Lee Mikeska Gardner*
Lee Mikeska Gardner*, she/her (Artistic Director & Understudy) continues her mission of creating access and opportunity for underserved artists. For eight years with The Nora Lee focused on the feminine voice. In this, her tenth year, Central Square Theater builds on the history of both The Nora and Underground Railway with stories and artists across a spectrum of our community. Lee has directed, among others, The Hound of the Baskervilles (2024), The Rocky Horror Show (with Jo Michael Rezes), Arcadia, Cloud 9 (Elliot Norton, Outstanding Director and Production), Saving Kitty with Jennifer Coolidge and The Midvale High School 50th Reunion with Gordon Clapp. Lee performed the title role in Emilie: La Marquise du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight (Norton Award, Outstanding Actress), Marjorie Prime, Precious Little, The Revolutionists, and The Half Life of Marie Curie. In her tenure, Lee produced or co-produced over 35 productions, primarily with women directors, earning multiple Elliot Norton and IRNE awards and nominations. Hailing from the greater Washington, D.C. area Lee is a Helen Hayes Award winning actor and director spending a decade with Woolly Mammoth Theater as an Associate Artist, seven years with The Shenandoah Playwright’s Retreat working with playwrights on new work and was a company member with Washington Shakespeare Company, Potomac Theater Project, an Artistic Associate at 1st Stage, Charter Theatre and Keegan Theatre. Lee has taught or served as a guest artist at Colleges and Universities across the nation including locally Emerson, Leslie, and Northeastern. Lee earned her B.F.A. from George Mason University and her M.F.A. from the Catholic University of America.