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W e d n e s d ay, Au g u s t 6, 2025
Lafayette alum joins a distinguished class with Emmy nod The academic struggles of Northside High School in Lafayette, an F-rated school in 2015, have been long documented. Northside has an even longer history of producing renowned alumni, such as million-selling R&B artist Cupid, two-time World Series champion Ron Guidry and UFC stars Justin Poirier and Daniel Cormier. But James Duhon, a cinematographer whose work has Herman been seen by Fuselier millions, isn’t always mentioned with the NHS famous. Perhaps that’ll change with Duhon’s fourth Emmy nomination, this time for director of photography on “BBQ High,” a series about Texas teens cooking in regional competitions. Daytime Emmy winners will be announced Oct. 17. Duhon said the latest nomination, for Outstanding Culinary Cultural Series, came as “a shock.” “We don’t have any control when the producers turn in these shows for awards,” said Duhon, who graduated from Northside in 2000. “You never know when they’re going to say yes. This was one of those they said yes to.” Duhon has heard many yeses in a career that includes 125 TV shows, 100-plus music videos, 63 features films and 35 documentaries. His four Emmy noms include a win for “Rap Trap: Hip Hop on Trail,” a debate on the use of rap lyrics in criminal cases. His two other nominations came for “Steve Gleason: No White Flags” and “Fear of the Black Quarterback.” Duhon, who now lives near Dallas, credits his blue collar roots in Lafayette as the spark of his cinematic career. He tagged along when his mother, a city worker who became a volunteer at the Acadian Open Channel, a public access outlet. At the age of 13, Duhon became AOC’s youngest certified producer and camera operator. The experience earned him
ä See DUHON, page 2G
James Duhon, a Northside High alum and a cinematographer whose work has been seen by millions, has received his fourth Emmy nomination.
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We all knew when she left for college that everyone would see what we saw: amazing talent, comedic timing and kindheartedness.” GERALD BROUSSARD, founder of CYT Lafayette about Sophia Brazda
LAUGH TRACK
Sophia Brazda’s rise from Lafayette to Second City — and beyond
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BY JAN RISHER
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Staff writer
ophia Brazda hasn’t updated her LinkedIn page yet. It still lists the Lafayette native as Mainstage understudy at The Second City, the legendary Chicago comedy institution where the likes of Tina Fey, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, Chris Farley, Steve Carell, Amy Poehler, Mike Myers and Stephen Colbert got their start.
Brazda has been busy. On a self-described “off-day” in June, she had a series of coffee meetings and a grant development session for the theater company she and friends started in Chicago in 2023. At 24, the Louisiana native is juggling meetings, rehearsals and momentum — a full creative plate in the Windy City. With big comedy dreams, Brazda balances art, admin and ambition daily. Her “breaking news from last weekend” indicates that those aspirations could be falling into place. “I was invited to audition for ‘SNL’ (Saturday Night Live),” she said by phone Tuesday, “and I am currently moving ahead in their process.”
From LSU to Chicago That moment was a long way from her first steps into Chicago — but not so far from the path she’s been paving since she graduated from LSU in May 2022. Seven months later, she and four LSU theater friends loaded up a U-Haul truck and headed north, arriving in Chicago on Jan. 1, 2023.
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Sophia Brazda, a Lafayette native, is a member of The Second City ensemble in Chicago. Within weeks, she auditioned for The Second City and was immediately cast into the conservatory, then hired shortly thereafter for the main stage — which is impressive enough on its own, but that’s not all she did. She and her LSU theater friends also started a theater group, Two Chairs Theatre Co. The name reflected their humble
ä See BRAZDA, page 2G
How has N.O. City Park kept historic carousel going? BY RACHEL MIPRO Contributing writer
The bejeweled, hollow horses in New Orleans’ City Park have been whirling inside their pavilion for over 100 years. Given proper maintenance, carousel restorers and city residents alike hope to see the antique ride continue for many generations. Reader Martin Audiffred was
reminded of the City Park Carousel, known to fans as “the flying horses,” when he read a recent article on carousels. “There was an article about merry-go-rounds in the USA News and it reminded me of the beautiful one we have in City Park — which has a very attractive enclosure, and it is so much a part of this historic city,” Au-
diffred wrote. His question: What is the age, history and status of the merrygo-round in City Park?
A treasured attraction The carousel, one of an estimated 100 wooden carousels left in the United States, has been housed in the park since 1906, according to Casie Duplechain,
ä See CURIOUS, page 3G
Xander Bemiss, 3, rides the carousel at the Carousel garden amusement park in New Orleans City Park. STAFF FILE PHOTO BY SCOTT THRELKELD