Lamar Alford

Lamar Alford (October 11, 1944 - March 29, 1991) was an American actor and singer.

Early life

Wilkie Lamar Alford was born on October 11, 1944 in Troy, Alabama. He was the youngest of five children (Fletcher, Franklin, Bertha, Stella, and Lamar), and his father was a Baptist minister.

Alford began taking voice lessons in New York City at age 19, and later sang as a tenor with the New York City Opera. Once in New York, he worked extensively at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in the East Village of Manhattan. He was a member of the Great Jones Repertory Company, a resident company at La MaMa, during the 1970s. He was also a member of Tom Eyen's Theatre of the Eye Repertory Company.

Repertory theatre

Alford first appeared in a production at La MaMa in 1969. He appeared in multiple Eyen plays that year, including "Four No Plays by Tom Eyen" with the Theatre of the Eye Repertory Company. He also appeared in excerpts from the "Four No Plays" presented alongside excerpts from ''Why Hanna's Skirt Won't Stay Down'' and ''Who Killed My Bald Sister Sophie'', both written and directed by Eyen. Eyen dedicated this production to the "West Village raid of June 26, 1969", which would later be known as the Stonewall riots.

He also appeared in Eyen's ''Caution: A Love Story'' and ''Hurricane of the Eye'' at La MaMa in 1969. That same year, he appeared in Edward de Grazia's ''The Americans'' as directed by Martin Brenzell at La MaMa. He also appeared in Donald Julian's ''In Praise of Folly'' as directed by Marshall W. Mason and Ching Yeh's ''Wanton Soup'', both at La MaMa in 1969. Alford also wrote the music for Adrienne Kennedy's '' A Rat's Mass,'' and appeared in the production at La MaMa in 1969 and again in 1971.

Acting

Lamar made his Broadway debut as Lamar in the 1971 musical ''Godspell'', and sings the solo on the song "All Good Gifts" on the original cast recording.

Music composer

In 1970, he appeared in and composed the music for a production of ''Arden of Faversham'' and Alfred Jarry's '' Ubu'' as directed by Andrei Serban at La MaMa. That same year, he appeared in and composed the music for Paul Foster's adaptation of ''Heimskringla'' as directed by Ching Yeh at La MaMa. He also wrote the music for Antoine Bourseiller's production of Joachim Neugroschel's ''Baudelaire!'' at La MaMa in 1970. In April 1970, Alford directed a benefit performance called ''Bang Too'' (following a 1965 benefit called ''BbAaNnGg'') at La MaMa. The 1970 benefit featured performances by John Vaccaro's Playhouse of the Ridiculous, Sam Shepard, and O-Lan Johnson, among many others.

Playwright

Alford's own play, ''Thoughts'', was produced at La MaMa in 1972, 1973, and 1974. The 1972 production featured performances by Mary Alice and Jeffrey Mylett, among others. The 1973 production featured a similar cast. Neither Mary Alice nor Mylett appeared in the 1974 production, but Andre de Shields was added to that year's cast. Th
Jarboro Company
took the play on tour to Venezuela in 1974. Alford was also musical director for several productions at La MaMa. These included Wilhelm Pevny's ''Sprint Orgasmics'' as adapted by Gitta Honneger and directed by Gotz Fritsch and Andy Robinson's ''Spring-Voices'' as directed by Joel Zwick, both in 1969.

In 1975, he appeared in a production of Bertolt Brecht's '' Good Woman of Setzuan'' as adapted by Eric Bentley and directed by Andrei Serban, with music by Elizabeth Swados. He appeared in that play again at La MaMa in 1978. He also appeared in Serban and Swados' "Fragments of a Trilogy: ''The Trojan Women'' and ''Electra''" at La MaMa in 1978.La MaMa Archives Digital Collections
"Production: 'Fragments of a Trilogy: ''The Trojan Women'' and ''Electra'' (1978)'". Accessed August 22, 2018.
/ref> These Serban/Swados productions were all with the Great Jones Repertory Company.

Morehouse College

In 1982, he became dramatist- in-residence at Morehouse College, a historically black college in Atlanta, Georgia. At Morehouse, he founded the Kings Players, a theatre group.

Death

Alford died at the age of 46 on March 29, 1991 at Crawford Long Hospital.

References

External links

*

Alford's page on La MaMa Archives Digital Collections

"Remembering Lamar Alford, David Haskell, and Jeffrey Mylett" on TheGodspellExperience.com (December 2014)

1971 photograph of Alford and other ''Godspell'' actors
on New York Public Library Digital Collections
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alford, Lamar
1944 births
1991 deaths
People from Troy, Alabama
American male musical theatre actors
20th-century American male singers
20th-century American singers