Meet Laura Nicole Harrison

Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura Nicole Harrison.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Laura Nicole. So, let’s start at the beginning, and we can move on from there.
When I was two years old, my parents took me to see a local Chicago production of The Wiz. At intermission, I told my mom, “I want to do that.” Most of my childhood was spent in the theater, and I got my Actors Equity card at age 12 playing Little Girl in the first national tour of Ragtime. I studied acting at Northwestern University where I met my romantic and creative partner Keith Harrison. We got married in 2010 and packed up the jalopy a week later, heading west to the land of dreams and kale smoothies.

In our first year in LA I got a job sorting berries for an organic laundry soap company, spent 6 months as Ariana Grande’s stand-in on Nickelodeon’s Victorious, booked a shark attack movie on SyFy and a guest star on the series finale of WEEDS, and won a motorcycle from Wayne Brady on Let’s Make a Deal (which I sold to a carpenter on Craigslist). Every year since then has been equally eclectic.

I’ve done performance capture work for Square Enix video games, danced in a music video for The Killers, choreographed a holiday spectacular at Temple Israel of Hollywood in which Leonard Nimoy played God (literally), toured symphony halls around the country singing with Jason Alexander, and played a series regular on a short-lived YouTube Originals comedy series called Sing It!

And throughout all of these adventures, Keith and I have been writing and creating our own work: short films, music videos, and a full-length musical called Emojiland, which had an award-winning run off-Broadway at the New York Musical Festival this past summer and is being prepared for more in 2019.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
At the premiere party for Sing It!, the writers and producers were talking about season 2 storylines, and how they were so excited for my character Kali’s next adventures. Two weeks later we got canceled. Managing expectations is the key to psychological survival in this town. The only thing predictable about this career is the lack of predictability.

It’s like, one moment you’re living your best life, working on a great project, feeling fabulous and fulfilled, and the next you’re feeling that post-show depression. Maybe that’s why some of my favorite moments in LA have been the result of getting a group of friends together and saying “let’s make something today.”

For example, a few years ago we shot an improvised web series called Crystal’s Balls, in which I played a psychic medium named Crystal with not one, but TWO crystal balls (slash fancy lightbulbs on clearance from the nearby hardware store). Eight hours later, we had a season in the can that ended up earning me an Outstanding Lead Actress nomination at the 2017 LAWebFest.

And however many pots may be on the stove, most days it’s the age-old story about pounding the pavement, scrambling for auditions, and counting the blessings as they come. I guess you could say I’m hooked on this biz of show and don’t plan on hanging up my hat any time soon.

We’d love to hear more about what you do.
Keith and I have a production company called Arborhouse Productions. We produce films, TV projects, commercials, live theater shows, and music and comedy videos. Plus we write and perform, together and/or separately, in whatever other projects come along.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
A true Sagittarius, I love the social aspect of making art.  Likes, views, followers, dollars, IMDb rankings… those things come and go. And sure, collaborators do too. But moment-to-moment, it’s the people close to me whose opinions and tastes give me that sense of validation.

When family and friends say, “I love that video you posted!” or come to give me a hug at the stage door after a show, I feel like a success. When a fan writes about loving something I’ve done online somewhere, I feel like a success.

Basically, if I know I’m bringing joy and light to someone, that’s amazingly fulfilling. It’s harder for me to define success on a comparative scale. I may not be making millions, or have paparazzi trailing my every move, but I feel really lucky to be doing what I love in a city I love with people I love.