Artist Spotlight
Featuring: Bréon LaDawn
Bréon LaDawn (she/her/hers) is a sought-after producer, actor, and artistic multi-hyphenate, whose work can be seen throughout Southeast Michigan.
How did you get started in the arts?
Somehow the arts have always managed to find me. My first play was in 4th grade. It was a Black history story started in Ancient Egypt through the present era of the early 2000’s. I played two roles actually but only 1 of them was a speaking part. I was also involved in the closed circuit student news broadcast throughout the rest of elementary school. Once I got to middle school, I discovered the violin and stuck with that during those scary pubescent years. In high school, I was Show/Concert Choir, and taught myself guitar.
It wasn’t until my junior/senior year of high school that I was able to nail down pursuing theatre in college. This may be cliche to say but When I saw Tracie Thoms performing as Joanne in the 2008 Broadway cast (I saw the stage version first before I ever saw the movie), a whole new world opened up for me as a young high schooler navigating my ideal future career. I remember having thoughts of "Whoa! Black people can do THIS?! As a profession?!" Mind you, I grew up deeply immersed in varying movie musicals and grew up seeing live childrens shows, the Rockettes, and such but it didn't feel like an option and attainable goal until I saw the live, raw magic of a Broadway cast. The rest is history!
If you could direct/produce one show, what would it be and why?
I would love to direct “The Colored Museum” with an amp up of the house and techno flare. I would highlight the powerhouse cities of House and Techno music: Detroit, Chicago, New York, and it’s underdogs, Atlanta, New Jersey, and L.A. Along with my love of house and techno, I would also be able to honor the multitude of Black voices that helped formulate the genre.
I performed “Git of Board” for my BFA program audition. It has always remained a special show in my theatrical journey.
If you could play one character in all of theatre or film, who would it be and why?
I would love to play Lisa or Susanna in “Girl, Interrupted”. There’s something about the “troubled” chain smoking characters that I’m drawn to. Those characters exist for Black women too. Taking on a role that directly addresses mental health and the choice to seek profressional help outside of the traditional religious background as a Black woman is definitely due. I think it taking place in the 70’s also has a lot of weight for mental health perceptions that were once the norm, how those norms affected women. If I were to take on one of these roles, I think I would want the era to be shifted to somewhere a little closer to the present day. To my personal knowledge, in the last 15-20 years have Black women been more open to seeking help through therapy and in patient facilities.
Name two artistic role models and why you look up to them.
Queen Latifah will always be my number one. Her iconic ebb and flow through different mediums of art and entertainment should be studied in academia! I was watching Living Single from an early age (thanks syndicated television!). I was always captivated by Queen Latifah’s role as Khadijah. Soon after expressing that I was a fan, my mom told me that she was also a rapper. I quickly started an early 2000’s internet deep dive on everything I could find about her. With her background in social and political justice, Black equity, then funneling those efforts into entrepreneurship along with music, she was one of the first artists that implanted the thought “the skies the limit.” As time passed and I grew, I watched her career closely. She seemed to be everywhere in my formative years! I consider her the “Every Woman” that Chaka Khan and Whitney Houston were singing about! I’ve worked in a similar way. Fast forward to my adulthood working in entertainment and doing “the work” through theatre, I’m always taking on surprising ventures and surprising myself in the process. Her artistic career is something I always keep in my back pocket. For every step of my growth, personal and professional, Queen Latifah’s essence has always remained a guiding light for the way I’ve cultivated myself as a “Professional Creative.” She exudes peace, warmth, an unmatched fierceness , a contagious effervescence, and so so much talent –all qualities I strive to emit as myself.
Keke Palmer is my second. Some millennials have coined her Keke “Keep a Check” Palmer. Keke is like a long distance cousin that I can always look to for doing work that keeps a check cashed but never compromising on integrity. She’s always said that her sound, grounded upbringing kept her level headed in the tumultuous entertainment industry. It truly shows. Since we are the same age, it’s lovely to see someone navigate through similar growing pains within self and art, and similar millennial cultural landscapes with poise and confidence.
What did you want to be when you were a child? Are you fulfilling that dream?
Outside of revolving around the arts, I wanted to be an Egyptologist. I was always fascinated with Egyptian history and the ever growing knowledge still being discovered to this day. I also thought about going into Marine Biology. The 90’s and Early 2000’s girlhood obsession with dolphins and my God Father’s Salt water fish tanks contributed to that. When my mom told me I might need to learn how to swim to do it, I quickly scrapped that idea! Though I'm nowhere near those dreams, Little Breon would think I was one of the coolest people ever today. I’m certainly fulfilling her artistic dreams. I give her so many thanks for being so headstrong when it came to the arts. My younger self was so determined to find a fit for herself in the arts. Thanks Little Bréon!
What is your artistic guilty pleasure?
Youtube Broadway Karaoke! I do not like to do karaoke in public but when it’s 2am, if I can’t sleep or I’m stressed or anxious, I turn on my favorite Broadway karaoke and sing as loud as I want and reminisce on my short lived Musical Theatre major in undergrad.
Top songs include: “Stars and The Moon” by Jason Robert Brown, “I’d Rather Be Sailing” from A New Brain, “When You’re Home” from In The Heights and “There’s a Fine, Fine Line” from Avenue Q.
What role/show/experience on your resume is most memorable and why?
Bright Half Life by Tanya Barfield. It was my first paid show right out of undergrad.This show was a part of the very first season of Theatre Nova. We had only two weeks to rehearse and there are only 2 characters in the show. There were, I think, 72 scenes in the story, not told in chronological order. Some of them repeated but with two words that have changed! I was in for a ride! I was so young taking on what I felt like was such a grown up character.
What made it so memorable was the work I put in. I was reciting those lines in the car, through headphones, while I washed the dishes, you name it. I was not going to fail. With there being only two of us, there was not a lot of room for error and no other characters to catch us if something went wrong. Another moment that made it so memorable was the director shed a few tears while watching myself and my castmate work through a highly emotional scene. He said it took him back to a difficult time but watching it handled so beautifully moved him in such a way.
In hindsight, that show was also my “Joanne” moment. She was a Black, Lesbian lawyer in an interracial relationship. While I don’t see a run of RENT in my future, Bright Half Life brought me my full circle moment to a character that inspired me to venture into this industry. I would hope to revisit that show one day.
What is your dream for the Michigan Arts Community?
I want more opportunities for artists to live fruitfully in their craft. I want Michigan to be as bustling as other major hubs. I want the film production incentives to return. We all understand the ups and downs of the industry but there’s plenty of room to close the gap with opportunities. We can certainly be the next Chicago or Atlanta when it comes to the arts. I also dream of more infrastructure to prep the community for when opportunities arise and for growth and cultivation of the craft outside of academia/post academia. We can acquire the degrees here but the sharpening, the continued building, the true crafting, leads people to leave. We don’t have to leave. We can be a true hub too!
