Daniel Henning, who recently recorded his 250th title, doesn’t really need a Daniel Henning nameplate to identify the recording booth in his own office. But “it’s from an episode of ‘Beverly Hills 90210,’ in which I played a contestant on ‘Jeopardy.’ I absolutely had to keep it,” enthuses the actor.
In 1990, Henning, a director as well as an actor, founded The Blank, a celebrated Los Angeles company that produces new plays and trains young people to work in the theater. He joined the audiobook world in 2017, when he met Jeff Tabnick, a playwright who’s also the casting director for Recorded Books. “Jeff gave me an audition, some pointers, and my first 10 books. He also recommended that I go to APAC (Audio Publisher’s Association Conference) to meet people. I started working more, and in August 2019 I bought my booth. Who knew that when the pandemic hit six months later, it would become the most valuable thing I owned!” He pats the soundproof cubicle.
Henning, who was honored by the State of California for his work in the LGTBQ+ community and for supporting young people in the arts, is straightforward about his sexual orientation. “It can be important to how audiobook producers cast. Though I’m a little worried about being pigeonholed, if I can help an isolated queer kid by literally being a positive voice, I want to do it.”
Henning narrates both nonfiction and fiction, everything from self-help to history, romance, fantasy, and, recently, Ukrainian short stories. “The array of genres keeps the process super alive for me. I’ve worked hard to have people hear me in different ways, and I’m honored they do.”
Henning is the voice of TJ Klune’s Cerulean Chronicles queer fantasy books. “The first book, THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA, is lovely and warm,” he says. (His audition of the book’s first chapter was so perfect that it became the published version.) “It’s about found family. I’m a gay man and the only child of divorced parents. Creating found family is what I do.”
Henning recently won an Earphones Award for the second book, SOMEWHERE BEYOND THE SEA. “This new one is about fighting for the life you want and releasing your personal power. That’s a positive message for everyone. Recording the section in which Arthur releases his power was the biggest moment of narration that I’ve ever done.”
Henning, who fizzes with enthusiasm in conversation, turns serious when describing his preparation. He always reads books through before recording. Challenging books might receive two or three reads. SOMEWHERE BEYOND THE SEA received four. For fiction, he reads and then skims through again to create characters and record snippets of dialogue. “If I forget a voice, I can go back to my audio-reference file and pull it up.”
Yes, Henning agrees, it’s work. “But it’s meaningful work.” He starts to fizz again. “Plus, audiobook people are so kind and good, and they deeply care about their profession and their colleagues. They’re a found family and a remarkable community to be part of.”
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Photo courtesy of Macmillan Audio
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