Leslie Odom Jr. (Photo by Nathan Johnson courtesy SPARC)
Leslie Odom Jr., the singer, actor, author catapulted into fame as the original Broadway Aaron Burr in “Hamilton,” is featured in a film about abolitionist Harriet Tubman recently filmed in Richmond. The multi-talented performer is speaking Monday, Jan. 21, at 6 p.m. at the School of Performing Arts in the Richmond Community (SPARC)’s Sara Belle November Educational Theater. Richmond's own triple-threat singer-actor-dancer Desirée Roots is moderating. Proceeds from ticket sales will support SPARC’s scholarship fund.
The event came about because Odom, while on a break from filming in Richmond, spent time at the Little Nomad children’s apparel shop on Broad Street on a November morning prior to Thanksgiving. He was not trying to attract attention.
“I was doing a quick little photo shoot for the store,” store co-owner Anthony Bryant explains. “We converged at the door. I didn’t really know who he was at the time.”
Anthony Bryant (Photo by Sarah Walor)
Odom looked around the store and realized he needed to go, but he’d return in about an hour. “I didn’t think much of it,” Bryant says. The actor came back, Bryant showed Odom around his shop, and they discussed the Little Nomad philosophy, which arose from Bryant and his wife, Nora, raising two girls and the desire for clothing that didn’t adhere to gender stereotypes. And further, that the garments be made by people working in hospitable environments for a living wage.
“I’m sure that in his travels he’s seen plenty of little boutiques,” Bryant says. “He’s a relatively new father, too. He seemed to think that we do things a little differently.” From Drag Queen Story Time to in-store medical professional Q&A sessions, Little Nomad isn’t just kid stuff.
“[Odom] really liked how the main pillar of our model is a commitment to the community,” Bryant says. “He seemed to connect with our commitment to succeed in retail in a brick-and-mortar way, but with acknowledgement of the online component. That resonated with him.”
Bryant, a Chesterfield County native, says that Odom liked Little Nomad’s principles, but after dinner at Saison and spending time here, Odom has also become fond of the city.
They talked a great deal about Richmond, its historical ebbs and flows, the backstory, and where we are today.
Connecting threads came out of these discussions. Little Nomad supports a day of service for the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. But this year, Bryant wanted to make it a larger event.
“This event will give other kids the opportunity to participate in what SPARC is offering,” Bryant says.
The SPARC theater holds 120, and tickets go on sale at 9 a.m. Jan. 17, $50 per person for a ticket only and $75 for a ticket and a copy of Odom’s book, "Failing Up: How to Take Risks, Aim Higher, and Never Stop Learning." Preregister and get further information here or on Facebook.
If you can’t make the SPARC event, Odom will appear at 3 p.m. Jan. 19 at the John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville as the 2019 University of Virginia President’s Speaker for the Arts. He’ll speak briefly then engage in a moderated discussion with UVA President Jim Ryan. That event is free and open to the public.
