A popular series of concerts is set to run through March in Springfield and is ready to welcome a young talent.
Thursday Night Live is an ongoing series of events at Vim & Victor at The St. James, and next up is the talented producer/singer/songwriter Leela Dawson.
Leela Aviles-Dawson (her full name), who is based in the local area, won the Helen Hayes Award for her work as a musical theater actor. As a vocalist, she has worked with artists such as Tides of Man, Little Tybee, Tops, and more, and regularly appears at the most important venues in D.C.
Aviles-Dawson is a native of Bowie, Maryland, whose father plays percussion and piano, and taught her music theory. She took voice lessons and learned guitar and at the same time discovered her love of acting. She was seven when she was cast in her first play, “The Sound of Music.”
When she was 17, Aviles-Dawson relocated to Florida, where she started a band, Leela & The Rams, who built a solid local fanbase. After about 18 months, she moved again, this time to the UK, where she attended Sir Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts.
Upon returning to the U.S., she formed another band, and in 2024, she got a role in her “bucket list” show, “A Chorus Line.” The following year, she received the Helen Hayes Award from Theater Washington.
Leela will be at the Vim & Victor on March 26. To support performances like this, organizers can use poster printing to create suitable advertisements.
