AUDREY LASSANSKE is an anomalous performer, choreographer, and theatre practitioner. Driven by her passion to bring people together and promote connection through art, she tells captivating stories through conscientious, detail-oriented curation and collaboration. Born in East Texas and raised in numerous theaters and dance studios, she has called Montclair, New Jersey home since 2023. Over the past decade, she has created and performed heartfelt work for both stage and screen, suited up in backstage blacks for countless production tech crews, and built an invigorating and radiant community with joyful connection through creativity.
Audrey grew up in Brownsboro, Texas and began taking dance classes as soon as she could walk. Her mom and Nana took her along to every community theatre, high school, and community college production they could attend, and never missed a chance to play The Sound of Music or Annie DVDs on the living room television. Audrey began acting in middle school productions and joined the Tyler Junior College Academy of Dance Pre-Professional Program in high school, where she trained in modern, ballet, and jazz for 4 years.
During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, Audrey found a home away from home in the NYC dance community, connecting weekly with mentors like Al Blackstone and Billy Griffin through Steps on Broadway virtual dance classes and MOMEN community livestreams. This reignited her love for dance and gave her a new understanding of the work she wanted to create and share - telling unfiltered, emotion-packed, relatable stories that evoke empathy, hope, desire for connection, and gratitude for community.
She went on to spend her first two years of college at TJC, earning Associate of Arts degrees in both Theatre and Dance. In 2023, she moved to New Jersey to earn her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Acting from Montclair State University. Since then, she has performed in and worked on multiple university-level productions, co-founded Evolve Theatre Company (a student organization at MSU), and continued her dance training by taking classes with the MSU BFA Dance and Musical Theatre programs, Ailey Extension at Alvin Ailey, and at Steps on Broadway (now in person).
Throughout her college years, Audrey also found opportunities to learn about and jump into the world of entertainment technical crews, and she quickly found a love for behind-the-scenes work and theatre management. Since starting her technical crew career back in 2021 as Assistant Master Electrician and Light Board Operator for Sly Fox by Larry Gelbart at Tyler Junior College (and later being hired to assist the department's technical director and theatre facility manager for the rest of her time at TJC), she has worked for various crews of regional theatres, national tours, and films as a costume stitcher/dresser, follow spotlight operator, electrician, deck captain, load-in / load-out crew, front of house associate, and much more.
In performance and behind the scenes, Audrey is a multi-talented, dynamic, and enthusiastic artist who loves connecting with people and building community through creation. She also enjoys hanging out at coffee shops, scavenging through thrift stores, reading books, crocheting, and laying in the grass at parks.