NLS: That All May Read

About the Narrator

Laura Giannarelli

Picture of Laura Giannarelli Hello, this is Laura Giannarelli. I am a native Washingtonian, a summa cum laude graduate of Catholic University of America's Drama Department, and a longtime actor in the nation’s capital.

Fresh out of college in 1979, I began narrating books for the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), Library of Congress. I serve as the narrator for numerous popular series novels, including the Mrs. Murphy cat mysteries written by Rita Mae Brown with her cat Sneaky Pie, the Callahan Brothers romance series by JoAnn Ross, Janette Oake's Love Comes Softly series. I also narrate several children’s series such as Kay Thompson’s Eloise books and Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events novels. Of the books I’ve narrated in recent years, I’m particularly fond of A.S. Byatt’s The Children’s Book and Michael Holroyd’s A Strange Eventful History. To date I have narrated more than eight hundred titles, including how-to books, biographies, serious nonfiction, classics, romances, bestsellers, poetry, and children's books.

My favorite authors include Laura Ingalls Wilder, Joyce Carol Oates, A.S. Byatt and Adriana Trigiani. I record for both NLS studios and Potomac Talking Book Services in Bethesda, MD. The American Foundation for the Blind awarded me an Alexander Scourby Narrator of the Year Award in 1990 for my narration of children's literature. In addition to my narration work, I occasionally travel for NLS, conducting narration workshops for volunteer studios around the country. I truly enjoy meeting patrons and volunteers alike at these events.

My work away from the recording studio centers around acting, as is described on my website www.LauraGee.com. Locally I’ve performed at the Kennedy Center, Metro Stage, Olney Theatre, Round House Theatre, Studio Theatre, Source Theatre, and others over the years and spent four happy seasons with Potomac Theatre Project. In 1986 a number of colleagues and I cofounded The Washington Stage Guild (www.stageguild.org ), a Washington, D.C. theater company that specializes in literary plays. I'm on that theater's board of directors and also a member of the acting company, having appeared in many Guild productions. A past president of the Washington, D.C. Actors' Center (www.actorscenter.org ), I’ve also served on its board of directors for many years.

In 2003 the Theatre Lobby honored me with the Mary Goldwater Award. In 2008, I played Sister Aloysius in Doubt at Everyman Theatre in Baltimore, and most recently I was Lysistrata in the Guild’s spring 2011 production of Shaw’s The Apple Cart. When not on stage, I do voice-overs, industrial films, and occasionally work for TV.

I am most happily married to Clay Teunis, my partner in life and at Tunarelli Sound and Design (www.tunarelli.com ), a small studio that produces audio demos and graphic and web design. We live in suburban Maryland with our black Lab, Markie.

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Posted on 2011-09-06