Nita Whitaker

Nita Whitaker LaFontaine

Born: Nita Whitaker
28 November, 1959
Birthplace: Shreveport, Louisiana

“Find a quiet place to rejuvenate, reflect, and always let your light shine. Always choose love over all and pray for guidance when mountains won’t move in your life. Use your life and see what a difference you can make, and when things look dark, that’s when I’ll be there, and finally to ease your heart, remember that heaven holds the ones we love.”

~ Nita Whitaker LaFontaine

Through The Fire
By Michael Holloway

One of the common threads in Nita Whitaker LaFontaine’s three albums to date is universal love, indeed she radiates beauty and love in every song she sings, and often she does not even have to sing to achieve this. Her ability to inspire and uplift is captured in every word she writes even before it is set to music.

Nita Whitaker (1994), One Voice (2001), and Life Stories (2006) each weave a rich tapestry of living life to the full and enjoying every moment, even through the bleakest heartaches and disappointments.

In September 2008, Whitaker’s beloved husband Don LaFontaine was rushed to hospital with a severe case of pneumothorax, a condition where gas becomes trapped in the pleural cavity and in some cases, like this one, causes a fatal blood clot in the lungs. Don LaFontaine was one of the most versatile and respected voice over artists in the industry, having provided the voice overs for more than 5000 film trailers, TV advertisements, network promotions, and video game trailers through his long career.

Whitaker is inspirational because even in the face of such a tragedy and its long lasting aftereffects, she channels her beliefs, thoughts, and feelings into music and uses her incredible gift to ease the life journeys of those who listen to her music. Such beauty and selflessness makes her such a precious gem in the music world because she transcends music into life and gives it such vitality and hope.

As Whitaker herself states, “You may see yourself or your situation in some of these songs. I hope so because those stories came from you. I wanted to share some stories of what can happen in a life and I may be telling your story. Thanks for listening.”
Sweeping

Whitaker recently had an article called “Sweeping” published in an online magazine called Inspired Women Magazine. In this article, she describes the grieving process as coming to terms with the hardships of life, and then scrubbing the dirt-cluttered soul clean with positive thoughts and prayers.

“One year and a half ago, my sweet husband Don LaFontaine ascended and it felt as though an earth-shaking volcano had erupted and spewed a mountain of ash over my life. I had no idea if I would ever see the sun again and many days, I wondered if I could truly smile again after crying myself to sleep for months. I had no idea where the shovel was, this was too much for a broom.

I needed to dig myself out and head toward the light of life so I could lead my children to it also. I knew I had to, but I didn’t know how. The miracle for me was that my family and friends showed up with their shovels of love, prayer, and concern. They began to dig towards me heaping away the ash. They kept reaching for me as I reached for them. Their love pulled me toward the light at the end of the tunnel. I’m so thankful to them.”

Just as another inspirational musician, Beth Nielsen Chapman lost her husband to cancer in 1994, Whitaker knows that while she will never be completely free from this cloud of ash that has separated her from her husband, she is no longer buried under a crushing mountain of melancholy. Instead, the love of family and friends, the love of God, and the knowledge that someday she will see her beloved again gives us all hope for a better future. It is an ongoing journey, but one we do not have to travel alone.
Use Your Life

On her second album One Voice, Whitaker wrote and recorded a powerful song called “Use Your Life” which is how she chooses to work through her own pain in hopes that her listeners can do the same and in turn inspire others.

“Use your life today to make the world a better place
Use your life right now to put a smile on someone’s face
Make a mark, not a scar
And believe in what you are
Take the time to start
Time to take your part
Open your heart, use your life…”

 
One Voice, together with its predecessor, the self-titled Nita Whitaker, and its successor, Life Stories can all be purchased exclusively from CDBaby.com, although only Life Stories appears to be currently in stock at present.

Each one of these albums is a gem and will light up your heart no matter what hardships have threatened to eclipse your soul.

See below for a music video for another classic Nita Whitaker song, “Feels Like Home.”

Nita’s Music Video – “Feels Like Home”

 
Ten Commandments: The Musical

In 2004, Whitaker joined the cast of Ten Commandments: The Musical, a stage show performed at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, and simultaneously filmed for a DVD release. Whitaker played Zipporah, the wife of Moses (Val Kilmer) in a cast that also included: Michelle Pereira as Yokebed, Luba Mason as Bithia, Lauren Kennedy as Nefertari, Adam Lambert as Joshua, Nicholas Rodriguez as Aaron, Alisan Porter as Miriam, Kevin Earley as Ramses, and Aharon Ipale as Seti.

As Zipporah, Whitaker sang and danced beautifully and her romantic scenes with Kilmer were heartfelt and deeply emotive. Her two solos “The One” and “Rain Down Stars (A Wedding Blessing)” showed Whitaker to be an artist who can easily merge saucy and sweet, with equal measures of fire and stardust into the same performance. Together with Rodriguez, she also performs a reprise of Porter and Lambert’s “Horns Of Jericho.”

However, the finest moment (for me) came when Whitaker joined Mason and Pereira for what has to be the most beautiful song ever sung on stage or put on film, “Where We Belong” where the three women describe Moses importance in their lives as a husband and a son to his birth mother (Pereira) and adoptive mother (Mason), and how he was born for a higher purpose and belongs to all the people. Whitaker also performed in the grand finale ensemble “A Prayer For Life” and the curtain call sequence.

On the special features section of the DVD is a comic moment where Whitaker is interviewed, she speaks volumes of praise for her co-star Kilmer, who in a priceless fit of mischief announces to the audience that “I feel I should let you know that she’s a psychotic liar…” to which Whitaker bursts into laughter. One can imagine the other pranks that might have occurred during the show’s run and the warmth and camaraderie between the cast members offstage makes the whole experience even richer.
Inspirational Words Of Wisdom

Whitaker offers the following as her most devout prayer.

“As we move into the the New Year, I know that each life has a journey and a purpose. I believe that one of mine is to share with you through words and song. Life is often calm seas but can feel like raging waters most of the time. How do we weather these life storms? This is where faith comes into action. We have to ride out those raging waters with our faith in God because eventually they will become calm again. Today is a beautiful day and I accept that and am grateful for it. The promise of what tomorrow will be is the unknown but living in the moment right now is a gift of life and a huge blessing. Consider those people in Haiti whose world has literally been turned upside down. Remember to tap into those New year’s hopes with the promises of new ideas, dreams to move toward, and use that as a refresh button for life.

It is my wish that it will not be fleeting, but that we continue to spread love with random acts of kindness and good will for all people.”
If you wish to become a Nit Whit (Whitaker’s own affectionate term for her legions of fans) you can learn more about this amazing lady here:

Nita Whitaker Official Website

Nita Whitaker Official Facebook

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