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Shorewood
native Lori Holton Nash, known to audiences as "Miss
Lori," is PBS KIDS’ first live host.
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Lori Holton Nash makes her rise to PBS
KIDS fame sound like child’s play.
The Wisconsin native — she’s a
Shorewood High School graduate — has been acting since she was just
9, when she landed her first role with the Children’s Theatre of
Madison. "The minute I got it, I didn’t stop," she says.
Indeed. At age 12, "Miss
Lori," as the first-ever live host of PBS KIDS is known, became
the youngest scholarship student for classical voice at the Wisconsin
Conservatory of Music.
And even before high school, she
answered the Shorewood Players’ call for auditions for "The
Fantasticks."
"I really got high up on the
list," says Holton Nash, only to be told, "We can’t give
you this part if you’re not in college or an adult."
Not one to be deterred, Holton Nash,
now 37, wound up working at The Skylight in Milwaukee, the former Next
Generation Theatre and the old Melody Top, all while still in her
teens. "You’ve got to go after your dreams," she says.
For her, that meant auditioning for
"The Mystery of Edwin Drood" in New York. "I went to
New York just to feel what it would be like. I was just turning 18.
"They cast me in that tour,"
she says.
Her next dream was the Boston
Conservatory, where she earned a bachelor’s in musical theater, with
honors. But New York beckoned again.
"I was asked to be a part of Hush
Productions. Ultimately, I realized the music business wasn’t the
route I wanted to go," she says.
Neither was television. "L.A. and
I weren’t good friends," she says. "You’re asked to be a
bimbo unless proven otherwise."
But that’s where she met her husband,
Larry Nash, and the two decided to settle in Chicago and raise their
family; the two have three children — Skyler, Kaiann and Jaedyn.
That’s also where Holton Nash decided her career needed refocusing.
"It’s almost like your DNA
changes," Nash says of having children. "Doing eight shows a
week was no longer the be-all and end-all."
Instead, spending time with her
children was priority No. 1. "I would always have a stroller full
of toys. Everyone knew me as ‘Miss Lori.’"
Founding The C.A.M.P.U.S. Inc.
(Celebrating Artistry Musicality Physicality United Successfully), a
recreational arts program for families, seemed the next logical dream.
So did her segue to PBS KIDS last year. "I really found my true
path," she says.
Chosen among 1,500 applicants after a
nationwide search, Nash has two full seasons filmed already.
"It’s great to be part of a
network that’s giving back to children," she says.
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