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| Ms. Lara in her recording studio (All photos courtesy of Lara Crawford) |
Lara
Crawford, 51, lives in Fayetteville, Pa. She went to college at Montgomery
College in Rockville, Md., for a bit, but
quickly realized she could get the best training for what she was most
interested in doing from The Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C. So,
that’s what she did. She trained with them for four years. She went to
Rockville High School, in Rockville, Md.
Fun fact: she's
ambidextrous. (In case you don’t know what that is: she uses both
of her hands for different activities. She write with her right hand,
but she
uses her left hand for things like brushing her teeth, eating, opening
jars,
etc.)
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Ms. Lara portraying
Scarlett O'Hara |
For how many years have you been acting/narrating, and what inspired you to take that path?
I’ve been acting for as long as I can remember. That is, I’ve been
“playing pretend” since I was a very little girl, just as you probably
enjoy doing with your sister and friends. It always just felt natural
and easy to “become” someone else for a while. I was probably nine when I
first saw a play, and I was just in love with everything about theater
and acting from that point on. I was eleven when I appeared in a staged
play for the first time. It was a play called, I Remember Mama, and
it was performed at my big sister’s college. She was in it, too! So,
I’ve been acting for audiences for fifty years now. I can’t even believe
that! I enjoy classical style acting the most, and love performing the
works of William Shakespeare and the ancient Greeks.
What was the first book you narrated, and how did you get involved?
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One of Ms. Lara's narrations -
a collaboration with Mr. Ed! |
The first book I narrated was a book called, The Mistress of Rosehaven.
I really enjoyed it, because it was written very much in the style of
some of my favorite authors of the nineteenth century. I had signed up
with an online service called ACX, which is a place for authors and
narrators to find each other. Almost as soon as I uploaded samples of my
reading for authors to hear, the author of that book contacted me and
offered me the job. I was quite surprised, as generally, narrators have
to send in auditions to authors for their consideration before getting
jobs. I was very excited! I had dreamed of narrating for years. ACX is
still where I generally go to search for books I might be interested in
narrating. However, I automatically get the job when it comes to
narrating books by my favorite author, my fiancé, Edward, whom you know
as your friendly neighbor, Mr. Ed! I absolutely adore narrating, and
especially books for children! The most fun part of narrating for me, is
creating every sort of character voice imaginable; from children to old
people, to animals and even fantasy creatures! I also enjoy singing for
audiobooks whenever I get the chance. I love singing!
Have you had any other jobs in your life besides being an actor/narrator?
Yes! I’ve been a waitress, a telemarketer, an acting teacher and coach,
and a nannie, but my favorite job of all was being the mom of my four
amazing children: Tabitha, Emily, Lucy and William. Though, I have to
say, that while being a mom was hard work, it was much much more a
delightful, fun, rewarding, absolute pleasure! I’ve also been very lucky
and honored to care for my grandchildren. I have five wonderful
granddaughters, and my first grandson was born three months ago. I can’t
wait to meet him and hug him. He lives all the way in Minnesota, as do
three of my granddaughters. I’m very proud of, and absolutely adore all
of them!
What is your most recent project?
I’m currently preparing to narrate a fun story for kids, written by
Edward. It’s called Sister Witches~The Call for Help. It’s about three
sisters who are very good and kind (not scary) witches, who come to the
aid of their dear uncle when some spooky things start happening around
his mansion.
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| Ms. Lara and her fiance, Mr. Ed. |
What has been getting you through the pandemic in your relatively new home of south-central Pennsylvania?
During this unusual time, I haven’t been able to work part-time as a
nanny, which I really enjoy, and it’s been very frustrating being
separated so much from family. Family time is my favorite thing in the
world! To get through, it certainly helps to be able to enjoy phone
calls, video calls, emails, etc., with them. I’ve also been doing some
narrating, reading books, watching good series’ on tv, baking, cooking,
thinking up ideas for new books with Edward, a little bit of gardening,
decorating the house, taking walks, and collecting golf balls;) Mr. Ed
and I really enjoy each other’s company no matter what we’re doing.
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IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
Tomorrow is my first day of second grade. I will be a little late on some posts.
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SPECIAL SHOUT-OUTS
My mom and her awesome blog. since barely any one has checked it out, I HIGHLY recommend you check it out
