Vivian Reed: Renaissance Woman

Vivian Reed is a multi-award winner with two Tony Award nominations, Drama Desk Award, Theatre world Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Dance Education of America Award, NAACP Award and several others. Vivian began formal voice training at the age of eight at the Pittsburgh Musical Institute, later continuing at New York's Juilliard School of Music followed by years of extensive dance training.


 She became a polished performer under the guidance of Honi Coles and Bobby Schiffman of the Apollo Theater. Vivian received critical acclaim for her work in 'Bubbling Brown Sugar' on Broadway and Europe. She captured the attention of Pierre Cardin who booked her into his theater and held her over for several weeks. Through Cardin she went to Japan for the first time and later made her first European TV special. Later she was invited by the Prince and Princess of Monaco to perform in Monte Carlo.


Vivian has appeared on many TV variety and talk shows both nationally and internationally including ‘The Tonight Show,’ ‘The Today Show’ and the ABC-TV daytime drama, ‘One Life To Live.’ She has shared the bill with such notable performers as Bill Cosby, Pattie Labelle, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Audra McDonald, Elaine Stritch, Alan King, Sammy Davis Jr., Quincy Jones, Ashford and Simpson and Charles Aznavour just to name a few. Her film credits include ‘Heading for Broadway,’ ‘L'Africaine’ with Catherine Deneuve and ‘Le Rumba,’ in which she portrayed Josephine Baker. Recently she produced and starred in a short film ‘What Goes Around’ written by Angela Gibbs.


Vivian has also brought her nightclub act to major gatherings of organizations and dignitaries, including Mercedes Benz, IBM, Top Fashion Designers Gala at the Theatre Champs Elysees and the American Film Festival in Deauville. She appeared at the Festival del Vina in Chile along with other top performers and received the coveted ‘Torch Award,’ an honor bestowed by the mayor and citizens of Vina for only the most exceptional and stirring performances.


Vivian has been featured in the world's most read and influential news and fashion magazines such as Vogue, Elle, Paris Match, People, Ebony, Cover of Jet and Time Magazine. Her personal style and taste for designer clothes have won her a place on Mr. Blackwell's Best Dressed Women List and she was selected by People Magazine as one of the ‘25 Most Intriguing People of the Year.’


Vivian has received critical acclaim in major productions of ‘Sophisticated Ladies,’ ‘Roar of the Greasepaint,’ ‘Smell of the Crowd,’ ‘Blues in the Night,’ ‘Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope,’ ‘High Rollers’ and ‘Show Boat’ in which she portrayed the role of 'Queenie' and Tintypes. Her recent plays include ‘Blues for an Alabama Sky,’ ‘Crumbs from the Table of Joy,’ ‘Pork Pie’ and ‘Cookin' at the Cookery.’ Vivian was featured in the highly anticipated ‘Marie Christine’ at Lincoln Center. She also portrayed Lena Horne in a new piece, ‘More Than A Song’ with the Pittsburgh Ballet Company at the Benedum Theater in Pittsburgh.


Vivian contributed her talents to the Lena Horne Awards Show hosted by Bill Cosby honoring Rosie O'Donnell and Quincy Jones at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts in New York. She appeared in ‘Three Mo' Divas,’ the follow-up to ‘Three Mo' Tenors’ at the San Diego Rep. and Arena Stage in Washington, DC and as an actress received critical acclaim for her portrayal as Gloria Franklin in ‘The Second Tosca.’  Vivian has also given back of her talent by teaching nearly three years at Berklee College of Music in Boston where she created a performance class teaching the many aspects of performing and also establishing a yearly concert event called Singer's Night. Recently she presented her nightclub act to two sold out houses and concluded two book musical workshops ‘One For My Baby’ and ‘The Countess Of Storyville.’


Vivian took a few years off from performing to help care fro her elderly parents in their last years. Now she is back to her career full time.  Besides her theatrical career she has made a total of six albums, done voice overs and TV commercials and she is a professional photographer and scarf designer for VJR scarves.  






AM:  Vivian you are what I think of as a Renaissance woman since you do so many things.  How did you get started designing scarves?


VR:  My mother was an incredible seamstress.  She made all our clothes as we were growing up.  Even the gowns for my first concerts.  She taught me how to sew.  I always wanted to design scarves, but because I was taking care of her, my heart just wasn’t in it.  Being the Gemini that I am, I wanted to launch into it with passion and everything.  After she passed, I said I was going to start doing some of the things I really wanted to do.  I took three months off and went to the fabric district and bought a bunch of fabric and started sewing.  I sew every scarf myself.  I painted every one of the 30 inch square scarves.  I like to paint in the abstract and see what comes out.


