THE SCENE/vanessa williams
hear photo by Gilles Toucas
Holiday Pops with
by Sarah Hauge
There are approximately a gazillion reasons you may know of Vanessa Williams, a
powerhouse performer and pop icon with more than 35 years in the entertainment industry. Maybe you memorized all the words to “Save the Best for Last” in the ‘90s. Maybe you know of her singing, dancing, and acting on Broadway, or you may have watched her on shows like Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives (along with dozens of other appearances in TV and movies). You likely know that in 1984 she was the first black Miss America, and you might be familiar with her advocacy work or her clothing line available on HSN. She’s sold more than 25 million records and has been nominated for a Tony, four Emmys, and 11 Grammys, and has won six NAACP Image Awards. Williams performed platinum single “Colors of the Wind” from Disney’s Pocahontas, which won an Oscar, a Grammy, and a Golden Globe. Along the way she’s overcome setbacks, disappointments, and adversity, making her success and longevity all the more impressive. One thing she hasn’t done is perform in Spokane—but that’s about to change later this month with a pair of Holiday Pops concerts with the Spokane Symphony. Williams shared
about her far-ranging career, following her instincts and welcoming challenges in a phone interview this fall. Following What You’re Good At From the time she was a kid, the child of music teachers growing up in the suburbs of New York City, Williams knew she wanted to be an entertainer. “I definitely knew that I wanted to perform in New York,” she says. Just a train ride away, performing in New York “was a tangible goal,” she remembers. She majored in musical theater at Syracuse University. “Broadway was the first thing