Singing scares me, and yet, it is something, most people when they hear me speak, assume I can do. With the BSLA Award, I will travel to southwest England to take a series of intensive singing lessons with the world-renowned tenor, James Oxley.
Nehassaiu deGannes
Bio: A Canadian (and now American too) daughter of the Caribbean diaspora, Nehassaiu’s career highlights include: “Cynthia” in Sweat on both sides of the border (Cleveland Play House and Theatre Aquarius;) “Angie” in the Obie-Award Winning world-premiere of Is God Is (Soho Rep;) “Krystal Rullan” in the indie feature film, Equal Standard; “Catherine” in the first-ever inter-racial Proof (Trinity Rep;) as well as the Canadian premieres of The House That Will Not Stand (Shaw Festival) and Fat Ham (Can Stage.) Awards: Berkshire Theater Critics Award for her nimble comedic triptych in Or,; Wall Street Journal “Best Actor” citation for “Esther” in Intimate Apparel; and a Broadway World nomination for braving “Isabella” and “Pompey” in Measure for Measure. Nehassaiu has played principal roles at Stratford Festival, Arena Stage, Woolly Mammoth, Shakespeare Theatre Co., Shakespeare & Co., Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Alabama Shakespeare Festival and more. Her twin passion is poetry. More at nehassaiu.com
What piece of art, by a Black artist, inspires you?
Oh, there are so many. Works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Romare Bearden, Faith Ringgold, Mickalene Thomas, Torkwase Dyson and Sam Gilliam come to mind, but today I shall light upon “Cerebral (All My Relations)” a work of mixed-media by the late Khadejha McCall. I stumbled upon her installation at The AGO many years ago, and while this particular works seems to have disappeared from the museum’s digital archives (much like theatrical ephemera,) it has stayed with me and even entered one of my poems: “Your signature floating/ damballah style Altar’d wax resist/ textiles crystal bowls and Orisha bells An offering/ of breadfruit made of newsprint papier maché…” The work was meditative and dynamic, palpably shifting the energy of the space and visually ‘singing’ into being an enduring presence. Ms. McCall’s use of assemblage, her expansive embrace of and gathering together of Black diasporic elements without apology or explanation in an exhibit titled “Entering the Millennium” was galvanizing, affirming and spoke volumes. Plus, her own biographical migratory path from Philadelphia to the East Village and Harlem New York (where she once styled an Andy Warhol photo shoot) to Montreal and later Coquitlam, BC., where she was a fierce advocate for Black Canadian women visual artists. Khadejha McCall’s work and warrior spirit are an inspiration.
What does it mean for you to receive this award?
While I have been acting out stories, apparently, since the age of three (according to my grandparents in Dominica, whom I’d regale with tales of everyone I had met in the market that day,) I didn’t pursue the craft until much later and have been fortunate to cultivate a thriving professional practice as actor and theater-maker. Still, there is a significant hole in my training: SONG! Singing scares me, and yet, it is something, most people when they hear me speak, assume I can do. With the BSLA Award, I will travel to southwest England to take a series of intensive singing lessons with the world-renowned tenor, James Oxley. Recently, I had the opportunity to take one session with Mr. Oxley at The Shaw Festival and within those
45 minutes, my sense of myself as a singer completely transformed. I kid you not. No other singing teacher has been able to assist me in heaving open the barrier segregating my singing voice from the rest of me––– and I am not sure I will meet another. I am deeply grateful to BSLA for valuing and supporting me as a young in craft singer. There are so many plays with bits of song, so many wonderful characters who may be called upon to sing a lullaby, a blues riff, or to join in a choral moment in service of the beautiful story we are laboring to tell. I look forward to becoming an actor who with confidence can be a skilled and soulful collaborator on plays that incorporate song.