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Pro Bio ...
Lezlie Dana's professional career has now spanned over 35 years and has included work in TV, film, radio, print, & theater throughout the northeast region. A former member of AEA (30 yrs.), she was last seen on stage as Gretta in James Joyce's "THE DEAD" at Albany's Capital Rep Theater and as The Narrator in Stravinsky’s “L’HISTOIRE DU SOLDAT”, under the direction of The Albany Symphony’s David Allen Miller. Also of note, she performed as M’Lynn in Curtain Call Theater’s “STEEL MAGNOLIAS”, named one of the Capitol Region’s Top 10 Productions of the 2005 year. Favorite roles have included Lady Macbeth (HomeMade Theater), Mac in “THREE VIEWINGS” (Fire in the Rose Prods.), Maria in “TWELFTH NIGHT” (Saratoga Shakespeare Co.), Lee in “MARVIN’S ROOM”, Adelaide in “GUYS-n-DOLLS”, Monica in Menotti’s opera “THE MEDIUM” (The Village Opera Co.), and Mazie Swazey in PRISM Cable’s full-length satire “WHILE THE WORLD GOES BY”. Other theatre credits include “THE WOMEN”, “BILOXI BLUES”, “THE BOOM-BOOM ROOM”, “DOROTHY PARKER: WHAT FRESH HELL?”, “MUSIC MAN”, “A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM”, and “THE JEWISH WIFE”.
On a More Personal Note ...
Lezlie grew up in the Washington, D.C. and Maryland area. In Second Grade, she directed a cast of friends in
an original one-act, usurping their recess for rehearsals. With her mom costuming the actors and her best friend Christine in the lead as "Princess", they performed the play for the entire elementary school. However, Lezlie’s first artistic passion and early training was as a dancer, under Mary Day at the Washington School of Ballet, where she had the opportunity to tour with the National Ballet in the “Nutcracker Suite”. A series of hip surgeries in her early teens abruptly shifted her focus, at which point she channeled her creative drive into theater, modern dance and, eventually, voice. Of course, over the years, there were a myriad of basement productions, impromptu ballets, and street theater performances with whichever of her 5 siblings and neighborhood kids were willing and available!
Lezlie began her professional career during college, performing in regional dinner theaters. Upon graduating from the University of Maryland (B.A. in Liberal Arts: Voice, Theater, Dance Emphasis), she ventured to the North Country of New York State for the first time to play "Adelaide" in Lake George’s summer stock production of “Guys-n-Dolls.” Within the year, Lezlie moved to NYC, where she began commercial modeling & print work, along with her acting endeavors.
After NYC came a decade in Bucks County, PA, where Lezlie was fortunate to be mentored under David Ancker (voice) and the late George DiCenzo (acting), both nationally recognized artist-teachers. Together, Lezlie & George founded The Actors' Workshop, which has since moved to Philadelphia. The Village Opera Company also sprang out of these highly creative relationships, with David Ancker as the Musical Director.
Lezlie resides in upstate New York, where she is the Artistic Director of SHYFT (Saratoga's Humanitarian Youth for Transformation), a teen social justice perfromance troupe, as well as WoW (Women's Only Workshop) in which "seasoned" women explore Life thru the paradigm of Theater, Improv & Acting. Also a Public Speaking, Performance & Presentation Coach, Lezlie brings her experience and skills to the professional business arena via her business TakingStage.org.
