Based on Natasha Trethewey’s collection of poems, The Alliance Theatre’s production of Native Guard is both an elegy to her mother and a journey into Mississippi’s Civil War history. In poetry and song, she reflects on her mother’s passing while contemplating the former slaves who became soldiers in a regiment known as the Native Guard. Trethewey’s work was the winner of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry.
This recording was produced with the generous support of The Poetry Foundation.
Recorded at The Invisible Studios, West Hollywood, in July of 2018.
Directed by Rosalind Ayres
Producing Director Susan Albert Loewenberg
January LaVoy as The Poet
Thomas Neal Antwon Ghant as the Native Guard
And featuring Nicole Banks Long on vocals and Tyrone Jackson on piano.
Associate Artistic Director, Anna Lyse Erikson. Associate Producer, Studio Production Coordinator, and Mixing Engineer, Mark Holden for The Invisible Studios, West Hollywood. Senior Radio Producer, Ronn Lipkin. Production Assistant, Amanda Allen. Recording Engineer, Erick Cifuentes.
The Alliance Theatre production was originally directed by Susan V. Booth. Offsite Producer for The Alliance Theatre, Donya Washington. Composer and Music Director, Tyrone Jackson. Original Sound Design, Clay Benning.
Native Guard by Natasha Trethewey, used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved. As conceived and originally produced by the Alliance Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia. Susan V. Booth, Artistic Director. Mike Schleifer, Managing Director.
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Natasha Trethewey is a former US poet laureate and the author of five collections of poetry, as well as a book of creative nonfiction. She is currently the Board of Trustees Professor of English at Northwestern University. In 2007 she won the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry for her collection Native Guard.
January LaVoy, winner of numerous awards for narration, was named a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine in 2019. She is an American actress best known for her character Noelle Ortiz on the ABC daytime drama One Life to Live. In addition to working extensively in narration and television, including roles on Law & Order and All My Children, she has worked on and off Broadway as well as in regional theater.