Ravinia 2023 Issue 2

Headley returns to Ravinia’s Pavil- ion stage on July 16 with an evening of songs from across her own stellar experience to headline the annual Gala Benefit Concert hosted by the festival’s Women’s Board, where she reunites with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She is also joined by Ra- vinia Chief Conductor Marin Alsop and a chorus of special guests: singers from the Voices of Trinity Mass Choir and from the Ravinia Lawndale Fam- ily Music School, one of the dozen community-based Reach Teach Play® music education and engagement pro- grams supported by the funds raised that evening. The last time I interviewed Heather Headley, almost 24 years ago, it was the day before the first rehearsals for the six-week, pre-Broadway run of Aida in Chicago. The Disney-pro- duced musical, based on the beloved Verdi opera and written by The Lion King songsters Tim Rice and Elton John, had a disastrous, critically lam- basted 1998 premiere run in Atlanta. Headley, however, was one of the few positive and promising elements of the original production. Disney summoned Chicago’s To- ny-winning Robert Falls to rescue the Egyptian love triangle. The Goodman Theatre’s adventurous driving force and former, longtime artistic director, Falls revamped every aspect of the show; wisely, however, he kept Head- ley in the lead role. At the time, Headley was a budding talent and on the fast track to fame. She universally impressed as an un- derstudy for Audra McDonald in the original 1996 Toronto production of the musical Ragtime . This led to Head- ley’s highly praised portrayal of Nala in the original 1997 Broadway pre- sentation of the Tony-winning—and still-reigning highest-grossing stage musical of all time— The Lion King . Heather Headley was star-ready. In March 2000, Falls’s production of Aida opened on Broadway to rave reviews, and Headley instantly was christened a genuine Great White Way phenomenon. Aida went on to hoist four Tony Awards, including one for Headley as Best Actress in a Mu- sical. In the last two decades, she’s re- corded several albums, made further star turns in musical adaptations of The Bodyguard and The Color Purple , and expanded into dramatic acting, appearing on several TV projects such as NBC’s Chicago Med and the Netflix series Sweet Magnolias . Born on the Caribbean island of Trinidad, Headley and her family came to the United States in 1989 and settled in Fort Wayne, IN, when her father became a church pastor nearby. Her musical leanings sprouted at a young age, as she sang with her moth- er, took piano lessons (“The greatest gift my mom ever gave me”), and later sang at church services and acted in church-related programs. Her talent was nurtured by a supportive group of teachers, which eventually resulted in a musical scholarship to Northwest- ern University. Headley soon appeared in two local Chicago musical theater produc- tions, and after completing her junior year at Northwestern, fate interceded. Her first theatrical agent, Janet Louer, a Chicago theater veteran and Joseph Jefferson Award–winning cho- reographer, strongly urged a hesitant Headley to audition for the Ragtime understudy role. “I didn’t think she would get it, because she was too young, and she was still in school. But I told her, ‘Go. The industry needs to know you exist,’ ” Louer recalled. Headley dazzled the producers and won the gig, forcing her into a difficult decision: to leave Northwestern before her senior year, move to Toronto, and follow her dream. Early in the Ragtime run, Louer remembers Headley nervously phoned her to report McDonald fell ill and that she would be going on that night. Within hours, Louer hopped a flight to Toronto and made it to the theater just before the curtain rose. “I had never met Heather. I only saw her photo. When the show began, there was an aura around her. I thought, ‘Wow, who is that ? And I realized it was Heather. It was magical,” Louer recounted. “The next day, my phone rang off the hook. It was a game-changer.” Speaking from her suburban Chicago home, where she lives with her husband and their three children, Headley fulfills the promise of her transcendent voice and continues to make magical musical moments. RAVINIA.ORG • RAVINIA MAGAZINE 7