picture by ted belton
Jenna-Lee is a prairie born-and-raised actor and artist living in Toronto. A classically trained theatre actor with a background in devised creation, improv, clown, and puppetry, she has performed on stages across the country. Most recently she played Cecilia in Frances Koncan’s Women of the Fur Trade, directed by Yvette Nolan at the Stratford Festival. Her duality as a performer has been quoted as ‘chameleon-like’, and has seen her portray multiple characters in a single production, like the seven characters she crafted for Secret Mask (Mae & others - Globe Theatre), two central characters in the classic Pride and Prejudice (Caroline Bingley & Lady Catherine de Burgh - Globe Theatre) and many more.
Trained in collective creation, and passionate about new play development, Jenna-Lee has worked with independent creators and the Saskatchewan Playwrights’ Centre as part of their dramaturgical and performance team to develop new work. She has also worked in collective creation on phase development for works with Ground Cover Theatre, both as a visual storyteller (Dysmorphia), and as part of the story creation team (Displaced).
On screen she can be seen in CBC’s Workin Moms, the short film Benched, and numerous commercials (Shoppers Drug Mart, Toyota, EQ Bank, Peek Freans).
Jenna-Lee has trained with performance professionals from across the country and beyond, including Shannon Calcutt (Zumanity, Cirque de Soleil - Las Vegas), Pete Balkwill of The Old Trouts at the Banff Puppet Intensive, Adam Lazarus in Bouffon, and on camera classes with Nola Augustson, and The Dirt’s John Gordon. She has trained at the Globe Theatre’s Actor Conservatory, and holds a BFA in Acting from the University of Saskatchewan (she holds it every night). There she graduated with High Distinction and was the recipient of the Florence Jean Murray Scholarship.
Jenna-Lee has worked in a multiplicity of roles behind the scenes, and is uniquely skilled at getting a story in front of an audience. She has worked in prop, costume, and production design, stage management, and production assistant roles. She was a producer and co-host on ‘Mom, I’m a Thespian’, a radio show broadcast by CFCR in Saskatoon, where she interviewed local, national, and international theatre artists for the talk-based program.
Her work has been nominated for several awards, and she was honoured to receive the SATAward for Outstanding Achievement in Performance three times to date for her role in Every Brilliant Thing (Burnt Thicket Theatre / Live Five / Fire Exit Theatre); Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan); and Callie in Stop Kiss (Embrace Theatre/Live Five), as well as many nominations for individual and ensemble performance.
She would love to work with you too.
:)