dib:

The last time we featured you on dib, you were doing amazing things at the Legacy Theater.  When did you leave and why?

SLH:

My company, Just Me Productions, Inc., was a contractor to the Indiana State Museum. My task was to launch the Legacy Theater.  My contract ended on May 31, after two and half years.  My second and final production, Life on the Avenue, was highlighted at the International Museum Theatre Alliance Showcase.  The Showcase was part of the annual 2004 American Association of Museum Conference, held in New Orleans.

dib:

This summer, you worked on the film Roll Bounce.  Was that your first “Hollywood” film project; and how would you compare that experience with your independent projects? 

SLH:

I have 15 years experience in film, and my film credits are numerous.  I lived in Chicago for 10 years, which is where I began my film career.  In my opinion there is no difference between a studio and independent production -- aside from the budget.  You work just as hard, if not harder.  I just started working in theater four years ago.  My first stage production was as a costumer for the August Wilson play, Two Trains Running, directed by David A. Anderson for Phoenix Theatre in Indianapolis, Indiana.

dib:

Some people view film and theater as two separate art forms.  What do you love about each and how do you maintain a “passion” for both simultaneously?

SLH:

I like to tell good stories.  Theater and film allow me the freedom to do that.  There are still glass ceilings in the film industry - where you can only get "so far" until you have a "name" or someone suddenly decides you are worth noticing.  When I cannot express myself in film, I look to theater.  They are two separate art forms that are the same.

dib:

If you had to choose one for the rest of your career, which would you choose, theater or film, and why?

SLH:

I hope to do both equally through the duration of my career.  Each offers something that the other doesn't, thus making me whole as an artist.

dib:

How did the opportunity to co-direct Crowns come about?

SLH:

Phoenix Theatre is the only contemporary theater in Indianapolis.  Many of its productions showcase the works performed on Broadway.  The producing director of the theater is Bryan Fonseca.  Bryan contacted me while I was working in Chicago and asked if I would like to co-direct with him.  I said yes!

dib:

What do you enjoy most about Crowns?

SLH:

I enjoy how the play takes a present day tradition, that of African American woman wearing church hats, and draws parallels between it and other traditions born out of the African Diaspora.

dib:

What is the essential message of the play?

SLH:

The play centers on a teenage Brooklyn girl who is sent to live with her grandmother after her brother is killed in New York.  She is street-wise and of the hip-hop culture.  The play is kind of a stage version of the experience seen in the Spike Lee film Crooklyn.  The play reinforces the African proverb that it takes a VILLAGE to raise a child.

dib:

Do you intend to continue to work in Indianapolis?

SLH:

Like all artists, I will work all over.  I was based in Chicago for 10 years, and worked between Chicago and New York, and Chicago and LA.  Indianapolis is my base for now.  As a contractor or freelancer, I go wherever the work takes me. As my artistry changes it might be nice to return to Chicago or to settle in LA.  Wherever God leads me to do my work is where I will follow.

dib:

What’s next for you?

SLH:

As a result of my work with Legacy Theater, I now have a traveling theater group, Black Box Theater, which performs in educational, formal and informal settings. This year, our first performance will be Gifts from Africa with Mijiza Yaa Soyini at the DuSable Museum of African American History on October 21.  For tickets or more information on this DuSable program, visit www.dusablemuseum.org.