Third Rail Welcomes Jennifer Lanier as Powell in Men On Boats

Third Rail is thrilled to welcome Jennifer Lanier to the stage as Powell in Men On Boatsopening March 2nd at the Imago Theatre.

Jennifer Lanier grew up in Greensboro, NC and received her classical acting training at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts under Gerald Freedman, Cigden Onat, and Robert Moyer. While in North Carolina, Jennifer founded the Lesbian Thesbians theatre company and also produced a number of independent projects. She became a founding fellow of the A+ Schools Program, instructing school faculties in Arts integration and curriculum enrichment. She also began working with Robert Moyer at the United Stage, bringing scripted and improvisational stories to young audiences throughout the South. The two even had a run at the Smithsonian Institution’s Discovery Theatre of Lanier’s original young audiences piece, BRER RABBIT MEETS COYOTE, exploring the challenges with growing up as an ethnically mixed person. Lanier expanded the piece into a solo comedy called NONE OF THE ABOVE which she has toured to colleges, theatre festivals, and Pride events throughout the country. She currently has a production company, Many Horses Productions, which produces variety shows, drag events, and theatre.

Lanier’s resume is extensive and varied. She has worked in regional theatre (American Stage, Portland Playhouse, Ruth Foreman Theatre, Coho Theatre) touring theatre (People’s Art Action, Artist’s Repertory Theatre, Original Practice Shakespeare, United Stage), television(guest star on Leverage, Hawaii, Grimm), national & regional commercials, and film (Scrapper, Last Champion, Legend of Two Path). Lanier lives in Vancouver WA with her wife, two sons, a costume-loving dachshund, a cantankerous cat, an anorexic tortoise, and a singing guinea pig.

Q & A with Jennifer Lanier

 

TR: What excites you about Men On Boats?

 

JL: Men On Boats is a great opportunity to dive into lives of some of the explorers and exploiters of North America. As a Native American/African American woman, I am intrigued by the perspective of men who were so quick to discount the knowledge and experience of the native folks who lived in the areas they explored, who were so arrogant as to name places themselves. It will be interesting to explore those senses of entitlement as active choices in everyday life. I am also VERY excited to work with a groups of strong women actors in a project that will clearly need lots of collaboration and creative openness. These are the moments when I love all-women projects! A group of women coming together, discovering how the waterfalls and rapids will happen, how the boats themselves will happen is the kind of work I live for!

 

TR: What has been the greatest adventure of your life so far? 

 

JL: Exploring Denali National Park in Alaska: hiking up to a herd of Dahl sheep, seeing moose diving for water plants in a pond, watching one grizzly bear chase down another grizzly bear, laughing at baby elk romping on a mountainside, and flying over Denali as I imagined how the guys of the Sourdough Expedition managed to climb to the summit with regular ropes, fortified by dried salmon and hot chocolate.

 

Get Your Tickets to Men On Boats!