January LaVoy
January LaVoy (born in Trumbull, Connecticut) is an American actress and audiobook narrator. As an actress, she is most recognized as Noelle Ortiz on the ABC daytime drama One Life to Live. LaVoy made her Broadway debut in the Broadway premiere of the play Enron at the Broadhurst Theatre on April 27, 2010.[1]
January LaVoy | |
---|---|
Education | Fairfield University (BA) National Theatre Conservatory (MFA) |
Occupation(s) | Television actress Theater actress Voice acting |
Spouses |
|
Awards |
|
Website | januarylavoy |
As an audiobook narrator, she received five Audie Awards and been a finalist for nineteen. In 2013, she won Publishers Weekly's Listen Up Award for Audiobook Narrator of the Year.[2] In 2019, AudioFile named her a Golden Voice narrator.[3]
Personal life
LaVoy married Mat Hostetler on September 4, 2011.[4] They divorced in 2019, and she married fellow narrator and author Will Damron in 2022. They reside in Atlanta, GA.
Education
LaVoy received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Theater from Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut, where she was a member of Theatre Fairfield, the resident production company.[5] She received her Master in Fine Arts degree from the National Theatre Conservatory at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts in Colorado.[6]
Career
Theatre credits
In the fall of 2012, LaVoy created the character of Lena in the world premiere of Pearl Cleage's What I Learned in Paris at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia. Her work has been seen in regional theatres across America, including the Denver Center Theatre Company, Pittsburgh's City Theatre and Public Theater, CATF in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, Philadelphia's Wilma Theater, and the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. LaVoy played the character Risa in the 2007 Lucille Lortel Award-winning play, Two Trains Running.[7] She received the 2004 Denver Post Ovation Award, as Best Actress, for her portrayal of Portia in the Denver Center Theatre Company's production of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.[8]
LaVoy played the role of Helen Keller in the play, Helen Keller Speaks, performed first on March 14, 2009, at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at Fairfield University in Connecticut. The play was written by John Orman, a professor of politics at Fairfield University and a former teacher of LaVoy's. The play captures the social activist views of Keller based on her documented speeches and letters between 1913 and 1919.[9]
LaVoy was featured in Signature Theatre Company's Off-Broadway production of Samm-Art Williams' Home playing Woman One/Pattie Mae Wells,[10] as well as productions of Adrienne Kennedy's Funnyhouse of a Negro, and the world premiere of Will Eno's Wakey, Wakey alongside emmy winner Michael Emerson. She also performed in the world premiere of the musical Coraline at the MCC Theater.[11] She shares a 2019 Lucille Lortel nomination for Outstanding Play with The Mad Ones, Phillip James Brannon, Brad Heberlee, and Carmen M. Herlihy. In 2022, LaVoy was nominated for two Helen Hayes awards -- Outstanding Lead Performer in a Play, and Outstanding Direction in a Play (co-nominated with Adam Immervahr) for her work in Anna Deavere Smith's Fires in the Mirror at Theater J.
Television and film credits
In addition to her role on One Life to Live, LaVoy has been seen on Law & Order (including the SVU and Criminal Intent franchises), All My Children, Guiding Light, and 3 Lbs.. Guest star appearances include Elementary, NOS4A2, and Blue Bloods. She also appeared in Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds and the short film High Ground.
Voiceover and audiobooks
LaVoy has voiced many national commercials, including for Toll House, Revlon, Home Depot, Danone, and UnitedHealth Group.
In 2008, she recorded her first audiobook under a pseudonym because she feared the work may interfere with her roles on soap operas.[3] Since then, she has recorded dozens of audiobooks for publishing houses such as Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, Penguin Audio, and Macmillan Audio, including the following:
- Version Control by Dexter Palmer
- The Diviners series by Libba Bray
- 11th Hour by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
- 12th of Never by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
- Private Berlin by James Patterson and Mark T. Sullivan (Co-read with Ari Fliakos)
- Guilty Wives by James Patterson and David Ellis
- Invisible by James Patterson and David Ellis
- Women's Murder Club series by James Patterson and various authors (book 11 onwards)
- If I'm Dead by Marcia Clark
- Guilt By Association by Marcia Clark
- Guilt By Degrees by Marcia Clark
- Killer Ambition by Marcia Clark
- Sweet Valley Confidential by Francine Pascal
- Triangles by Ellen Hopkins
- Dreams of the Dead by Perri O'Shaughnessy
- Skinnydipping by Bethenny Frankel
- Shadow Show - inspired by Ray Bradbury
- The Bridge by Karen Kingsbury
- The Beginning by Karen Kingsbury
- The Chance by Karen Kingsbury
- Angels Walking series by Karen Kingsbury (Co-read with Kirby Heyborne)
- The Baxters series by Karen Kingsbury (Co-read with Kirby Heyborne)
- A Distant Shore by Karen Kingsbury (Co-read with Kirby Heyborne)
- Thief River Falls by Brian Freeman
