Professor Henri Edmonds

PROFESSOR EDMONDS
One of the first classes i took at Howard was taught by Professor Henri Edmonds. In her acting class, I remember her standing in front of us and reciting her famous and memorable line, "It is not Show Business, it is the Business of Show." Well i believe its my business to put aside the show, and show some love to someone who made it her business to show her classmates how much she cared about them.
Professor Edmonds passed away on thursday, and i am quite saddened by that. But i cant help but think back how important she was to my development as an actor, singer, and person. Many people have heard me say its not the music business, but the business of music. Well now you know where that line originates. It was also in her classroom that i wrote the song, The Moon. Someone was reading a monologue and recited, "i love you to the moon and down again, around the world and back again" from the play, Nuts. I heard that line and an entire song fell into my lap. it was one of my first experiences where an entire song just showed up in my head, rather than me having to slave over lines.
I have often said i learned more about singing in my acting classes, than my music classes. I guess my music classes taught me how to sing, while the acting classes taught me how to be what i was singing about. Well Professor Henri Edmonds was one of those teachers responsible for that. I saw her last year and her main concern was that i was taking care of myself and my family, and that i was handling my business. I thank you Professor Edmonds, and i along with all of your students will miss you dearly.

Love Eric