Mindy was raised in El Paso, Texas and became involved in theatre very early on; first at the JCC and then through a multi-disciplinary company for children, teaching all aspects of theatre. Soon she was involved in the University of Texas at El Paso's theatre program where she was active until coming to New York in 2007. She attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and has been performing as an actor and puppeteer all over the country and parts of Europe. Some credits include: Lalka Festival of Warsaw (Last Rat of Theresienstadt), London West End (Hungry Caterpillar Show) Albuquerque (Ash Tree @ Duke City Repertory), Prague, Amsterdam (Maniacal Works), Paducah, KY; Detroit, MI and Madison, WI (Dinosaur Train Live) amongst other fantastic places. Mindy was the understudy, ASM and puppet wrangler for the Off-Broadway production of The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show. The show has broken box office records, has been nominated for a Drama Desk Award.
She is a recipient of the 2012 Eugene O'Neill Puppet Pandemic Scholarship and is a three-year participant at the National Puppetry Conference in Connecticut (under Hua Hua Zhang and Martin P. Robinson.) Other awards include the "Share the Spotlight" scholarship for performance arts from the University of Texas, El Paso. Most recently, she and the cast of The Last Rat of Theresienstadt were awarded Grand Prize for the Llalka festival in Warsaw as well as audience choice and Leanse was given an award for outstanding moment of puppetry.
Selected credits include:A Ribbon About a Bomb - an immersive theater experience on Governor's Island. The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show presented by Rockefeller Productions (Leanse was puppet wrangler and understudy for NYC production and assistant Director for UK tour), Soldier's Tale with Puppet Kitchen, Reusable the Musical at the Bronx Zoo (written by John Tartaglia), Dinosaur Train Live! (directed by John Tartaglia), Puppet Playlist #17: Johnny Cash (Sinking Ship Productions), Puppet Titus Andronicus (Puppet Shakespeare Players), The Halloween Project (Martin P. Robinson; The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center), Puppet Romeo and Juliet and Puppet Hamlet (Puppet Shakespeare Players). She is co-founder Maniacal Works (NYC) and Artistic Associate of Fourth Wall Productions. Selected acting credits include: Mammoth (Buran Theatre Company), Ash Tree (Duke City Rep), The Ruin (Manhattan Repertory Theatre).
Leanse is also a company actor/puppeteer for the Wildlife Theatre: the outreach theatre company that works for the Wildlife Conservation Society which runs all of the zoos in the NYC 5 borough area.
In recent years, Leanse has begun to design and build her own puppets. In this process she has found the ideal materials are those that come from the trash or recycling. If we are to breathe life into an object, it might as well be one that has been recently discarded. This way, we create a relationship and help to limit our footprint. It also helps us not to feel attached to something that might not work - if it becomes trash again, at least we gave it one more life before the end. Using the resources we have rather than creating or buying new is her ideal. For more on this subject, please feel free to email.
She is a recipient of the 2012 Eugene O'Neill Puppet Pandemic Scholarship and is a three-year participant at the National Puppetry Conference in Connecticut (under Hua Hua Zhang and Martin P. Robinson.) Other awards include the "Share the Spotlight" scholarship for performance arts from the University of Texas, El Paso. Most recently, she and the cast of The Last Rat of Theresienstadt were awarded Grand Prize for the Llalka festival in Warsaw as well as audience choice and Leanse was given an award for outstanding moment of puppetry.
Selected credits include:A Ribbon About a Bomb - an immersive theater experience on Governor's Island. The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show presented by Rockefeller Productions (Leanse was puppet wrangler and understudy for NYC production and assistant Director for UK tour), Soldier's Tale with Puppet Kitchen, Reusable the Musical at the Bronx Zoo (written by John Tartaglia), Dinosaur Train Live! (directed by John Tartaglia), Puppet Playlist #17: Johnny Cash (Sinking Ship Productions), Puppet Titus Andronicus (Puppet Shakespeare Players), The Halloween Project (Martin P. Robinson; The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center), Puppet Romeo and Juliet and Puppet Hamlet (Puppet Shakespeare Players). She is co-founder Maniacal Works (NYC) and Artistic Associate of Fourth Wall Productions. Selected acting credits include: Mammoth (Buran Theatre Company), Ash Tree (Duke City Rep), The Ruin (Manhattan Repertory Theatre).
Leanse is also a company actor/puppeteer for the Wildlife Theatre: the outreach theatre company that works for the Wildlife Conservation Society which runs all of the zoos in the NYC 5 borough area.
In recent years, Leanse has begun to design and build her own puppets. In this process she has found the ideal materials are those that come from the trash or recycling. If we are to breathe life into an object, it might as well be one that has been recently discarded. This way, we create a relationship and help to limit our footprint. It also helps us not to feel attached to something that might not work - if it becomes trash again, at least we gave it one more life before the end. Using the resources we have rather than creating or buying new is her ideal. For more on this subject, please feel free to email.