- The Deep, Deep Snow by Brian Freeman
- The Third Twin by Ken Follett
- The Hammer of Eden by Ken Follett
- The Liar by Nora Roberts
- Shelter in Place by Nora Roberts
- Under Currents by Nora Roberts
- Hideaway by Nora Roberts
- Legacy by Nora Roberts
- The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks (Co-read with Ron McLarty)
- I've Got My Eyes on You by Mary Higgins Clark
- You Don't Own Me by Mary Higgins Clark
- Kiss the Girls and Make Them Cry by Mary Higgins Clark
- Piece of My Heart by Mary Higgins Clark
- Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void by Tim Lebbon
- Star Wars: Bloodline by Claudia Gray
- Star Wars: Phasma by Delilah S. Dawson
- Missing You by Harlan Coben
- Fool Me Once by Harlan Coben
- Agenda 21 by Glenn Beck and Harriet Parke
- Agenda 21: Into the Shadows by Glenn Beck and Harriet Parke
- Camino Island by John Grisham
- Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Accused by Lisa Scottoline
- Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Narrated by a full cast. LaVoy played the character, Camila Dunne)
- The Gifted School by Bruce Holsinger
- The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
Awards and honors
Awards
"Best of" lists
Year | Title | List | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
2014 | Missing You (2014) by Harlan Coben | AudioFile Best of Mystery & Suspense | [22] |
The Competition (2014) by Marcia Clark | AudioFile Best of Mystery & Suspense | [22] | |
2015 | Lair of Dreams (2015) by Libba Bray | AudioFile Best of Young Adult | [22] |
2016 | Version Control (2016) by Dexter Palmer | AudioFile Best of Science Fiction & Fantasy | [22] |
Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure by Cecil Castellucci and Jason Fry | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults | [42] | |
2017 | The Meaning of Michelle (2017), edited by Veronica Chambers | AudioFile Best of NonFiction & Culture | [22] |
Camino Island (2017) by John Grisham | AudioFile Best of Mystery & Suspense | [22] | |
My Life, My Love, My Legacy (2017) by Coretta Scott King as told to Rev. Dr. Barbara Reynolds | AudioFile Best of Memoir | [22] | |
2018 | Before She Was Harriet (2017) by Lesa Cline-Ransome | Booklist's Audio Stars for Youth | [43] |
Hope Nation (2018), edited by Rose Brock | AudioFile Best of Young Adult | [22] | |
Unicorn Rescue Society, Books 1–2: The Creature of the Pines and The Basque Dragon by (2018) Christopher Smith and others | Booklist's Audio Stars for Youth | [43] | |
2019 | Before She Was Harriet (2017) by Lesa Cline-Ransome | ALSC's Notable Children's Recordings | [44][45] |
Charlotte's Web (1952) by E. B. White | AudioFile Best of Children & Family Listening | [22] | |
Daisy Jones & The Six (2019) by Taylor Jenkins Reid | AudioFile Best of Fiction, Poetry & Horror | [22] | |
Eliza Hamilton (2018) by Tilar J. Mazzeo | AudioFile Best of Biography | [22] | |
Look Both Ways (2019) by Jason Reynolds | AudioFile Best of Children & Family Listening | [22] | |
The Ten Thousand Doors of January (2019) by Alix E. Harrow | AudioFile Best of Sci-Fi, Fantasy & Horror | [22][46] | |
Trailblazer (2019) by Dorothy Butler Gilliam | AudioFile Best of Memoir | [22] | |
2020 | Charlotte's Web (1952) by E. B. White | ALSC's Notable Children's Recordings | [47] |
Unicorn Rescue Society, Books 1–2: The Creature of the Pines and The Basque Dragon (2018) by Christopher Smith and others | Booklists Top 10 SF/Fantasy & Horror Audiobooks for Youth | [48] | |
2021 | Four Hundred Souls (2021), edited by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain | AudioFile Best of History & Biography | [22][49] |
King of Crows by Libba Bray | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults | [50] | |
Red Hood by Elana K. Arnold | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults | [50] | |
2022 | Class Act by Jerry Craft | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults | [51] |
Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre (2021) by Carole Boston Weatherford | Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults | [51] |
References
- "Weisberg, LaVoy, Kahn and More Added to Broadway's Enron". Archived from the original on 2010-02-21. Retrieved 2010-02-18.
- Boretz, Adam (2014-01-03). "The 2013 Listen-Up Awards". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 2022-10-02. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- "AudioFile Magazine Spotlight on Narrator January LaVoy". AudioFile Magazine. Archived from the original on 2022-12-04. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- "January LaVoy, Mat Hostetler". The New York Times. 2011-09-03. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2022-09-28. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- "Life After Fairfield: January Lavoy '97". fairfield.edu. Fairfield University. 23 February 2016. Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
- "January LaVoy Bio". Archived from the original on 2008-12-08. Retrieved 2008-03-13.
- "In a Diner, Chewing the Fat and Burying the Dead". Archived from the original on 2007-01-29. Retrieved 2008-03-14.
- "LaVoy Finds There Is One Life to Live". Archived from the original on 2008-01-18. Retrieved 2008-02-07.
- "Giving Voice to Helen Keller". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2017-05-22. Retrieved 2017-02-24.
