A Message to the City from Laura Griffith Langs

It’s Tuesday, July 14, and today you’re in for a treat.

This morning’s message comes from the theater artist Laura Griffith Langs, who’s performed on Broadway in shows like The Light in the Piazza, Oklahoma!, and South Pacific, but lives in Seattle and is best known locally for roles at 5th Avenue Theatre and ACT.

Laura took a break from acting three years ago to have a baby, and the baby is now at an age where she’s bouncing off the walls, so Laura wasn’t able to record a new message—but that’s how we ended up with this special treat.

It’s a video of Laura singing to her baby three years ago, back when she enjoyed being sung to (not the case, these days!), and the video is trained entirely on the smiling baby’s face. Remember three years ago? When COVID-19 didn’t exist? We barely do either.

Laura’s singing “Cockeyed Optimist” from South Pacific.

“My daughter was born right before the election in 2016, and I think I sang this song to her a lot when she was a baby because it was my meditation on hope.”

South Pacific was the last show Laura did in New York before coming back west to find love and start a family.

In 2014, in an interview published in The Stranger under the headline “Laura Griffith Keeps Killing It at the 5th Avenue Theatre,” she casually mentioned, “I’ve been single for a while.”

Six months later, she met her future husband, John Langs, who is now the artistic director of ACT Theatre. When Laura appeared as Squeaky Fromme in ACT’s production of Assassins in 2016, she was three months pregnant.

Laura, right, as Squeaky Fromme in Assassins at ACT. ACT Theatre/Photo by Tracy Martin

By the way, the baby? She’s probably the only person in the world who isn’t overjoyed when her mom starts singing. “She is not impressed now,” Laura says. “It’s my only superpower, and she’s totally immune. She won’t tolerate my singing anymore, but she sings to herself all the time which always makes me smile. She is quite the composer.”

Okay, that is hilarious—Mom’s a Broadway star, but baby’s a critic.

Thank you for that laugh, and for your brilliant voice, and for this blast of joy this morning, Laura.

Good luck out there today, everyone.

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Previously in this series:

Natasha Marin’s message to the city on July 13. Courtesy of Natasha Marin

Aaron Bagley’s message to the city on July 10.

Kathy Hsieh’s message to the city on July 9.

Crispin Spaeth’s message to the city on July 8.

Tom and Virginia Dziekonski’s message to the city on July 7.

Pol Rosenthal’s message to the city on July 6.

Betsey Brock’s message to the city on July 2.

Shaina Shepherd’s message to the city on July 1.

Rodger Burnett and Joyce Ramee’s message to the city on June 30.

Charles Leggett’s message to the city June 29.

Rachel Guyer-Mafune’s message to the city on June 26.

Liz Hayes’s message to the city on June 24.

Nicholas Bernard’s message to the city on June 22.

Tariqa Waters’s message to the city on June 19.

Bruce Clayton Tom’s message to the city on June 18.

Isaac Gutierrez’s message to the city on June 17.

Markeith Wiley’s message to the city on June 16.

Aleksa Manila’s message to the city on June 15.

Derrick Ryan Claude Mitchell’s message to the city on June 12.

Bret Fetzer’s message to the city on June 11.

Kyle O’Quin’s message to the city on June 10.

Elisheba Johnson’s message to the city on June 9.

Michael Jinsoo Lim’s message to the city on June 8.

Brandon Ivie’s message to the city on June 5.

Kimya Dawson’s message to the city on June 4.

Jennifer Nelson’s message to the city on June 3.

Erin Jorgensen’s message to the city on June 2.

Brangien Davis and Daniel Spils’s message to the city on June 1.

Timothy De Clue’s message to the city on May 29.

Elizabeth Aquino’s message to the city on May 28.

Christopher Frizzelle’s message to the city on May 27.

Elby Brosch’s message to the city on May 26.

Mila Skyy’s message to the city on May 22.

Michael Lee’s message to the city on May 21.

SassyBlack’s message to the city on May 20.

Seattle Symphony horn section’s message to the city on May 19.

Lori Goldston’s message to the city on May 18.

Ibidunni Ojikutu’s message to the city on May 15.

RL Heyer’s message to the city on May 14.

Garth Stein’s message to the city on May 13.

Okanomodé’s message to the city on May 12.

Zoe Scofield’s message to the city on May 11.

Aham Oluo’s message to the city on May 8.

Pete Rush’s message to the city on May 7.

Trent Moorman’s message to the city on May 6.

Renée Valencia’s message to the city on May 5.

Justin Huertas’s message to the city on May 4.

Charles Mudede’s message to the city on May 1.

Kathryn Rathke’s message to the city on April 30.

Anthony White’s message to the city on April 30.

Miss Texas 1988’s message to the city.

Matt Bishop’s message on April 27.

Cherdonna’s message to the city on April 26.

Shenandoah Davis’s message to the city on April 25.

Lorena González’s message to the city on April 24.

Clyde Petersen’s message to the city on April 23.

David Ritt’s message to the city on April 22.

Sara Porkalob’s message to the city on April 21.

Julia Sweeney’s message to the city on April 20.

Linda Derschang’s message to the city on April 19.

Molly Sides’s message to the city on April 18.

Nick Garrison’s message to the city on April 17.

Tomo Nakayama’s message to the city on April 16.

Rebecca M. Davis’s message to the city April 15.

Heather McHugh’s message to the city on April 14.

Brandon O’Neill’s message to the city on April 13.

Kate Wallich’s message to the city on April 12.

Rebecca Brown’s message to the city on April 11.

Lucien Postlewaite’s message to the city on April 10.

Betty Wetter’s message to the city on April 9.

Amanda Morgan’s message to the city on April 8.

Nancy Guppy’s message to the city on April 7.

Jonathan Biss’s message to the city on April 6.

Chris Jeffries’s message to the city on April 5.

Lesley Hazleton’s message to the city on April 4.

John Roderick’s message to the city on April 3.

Bill Carty’s message to the city on April 2.

Price Suddarth’s message to the city on April 1.

Kary Wayson’s message to the city on March 31.

Ellen Forney’s message to the city on March 30.

Major Scales’s message to the city on March 29.

E. J. Koh’s message to the city on March 28.

Ken Jennings’s message to the city on March 27.

Demarre McGill’s message to the city on March 26.

Lynn Shelton’s Message to the City on March 25th.

Timothy White Eagle’s message to the city on March 24.

Cookie Couture’s message to the city on March 23.

Sarah Rudinoff’s message to the city on March 22.

John Osebold’s message to the city on March 21.

Ben Gibbard’s message to the city on March 20.

Nathan Chan’s message to the city on March 19.