Feb. 23, 2010 -
PRLog -- Lissette Espaillat was born on January 28th to Dominican parents, in Upper Manhattan's, Washington Heights. As a child, Lissette studied 9 years of Ballet, Jazz and Modern dance. While in grade school, she enjoyed working on theatre productions but being very shy, she always tended to stay behind the scenes. When she finished high school, she decided to go to Parsons The New School, to get her BFA in Drama and Photography. She finally got the courage to pursue her real love, acting. She started by interning at the prestigious Ensemble Studio Theatre where she learned how to act in front of a live audience. Not ever having attended the theatre as a child, she still knew from reading actor's biographies that theatre was the real way to learn your craft and to really challenge yourself. A few years later, she went to Los Angeles and studied with Actress, Millie Slavin. Upon her return to New York, she started studying with Actor, Director and Playwright Bruce Ornstein. During this time, she went on to do various off, off Broadway plays such as "Fool for Love", "Running" and "The Captives" at Center Stage. She also started getting small parts in student films. She found film acting to be very different then stage acting, but challenging nonetheless. She started taking voice and singing lessons with Philip Campenella when she was offered the role of 'Dulcinea' in a contemporary musical adaptation of the classic, "Don Quixote". In 2004, she started working with Bill Hopkins at the Stella Adler Acting Academy. He gave her the encouragement she needed to pursue more film work and in late 2004, she landed her first lead in a feature film titled "Knockout of the Century". In it she played a wife and mother, living with Aids. It was a very coveted and challenging role. Emotionally it forced her to go beyond her comfort zone and really invest herself in this character's life. Other lead roles followed on both stage and screen. She played Gladys in Teatro La Tea's production of "Chained Dog", written by Rob Santana and directed by Writer, Director; Jerry Rodriguez and "Tales of an Addict", a one woman show. In early 2005, she worked on the award winning, NYU short, "Uta" directed by Kim Spurlock, which won the 'Gestures of Reconciliation' award at the 2005 Munich Film Festival. "The Wannabe" written and directed by Althea Waslow, winner of the best documentary for "Riker's High" at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival and another feature film she had done in 2004, "Life Decisions", had been featured in the 2005,"Latino Film Festival". Also in 2005 she starred in the Feature "I Believe in America" based on the life of Albizu Campos written and Directed by Michael Narvaez. In early 2007 she landed a supporting role opposite Edward Norton in the feature film "Pride & Glory" directed by Gavin O'Connor. She most recently studied with Sally Dunn at
T. Schreiber Studios in Manhattan. She is managed by Annette Alvarez at Multi Ethnic Talent 917-689-8459.
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The Sissy Gamache Show has hit its first year of a successful run on MNN (Manhattan Neighborhood Network) Channel 56 airing live Fridays at 7:30pm.The Sissy Gamache show was created to provide an outlet for people in the arts and media in relation to all industries to talk about their contribution to their profession and community in an open and free environment with someone who is experiencing the same journey herself. Ms Gamache is an actress originally from Costa Rica and has been acting since she was a child in Film & Theatre. Her vibrant, positive energy is a vital part of the experience of the show and has left guests wanting to come back for more. Some of Ms Gamache’s most prominent guests include Joe Franklin, Marilyn Sokol (actress, Sex and the City), John Michael Bolger (actor, Public Enemies), Teddy Atlas (ESPN), Sebastian Silva (Director, The Maid) and musical guests including Maud in Cahoots. Photos and more information www.thesissygamacheshow.com
