Shannon Knapp and Hazel Leroy (Image by Nate Smallwood)
This story about comes to onStage Pittsburgh as part of Age-Friendly Greater Pittsburgh’s “Picture This” advocacy campaign, to spotlight friendships across generations and celebrate intergenerational connections. The campaign culminates with an exhibition at the August Wilson Center, opening on November 8.
By LISA CUNNINGHAM
Hazel Leroy’s life took an unexpected turn in 2013 when she attended a performance by Shannon Knapp’s new theater company. Hazel was a 59-year-old professor and performer who had stepped away from acting for nearly 20 years. Instead of just an evening of theater, Hazel found a path back to performing — and a lifelong friendship.
At 23 years old, Shannon was fresh out of college and eager to launch her new theater company. When Hazel approached her after the show, Shannon recalls simply being grateful that a newcomer had attended her play — until Hazel unexpectedly pulled out printed notes and ideas she thought might help Shannon’s young company. That small gesture set the stage for a friendship that’s lasted more than a decade.
Thanks in part to Shannon’s encouragement, Hazel soon started auditioning again.
Then, in 2015, Shannon cast her in a production she was directing, and the two have been working together — and showing up for each other’s work — ever since.
They describe their friendship as blurring the lines between mentor and mentee.
Hazel, now 71, says, “Sometimes I’m the solid one; sometimes Shannon is,” adding that even when they disagree, they understand each other. Shannon, now 35, says their conversations “give each other different perspectives on long-held beliefs” and laughs that Hazel still shows up with printed notes.
Their relationship is full of playful teasing, both quick to dish it out and just as quick to laugh when it comes back. They joke about “bossing each other around,” but it’s clear they’re really just comfortable offering each other advice — and taking it. Hazel helped Shannon leave jobs that weren’t a good fit, and Shannon helped Hazel end an unhealthy relationship. Both say they’re better for it.
Both women delight in continually introducing each other to new worlds. Shannon
says she can’t count the number of musicians she didn’t know until Hazel recommended them. Shannon returns the favor by including Hazel in her circles “the most fun I’ve ever had,” Hazel says — like the night Shannon invited her to guest star in her weekly Dungeons & Dragons group, a decades-old role-playing game Hazel had never played before. “It was a hoot,” she says with a laugh.
Their secret to making their relationship work? A lot of listening, plenty of playful banter, and just showing up for each other, whether it’s in the front row of a play, at the dining-room table sorting through paperwork, or in a long string of messages when they’re apart. Shannon describes Hazel’s text messages as “novels,” and during a recent overseas trip, she got the international phone plan because she couldn’t go weeks without talking to Hazel. They both light up when talking about what “being besties” means to them. Shannon says it even comes with a perk: “I get a lot of status cred for being Hazel’s friend,” she says of the actress. “She’s a local celebrity.”
Lisa Cunningham is Director of Marketing and Communications for the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council.
Categories: Arts and Ideas, Feature Stories
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