AM:  So you have a lot of creative energy.


VR:  Yes I do.


AM:  Do you notice if this creative energy has stayed the same all your life or has it increased or decreased?


VR:  The only thing that has decreased is my passion for building things.  I can rival any contractor with power tools.  I have every tool imaginable. I’ve built cabinets.  My father was a Mr. Fix-It person.  I think I got this from him.  When I bought my brownstone up in Harlem, I wanted to build cabinets for my television and things like that.


AM:  How did you even get started learning about building furniture?


VR:  I went out and bought a lot of power tools and read a lot of books until I became very good at it.  That energy has decreased in me because it takes a certain amount of strength when you are dealing with heavy, large pieces of wood.  But that would be the only thing that has decreased.  I’m so creative and I love doing things with my hands.  The scarves and photography will go on for a while.




AM:  You’re an amazing photographer too and I don’t get to say that very often.


VR:  I feel honored that you would say that.  Thank you.


AM:  How did you get started with photography?


VR:  I didn’t start off wanting to be a photographer but I had a bad experience with a photographer in New York.  To this day I didn’t get a photo I can use out of the session.  I had a feeling the photos wouldn’t be right after the session was over and they were not.


AM:  That can actually hurt.


VR:  I got angry and cried because it cost a lot of money.  So I pulled my little camera out of the closet and moved my furniture around.  I started shooting with my remote control and one shot turned out.  I was surprised that it looked good.  So that’s how it started.  Once again I bought lots of books and took thousands of photos.


AM:  That’s how you get good!


VR:  I would bring people over and shoot them for nothing.  At first I didn’t light the background but I learned how important that is so I started lighting it.


AM:  What is your favorite type of photo to take?


VR:  I love dark, creative, dramatic, theatrical lighting.  I understand it because I come from the theater.


AM:  I love that style too.  So did you buy a bunch of photography equipment?


VR:  Yes I did and as you know it is expensive.


AM:  People don’t always realize how expensive photography is.  You have certainly mastered the art of taking portraits.


VR:  Thank you!


AM:  You will always be an amazing singer since that is how I first knew of you.  I know you had an album out before ‘Bubbling Brown Sugar.’


VR:  I had a couple of albums out there.  I don’t even like to talk about my recording career.


AM:  That album on Epic is stellar.


VR:  I was a baby then.  When you look at the cover you can still see the baby fat in my face.


AM:  You make every song on that album your own.  You always do cover songs in a special and unique way.


VR:  When Bobby Schiffman and Honi Coles owned the Apollo Theater and became my managers, I was eighteen and still going to Juilliard.  We talked about when you have music that everyone knows you have to take that piece of music and see how you can put your stamp on it.  Otherwise, why else would you do it?  I teach this same thing to my students now.  Now that I’m doing my show at 54 Below I met with the musicians and one of them said, “Oh I know that song.” and I said, “No you don’t.  You only know the title.”


AM:  Your arrangements and phrasing are always very specific to you.


VR:  Yes I will sometimes work with arrangers to get the right key so it becomes a collaborative work but the phrasing is all me.  Nobody can tell me how to sing it.


AM:  It seems so innate for you.  It’s like it magically happens.


VR:  Well a lot of times it does.  A lot of people believe that if you are African American you can automatically riff and that’s not true.  That is crazy.  I tell my students don’t do what isn’t natural because then it will sound like that.


AM:  One of your most famous songs is ‘God Bless The Child.’


VR:  I put a different stamp on ‘God Bless The Child’ for 'Bubbling Brown Sugar.’  There were some jazz enthusiasts that were upset because I had touched the great Billie Holliday.  I didn't even want to do the song.  It wasn’t my kind of thing.  I didn’t want a bunch of heavy jazz chords, and I like jazz, but just not for that song.  So we changed some of the chords and that’s how my version of ‘God Bless The Child’ came out.  Now I can’t do a show without including it some 30 years later.


AM:  What makes your version different?


VR:  I sing it with a bit of R&B and Gospel so it’s not how people are used to hearing it.  One time a few years ago I did a pre-Grammy show with Merry Clayton and Darlene Love for Clive Davis and I sang 'Wind Beneath My Wings.' When I was done singing the song, Clive came up to me and told me it was the best arrangement and I made him forget Bette Midler’s version.  I said that was the whole point.  He loved it and I got a standing ovation.


AM:  You can make us forget all other singers when you are singing.


VR:  I think that’s the approach any artist should take if you are doing covers.  I’m all about keeping the integrity of the piece.  That is essential, but you have to find a way to make it yours.