SIMPLY A&E
on stage
Above: Lane Carlock Howard rehearses a scene with My Name Is Asher Lev co-stars Brian Kurlander (left) and Nick Arapoglou (right). Right: Howard says Buckhead is her “stomping ground.” Photos by Sara Hanna
Commercials and voiceovers are nice, but Lane Carlock Howard’s first love is theater story:
Wendell Brock
Actress wears many masks A
cting is a delicate balance. Just ask Lane Carlock Howard. The wife, mother and lifelong Buckhead resident frequently finds herself memorizing lines when she’s driving carpool or “writing” a play while she’s cooking pasta. A statuesque blond with Grace Kelly good looks, Howard grew up on West Nancy Creek Drive, started acting when she was 4, secured an agent when she was 15 and found herself burned out on theater by the time she was a college sophomore. The Marist School grad ended up with a broadcast journalism degree from the University of Georgia and has since enjoyed a steady career as a TV host and commercial and voiceover talent. And when she’s not juggling her duties as wife (of consumer reporter Clark Howard) and mother (to 7-year-old Grant and 13-year-old Stephi, both students at The Westminster Schools), she manages to squeeze in time for her first love—the stage. “My husband always teases me that I need to be like six people because there are so many different things that I want to do,” Howard says. Recently, she has turned up the dial on her acting career—performing at Actor’s Express (Albatross, 2010), Horizon Theatre (Legacy of Light, 2011), Theatre in the Square (The Ladies Man, 2012) and, now, Theatrical Outfit. From Aug. 22 to Sept. 16, she will demonstrate her versatility in the Outfit’s My
40
September/October 2012 | Simply Buckhead
Name Is Asher Lev, playing the multiple roles of a conservative Jewish mother, a flamboyant gallery owner and (gasp!) a nude model. “Hopefully, it’s just my back,” she says, as if it’s just occurred to her what she’s signed on for. We recently chatted with Howard about her career, her life in Buckhead and the play she’s writing with Asher Lev co-star Brian Kurlander. Tell us about Asher Lev. I just finished the book (by Chaim Potok). It’s really wonderful. Asher is this amazing prodigy. And he is a Hasidic Jew. Painting was really frowned upon by his religion. It’s really the mother (whom Howard plays) who is between Asher and his father. On the one hand, she wants him to find himself, and on the other hand, she is firmly entrenched in the belief system and her husband. So she is really torn between the two. So it’s a really juicy part. And this play you are writing? It’s called Suzy Cream Cheese Goes Inpatient. Suzy Cream Cheese is a Frank Zappa character from a song. It’s loosely based on a memoir by Clark’s cousin (Southern Vapors by Lynn Garson). We’ve been calling it an Atlantamarinated collision of The Help and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, because it’s about a woman who grows up Jewish in Atlanta, very
privileged, and has this extremely domineering mother. It’s really about her never loving herself. She was always getting the message that she wasn’t good enough. She wasn’t thin enough. But she’s also very funny. What do you love about Buckhead? It’s my home. It’s my stomping ground. I know every back road. My 7-year-old and I have dates where we get in my convertible, put the top down, and he tells me where to go. We do this on Sundays, and we find new neighborhoods. You can see his imagination. “That’s the house with the dwarf door.” “That’s the best climbing tree in Atlanta.” It’s just magical. n
Lane’s List Favorite restaurant:
Pasta Vino 2391 Peachtree Road N.E. 30305 404.231.4946. www.pastavinoatlanta.com Favorite clothing store:
Labels Resale Boutique 3202 Paces Ferry Place N.W. 30305 404.841.8444. www.labelsresaleboutique.com Where to see her:
In My Name Is Asher Lev Theatrical Outfit 84 Luckie Street N.W. 30303 877.725.8849. www.theatricaloutfit.org