- "NYC's Signature Opens Doors to Home, With Bonner, Carroll, LaVoy, Nov. 11". Archived from the original on 2008-11-13. Retrieved 2008-11-12.
- "Complete Casting Announced for MCC's Coraline". Archived from the original on 2009-03-12. Retrieved 2009-03-19.
- "2013 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults Top Ten". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). 2013-01-31. Archived from the original on 2022-10-03. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- "2013 Audie Awards® - APA (en-US)". Audio Publishers Association. Archived from the original on 2022-09-20. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- "2014 Audie Awards® - APA (en-US)". Audio Publishers Association. Archived from the original on 2021-03-10. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- "2014 Audie Finalists Announced". Publishers Weekly. 2014-02-18. Archived from the original on 2022-09-20. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- "2015 Audie Awards® - APA (en-US)". Audio Publishers Association. Archived from the original on 2022-08-29. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- Lam, Anna (2015-02-05). "YALSA names 2015 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2022-09-26. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- "2015 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). 2015-02-03. Archived from the original on 2022-09-22. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- "2016 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). 2016-01-11. Archived from the original on 2022-12-01. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- "2016 Top Ten Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). 2016-01-11. Archived from the original on 2022-10-07. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- Lam, Anna (2016-01-14). "YALSA names 2016 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2022-09-25. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- "AudioFile Magazine Spotlight on Narrator January LaVoy". AudioFile Magazine. Archived from the original on 2022-12-04. Retrieved 2022-09-27.
- "2016 Audie Awards® - APA (en-US)". Audio Publishers Association. Archived from the original on 2016-06-23. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- Maher, John (2016-05-12). "'Girl on the Train' Among Audie Award Winners". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 2022-09-28. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- "2017 Audie Awards® - APA (en-US)". Audio Publishers Association. Archived from the original on 2019-04-01. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- Coreno, Annie (2017-06-09). "The 'Hamilton' Revolution Continues at the Audies". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 2022-09-22. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- "2017 Top Ten Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). 2017-01-25. Archived from the original on 2022-11-26. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- O'Connor, Nichole (2017-01-31). "YALSA names 2017 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2023-01-26. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- Roback, Diane (2017-01-23). "Barnhill, Steptoe, 'March: Book Three' Win Newbery, Caldecott, Printz". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 2018-04-09. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- Communications and Marketing Office (2017-01-23). "Listening Library wins 2017 Odyssey Award for Anna and the Swallow Man". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 2020-06-26. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- "2017 Odyssey Award". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). 2018-03-14. Archived from the original on 2022-12-02. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- "2018 Audie Awards® - APA (en-US)". Audio Publishers Association. Archived from the original on 2020-12-30. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- "2019 Audie Awards® - APA (en-US)". Audio Publishers Association. Archived from the original on 2021-08-31. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- Maher, John (2019-03-05). "Adeyemi, Turpin Win Top Award at 2019 Audies". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 2022-09-24. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- "2020 Audie Awards® - APA (en-US)". Audio Publishers Association. Archived from the original on 2020-02-03. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- "2020 Audie Awards Finalists Named". Publishers Weekly. 2020-02-03. Archived from the original on 2020-03-10. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- Maher, John (2020-03-03). "A Buoyant 2020 Audie Awards Celebrates 'The Only Plane in the Sky,' Stephen King". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 2021-01-16. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- "2022 Audie Awards® - APA (en-US)". Audio Publishers Association. Archived from the original on 2022-10-06. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- Schaub, Michael (2023-02-24). "Finalists for the 2023 Audie Awards Are Revealed". Kirkus Reviews. Archived from the original on 2023-02-28. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
- "2023 Audie Awards Winners". Audio Publishers Association. Archived from the original on 2023-04-06. Retrieved 2023-05-08.
- "The 2023 Audie Award Winners Are Here". Audible Blog. Archived from the original on 2023-04-08. Retrieved 2023-05-08.
- "2016 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). 2016-01-11. Archived from the original on 2022-12-01. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- Booth, Heather (2019-02-20). Audio Stars for Youth: 2018. Archived from the original on 2022-09-28. Retrieved 2022-09-28 – via Booklist.
- Notable Children's Recordings: 2019. 2019-03-15. Archived from the original on 2022-09-21. Retrieved 2022-09-28 – via Booklist.
- "2019 Notable Children's Recordings". Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC). 2019-12-27. Archived from the original on 2022-07-23. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- "Audiobooks: AudioFile's Best Audio Titles of 2019". Shelf Awareness. 2019-12-04. Archived from the original on 2022-09-28. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- "2020 Notable Children's Recordings". Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC). 2021-01-23. Archived from the original on 2022-07-24. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- Booth, Heather (August 2020). Top 10 SF/Fantasy & Horror Audiobooks for Youth. Archived from the original on 2022-09-28. Retrieved 2022-09-28 – via Booklist.
- "Audiobooks: AudioFile's Best Audio Titles of 2021". Shelf Awareness. 2021-12-08. Archived from the original on 2022-09-22. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- "2021 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). 2021-01-04. Archived from the original on 2021-01-04. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- "2022 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). 2022-02-03. Archived from the original on 2022-10-06. Retrieved 2022-09-28.