ABOUT ABBY-JEANNE
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Hey! I answer to both Abby-Jeanne or Aj. Either is great!
I am a queer Philly based actor, singer, and theater-maker.
My pronouns are they/them. I identity as nonbinary, and I play all genders onstage
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I was born and raised in Wilmington DE
Performance was my first love. Dance studio recitals as early as age 5, to elementary school variety talent shows singing “I Knew You Were Trouble,” to learning how to play the flute in 4th grade.
I attended Cab Calloway School of the arts Middle and High School. It was there that my love for theater began! Originally, I entered as an instrumental music major. After doing the school musical in 8th grade, Annie Jr.—A canon event—I was hooked on theatre. I switched my major to Vocal Music in Middle, then Musical Theatre in High School, and I began to take as many acting classes as I could. Once I graduated, I continued that pattern in college.
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I graduated High School during the height of Covid in 2020. That Fall, I began my undergrad MT training at DeSales University. #GoBulldogs!
Last May, I graduated with honors with a BA in Musical Theatre. After graduation, I spent the summer acting in the Young Company at Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival.
After Summer ended, I moved to the City—Go birds—to start my contract as an Arden Professional Apprentice (Class 30) at Arden Theatre Company.
In my time at the Arden, I have spent time in focused Assistanships with the the Education, Artistic, and Marketing departments. You can check out some of my work in these departments here!
In June, my fellow apprentices and I will be putting up APA showcase; Monday Night Live, written by yours truly. More info to come!
This summer, I will be both continuing my journey as both an Actor and a Teaching artist! You can find me at Hideaway Day Camp teaching Drama, and performing in Reclaimed Performing Arts’ Summer Festival.
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I have a dog named Rocco. He is wonderfully stupid
My favorite album right now is At The Beach, In Every Life by Gigi Perez.
My favorite TV Show is The Walking Dead, and theres a very sneaky reference to it on this page
I recently got into running, and I’m training right now to run my first 10k!
My favorite literary trope is Found Family
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Throughout my journey as a theatre-maker, I discovered that I have a responsibility to tell stories with a gentle hand and an honest heart, and to help others do the same.
As my journey towards art has progressed, so has my journey towards myself. As a nonbinary lesbian, I feel an unwavering commitment to protect and create art that uplifts the queer community. Now more than ever, it is important that the principles of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility guide my work.
I cherish theatre’s ability to represent, validate, educate, and support. I have much life to live! I am ever-continuing to evolve my ability to provide that validation, education, and support through the work and spaces I create. Read more about this in my artistic mission statement below <3
“How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, that has such people in ‘t”
Abby-Jeanne’s Artistic Mission Statement
“How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, that has such people in it.”
I am Human.
I support, uplift, nurture, and create explorative and collaborative art by offering a soft place to land and an inclusive space to play freely.
I seek to embrace individual uniqueness and the complexity of humanity through work that challenges artists to meet themselves and others fully.
I believe that in the investigation of the human condition through the medium of rehearsal and live performance, artists learn to know their own minds, strengths, and love their personhood; consequently learning to view those around them through a perspective of appreciation and curiosity for their individuality.
To live is to celebrate our radiance with one another.
My essential wish is that the art I create and engage in is an interrogation of truth, and calls artists to see the beauty of the human experience in its entirety.
Whether it be extraordinary or paralyzing, striking or mundane, lovely or heartbreaking—every moment has a meaning all its own.
So, as theatre-makers, we must investigate.
It could never be expected—all of life’s astonishment—but such unexpected could never fail of exciting.
I lead with love and a fundamental truth: In the brave new world—the one we artists wish to create—the gentle and the curious will prosper.
The art we dream of creating already exists in each of us, in every moment, infinitely.
Go forth! Lead with Love, Lead with Gentleness.
-AJ
