| HOOFER'S LOG - ARTICLE 4 |
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| Hoofer's Log Spring Edition 2007 |
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Welcome Back Jackie!
DJD is thrilled to welcome back Jackie Richardson as guest artist for their current production Magnetic Consequences. Jackie Richardson can sing anything – Jazz, Blues, Gospel, Musical Theatre, Cabaret, she’s done it all. She has appeared in acclaimed productions of such musicals as Big Mama, Ain’t Misbehavin’ and has appeared in numerous films, television series and on stage as an actress.
A veteran of the stage and screen, Jackie Richardson has forged a very successful acting career with Guest Starring roles in Television shows such as This is Wonderland, Sue Thomas F.B.Eye, Monk, and 24 episodes as host of The Hallelujah Gospel Series. She has had roles in such Feature Films as Welcome to Mooseport, Sins of the Father (nominated for an NAACP Award), and Turning to Stone (Gemini Nomination).
Highlights in Theatre include CanStage productions of Crowns, Ain’t Misbehavin (Dora Mavor Moore Award Nominee for the original Toronto Production), Cookin at the Cookery: The Music and Times of Alberta Hunter (2004 Dora Mavor Moore Award); A Feelin’ (Maples Blues Award), and the Mirvish production of Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God. She has received innumerable Gemini, Dora, Juno, Jessie, Betty, Toronto Blues Society and NAACP Award Nominations
Another highlight in her career was co-hosting with Keb Mo’, 14 episodes of CBC’s Radio Series One Hundred Years of the Blues in conjunction with Martin Scorsese.
Over the years Jackie has performed and or recorded with, among others, Ray Charles, Celine Dion, Anne Murray, Salome Bey, Alannah Myles, Dan Hill, Mavis Staples, Michelle Wright, Oliver Jones, Stuart McLean, Joe Sealy, The Canada Pops Orchestra, The Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Nova Scotia Symphony, as well as the Family Group The Richardson’s. Jackie’s own CD, A Woman’s View Through Child Eyes, is currently available in music stores.
Jackie’s first performance with DJD was with the 2001 Western Tour of Longings… for the invisible. She is thrilled to rejoin the company of DJD for the 2007 Canadian Tour of Magnetic Consequences.
How did the relationship with DJD start? Vicki Adams Willis describes her first encounter with Jackie Richardson as follows:
“I was doing some housework on a Saturday morning in December1999 when I heard Jackie being interviewed on the radio. I don’t remember what she was saying, but I was struck with an overwhelming feeling that I had to meet her. She was in Calgary performing in Lunchbox Theatre’s production of the one-woman show, BIG MAMA, The Willie Mae Thornton Story, and her closing performance was at noon that day. I flew down to the theatre where I was completely blown away by the powerful voice, presence and spirit that was Jackie Richardson. I went backstage to meet her (not something that I normally did at the time) and discovered that she was as warm in person as she had been on the radio. We were both hurrying off to other commitments but I promised to send her some videos of DJD…which I didn’t manage to do.
I was off to Costa Rica shortly after that where my friends and I were to spend one night in San Jose before heading to the rainforest. We turned on the TV to see what the local television was all about, and lo and behold there was Jackie staring back at us (featured in a film that had been shot in Canada). The next month presented an uncanny series of Jackie spottings and reminders. She seemed to be popping up everywhere, - to the point that contacting her simply had to become a priority in my life.
“It happened that she was doing a gig in Calgary that March so I invited her to attend a DJD rehearsal. After the rehearsal, she turned to me and said, “I have to work with this company!” That evening the majority of the dancers attended her gig, and afterwards each one came up to me and said, “And when are we working with her?!”
“Jackie and I were immediately and completely compatible as collaborating artists and working on Longings…for the Invisible gave us an opportunity to test the creative waters with one another. It also clearly felt like a launching pad for future collaborations.
Since then I have had many opportunities to observe her in a variety of performance situations which have revealed to me much about her artistic range. It is that immense and glorious range that I was anxious to revisit and tap into. I was also excited about giving our current company of dancers an opportunity to experience Jackie. She is a warm, generous and inspiring artist, and I knew that working with her would give them a clear view into the soul of the work.”
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