as Stan Lee use to say, “Nuff Said”
Enjoy your sunshine where ever you may be and I will talk to you sooner rather than later.
A little picture
0Towards the end of the second act of Jesus Christ Superstar, Judas has “sold out” Jesus, and then proceeds to sing a rock aria about the pain of betrayal. Then he hangs himself. We hear and see the body swing in silhouette as the chorus sings plaintively, “good old Judas, poor old Judas.” As the stage goes dark and there is one solo voice singing, there is a micro moment of silence before the next scene and in that moment it often happens: cautious but committed applause.
It’s a funny and awkward place to clap. I call it the ” Yea! Judas is dead!” clap. While I am sure that the response has more to do with the great performance of the Judas du jour — along with appreciation for the elaborate stage set, the evocative music, and the general level of angst — I suspect that no matter how evolved we like to think of ourselves, we all get a certain satisfaction in seeing the bad guy get his comeuppance.
In this case, the applause usually dissolves into an awkward self-edited silence and the music for the next scene starts.
Hmmmm.
FYI Jesus Christ Superstar moves to Everett next week!
Little bluebirds and Jesus
0I think the sunshine defrosted my writing mechanism. Hmm that sounds a little risque, but it is true. The seasonal flirtation that has been going since the end of March looks like it is ending and Spring looks like she is ready to commit and stick around for a bit. The scent of the lilacs in the backyard are heavy in the air. The Gravenstein tree’s white petals litter the grass. The rhododendron bushes are exploding with hot pink, fuchsia and a deep purple melancholy flowers. I swear there are little blue birds swirling about my head, I thought they belonged to Snow White, but I may be wrong. Yep spring is here and give her whatever she wants to keep her happy!
Last week Jesus Christ Superstar opened at Village Theater. This production has a twist, the two actors who play Jesus and Judas (Michael K Lee and Aaron C Finley) are alternating the roles. It has been really interesting to see two different interpretations of Jesus and Judas. Different brothers of the same Mother/Father God? Hmm? Come see this updated version of JCS and if you come a second time, the ticket is half price!
Last night was our first day back after two days off. This may not sound like a big deal, but the week prior to opening is an intense period. The deadline to get the show on its feet requires several long days and much “hurry up and wait” time to accommodate the technical aspects of the show ( lighting and sound). So those intense periods of concentration and waiting produces a kind of mental/emotional tension that fuels getting this important nuts and bolts stuff done. It has been my experience ( as well as other actors that I know) that those two days off are welcomed relief, but the monkey mind can have a hard time getting back in the groove and remembering everything. This is particular to the week after opening; after that every thing is fine. Bring on 14 more performance or 88, the habit is formed. All is well with the world.
Superstar!
0
Image via Wikipedia
Tuesday was my first rehearsal for Jesus Christ Superstar (JCS) at Village Theater. JCS has had a special place in my heart for a long time. I grew up with this music . In high school, my bestest friend Lisa C and I would spend our Friday nights eating Chinese food and listening to vinyl. Being young singers we were glued to the album cover gobbling up lyrics and singing with our musical heroes. Jesus Christ Superstar was one of our entertainment staples because it combined two budding new interests: spirituality and music. Those Friday nights with cold egg foo yong was our church. Jesus was a rebel, an outsider, a cool guy who was so cool that he would spend his Friday evening with some music nerds and love it. We would take turns being Mary Magdalene and stand over the stylus ready to re-catch a lyric or a moment that made us grin and giggle with pleasure.
Toward the end of my high school stint, I worked as a singing waitress at a resort in New Hampshire. Resort is probably too fancy a word, but the activity of the place centered around visits to Lake Winnapasakee, sleeping, eating and being sung to. The audience was an appreciative bunch A woman gave me a ceramic piggy bank that she had made in one of the craft classes that was offered. It was about 8 inches high standing on its hind legs, wearing a purple flowered dress, snouty mouth wide happily singing, front hooves crossed demurely in front of its abundant chest. . The muse had whispered into the ear of the creator of this bank to give the pig a coffee brown skin coloring rather than the jolly pink coloring. All of this was topped with a fragile, ceramic mound of black Shirly Temple curls. I never new whether this multicultural pig was a portrait or just a nature study. It was, though, a bribe to sing “Memories” from Cats at the next entertainment night. I am sorry that I don’t have a picture.
That summer when I was not accepting pigs, I was listening to music and that summer, I rediscovered Jesus Christ Superstar. Without Lisa C, I had to sing all of the parts, but the music was still exciting and new to me. So here I am mmmpphff years later, in the ensemble with a talented bunch of people at a great theater, singing this wonderful music. Lisa C. I sure wish you were here.
Endings…and beginnings…
0Show endings are such a mixed bag for me. On the one hand, there is a certain level of relief. I have more flexibility with my time to share with my family and friends. I can be spontaneous and not be a slave to the calendar. I also have more time to gaze at my navel with out guilt or distraction, the benefits of reflection and regrouping after a busy spate is useful and necessary for me.
There is also a touch of sadness. I have met some lovely people in the cast and seeing them regularly is like having a weekly play date. It was a wonderful cast. I also bid adieu to the character/s that I have gotten to know over the past two months. I have grown quite fond of the four characters that I played. They were fun to be and be with.
Next up on the docket…Jesus Christ Superstar at VillageTheater. That is going to be yummy I’ll keep you posted!
