Leah Maddrie
Biography
Since graduating from Eastern Michigan University with a degree in Arts Management, Maddrie has dedicated her life to the arts. She earned an MFA in Acting from the University of California, San Diego, and a MA in Arts Administration from Columbia University in New York. After working as a professional actor, Professor Maddrie moved to arts administration and has worked at cultural organizations including Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation, Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Pearl Theatre Company, and currently, Lincoln Center Theater.
In recent years she has won attention as a playwright. Her adaptation of Shakespeare’s ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL was part of the
Harlem Shakespeare Festival’s concert reading series and she was awarded a Sloan Foundation grant for the science-themed DARK ENERGY STUNS UNIVERSE. Her play CHASING HEAVEN was a National Playwrights Conference at the O’Neill semi-finalist and was produced at the Metropolitan Playhouse and the New York International Fringe Festival. As an instructor at Eastern Michigan University Professor Maddrie teaches AMA 427/527 Grant Writing in the Arts.
Education
- MFA, Acting, University of California, San Diego
- MA, Arts Administration, Columbia University
- BA, Arts Management, Eastern Michigan University
Courses
AMA 427/527 Grant Writing in the Arts
Grants, Honors and Awards
- Sloan Foundation Award for DARK ENERGY STUNS UNIVERSE, 2010
- Runner-up for the Black and Latino Play Conference at Texas State University, 2014
- Semi-finalist for Washington D.C.’s Source Festival, 2015
- BRIO Award for her poetry collection BRONXAERIE from Bronx Council on the Arts, 2013
- Semi-finalist for the American Shakespeare Center’s Shakespeare’s New Contemporaries Project, 2019
Professional Affiliations
- Dramatists Guild, Actors’ Equity, Member
- SAG/AFTRA, Member
- Going to the River Writers Unit, Charter Member