LISA BANSAVAGE
Lisa Bansavage's career includes Broadway, Off Broadway, regional theatre, film, television and national commercial credits including Master Class, A Man for All Seasons, The Grapes of Wrath, Grace & Glorie, Mastergate, Red Scare on Sunset,The Changeling, The Country Wife, A View from the Bridge, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, The Sisters Rosenweig, Night of the Iguana, Mississippi Burning, Married to the Mob, Three Men and a Baby, The Fisher King, Diary of Anne Frank, Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, The Loman Family Picnic and a third of the full Shakespearean canon as well as a role opposite Sir Anthony Quayle in the BBC-London production of An Exchange of Gifts.
She is a graduate of Carnegie-Mellon University’s theatre conservatory and holds a Masters from The University of Pittsburgh where she was the Merrill Fellow.
Lisa Bansavage in Isadora, American Legend
“She brought Isadora so palpably alive that the theatre pulsed with the three-dimensional life of her performance. Funny, sad, informative, sexy, heartbreaking — a wonderful ninety minutes of theatre!”
— Sean O’Sullivan, A! Magazine
“The springboard for other women today to listen to the voice within them, daring to do something different.”
— C. Robert Weisfeld, Abingdon Virginian
"What can I say about the Isadora show except that town and campus are still buzzing about it. I was certain all along that Lisa Bansavage would bring a powerful piece of theater, well delivered and with lasting impact. Lisa will definitely be back with more performance work." — Susan Lachmann, Women on Air, WETS-FM
Other Critics Comment on Lisa Bansavage. . .
“Bansavage brings so much genuine emotion to Glorie, she’s guaranteed to give you a lumpy throat, even if you don’t end up flat-out crying.” — Lancaster Sunday News, Grace and Glorie, Fulton Opera House
“Lisa Bansavage is magnificent as Portia. Ms. Bansavage is a striking-looking woman with a rich, fascinating voice. It is a performance that makes you want to head to the box office after the curtain to buy seats for the next show.” — Time Off, The Merchant of Venice, New Jersey Shakespeare Festival
“Lisa Bansavage is an astounding Emilia, dropping pearls of wisdom and a path of presence all across the Bowne Theatre stage.” — Newark Star-Ledger, Othello, New Jersey Shakespeare Festival
Among all the fine performances, the charisma of Bansavage’s knowing turn as Bea deserves special note. By the end of dinner, Bea’s eyes reveal her recognition that a disaster looms over her home.”
— Salt Lake Tribune, A View from a Bridge, Pioneer Theatre Company
“As the neurotic, luxury-loving Mrs. Van Daan, Lisa Bansavage is the production’s fulcrum, going from vain, giddy matron to shell-shocked scarecrow; her Bette Davis bitch-on-a-tightrope number makes for a bracing brew, even out-trumping the frayed nobility and desperate unwinding of her fellow inmates.”
— Scene, The Diary of Anne Frank, Cleveland Play House
"Cellini's cast is magnificent. Most of the actors are called upon to play several challenging roles, often with different regional accents and each does this flawlessly. Lisa Bansavage can be duchess or serving maid without the audience realizing she plays both roles.”
— Theatre Reviews Unlimited, Cellini, Second Stage Theatre, New York City
“Lisa Bansavage makes an impressive Rep debut as Maureen, delivering slashing one-liners to her mom and provocative endearments to Pato with telling force.”
— Charlotte News-Observer, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Charlotte Repertory
ISADORA, Amercan Legend
By Jerry James and Ann Beigel
What I’m Doin’ for Love!
The Sensational Libby Holman
VOICES OF FAITH:
Heart Centered in God:
Mother Catherine McAuley, the First Sister of Mercy
Seeing Christ in Everyone:
Dorothy Day, Prophet of Pacifism
Tolerance Is Not Enough:
Sister Rose Thering, Conscience for a Church
Into the Promised Land:
Rebecca Gratz, Mother of Jewish America
Books by Lisa Bansavage