​​​​​
Lisa LaGrande​
Actor,
Intimacy & Movement Director,
Playwright
​
What the critics are saying....
Titus Andronicus: (Lavinia)
"LaGrande had some incredible moments, imploring Tamora, in what was some of the best acting of the evening, Lavina pleads with Tamora more for her maidenhood than for her life, spare her from her son’s “worse than killing lust.” The ravishing – and maiming – were perpetrated behind a curtain, but the actress blood curdling shrieks echoed throughout the cemetery. It’s a challenging role, especially in a drama so verbal as Shakespeare, to basically act by whimpers and gestures. She embodied the pathos, used it as grotesque comedy when appropriate. The rest of the Andronici try to figure out who did this to her and she is unable to communicate, seen and not heard. Lavina’s performance was moving, you could not take your eyes off her – you felt her pain and frustration." -Timothy Harrick, NY Theatre Blogger
The Trojan Women: Andromache
“the play pulls no punches as woman after woman comes forth, explaining what it's like to see their children ripped from their arms - but something softer. A quilt, a tapestry, a weaving of song and dance and sorrow and grief and horror and pain and ecstasy and innocence and loss. In a word: catharsis. Lisa LaGrande gives a soul-gutting performance as Andromache whose infant is ripped from her side. Hudson Warehouse Theater Company's production of Trojan Women is excellent, and deserves to sell out its remaining shows. Highly Recommended. -Emily C.A. Snyder, Classical NYC
As You Like It: (Rosalind)
The “Godspell the musical meets Shakespeare” feel to the production was punctuated with 60s-era songs matched to the shows lyrics and showcased several stand out performances. Leading the pack were Rosalind (Lisa LaGrande) and Celia (Noelle Fair) and both showed tremendous range from the early oppressive feel of Duke Frederick’s court, journeying into the unknown and finally finding a more relaxed and comic place in the forest. LaGrande landed Rosalind’s verbose love musings with romantic zeal. - Jon Ciccarelli, OnStage Critic
​
​
Macbeth (First Witch)
"From the moment the three witches appear, coming from different directions and doing a pastiche of dance moves you enter their feverish, sultry world. These broads are voluptuous, and hot, not the prototypical crones usually associated with the Three Weird Sisters. They are sheer fun to watch, by constantly wondering why are they here, we get pushed back closer to the nightmare that is Macbeth. By the time we get to their famous cauldron scene their chorus of blood-curdling cackles were echoing in the park. It was a total, spine-tingling freak show. Those cackling sirens of evil, those weird sisters – they are the cause of the nightmare – they are the nightmare – they might awaken the evil in Macbeth and his wife and in us – but they are the larger evil and was that evil any less brutal than the war in which the story begins and ends? Maybe the real collective us is not the power hungry couple backsliding into an amorality they cannot handle, but those purveyors of cruel fate, the witches." -Timothy Harrick, NY Theatre Blogger
Home Games (Mert)
"The Atlantic Beach Experimental Theatre has hit a grand slam with its latest production, "Home Games," by Tom Ziegler. After seeing Lisa LaGrande in several local musicals and dramas, it's a pleasant surprise to see her play Mert and witness her terrific skill as a comic actress. She delivers a lively performance with many memorable moments, such as using a drill to open a bottle of wine.." -Tamara Mclaren, The Florida Times Union