Lindsay-Elizabeth Hand, a theater major at Columbus State University who was then known as just Lindsay Hand, now lives in New York City and is pursuing a career in theater.
She graduated from CSU in 2009 and went home to Valdosta to get her wisdom teeth removed before she headed to The Big Apple.
She was cast in a few shows but she wanted more.
“I’ve been pretty lucky to be cast in other people’s projects,” she said. “But I wanted to create something of my own.”
So last summer, she started her own theater company, the Edge in Motion Theatre Co.
Her first project was a workshop of “Second Samuel,” which was presented by the Springer Opera House. Right now, she’s producing a brand-new play, “The Meeting with Stanley.”
Lindsay realized she wanted to produce a new play, so she put a notice in Backstage magazine.
She received about 70 scripts.
“I sat down with my partner, Jean-Louis Fragnay for a week and we read all the plays,” she said. “There were some good plays and there were some bad plays. This one made us laugh the most from page one. We were laughing our butts off.”
So she got a play. Now she needed a theater. After searching and searching, she found Urban Stages, a 75-seat theater on West 30th Street, between Seventh and Eighth avenues.
Lindsay says it’s a small theater.
“It’s just like a Manhattan apartment,” she said. “It’s one of the only theaters we saw in our price range. It was our favorite and really nice.”
Even though she is now a theater administrator, she’s still acting.
In fact, she’s playing Rebecca, “a lady of the night with a heart of gold” in “The Meeting with Stanley.”
Since it’s a new play, she’s working closely with the playwright and managed to change Rebecca’s character a little. She made Rebecca a Southern gal.
In case you’re wondering, you can see the play tonight through Jan. 22.
And Jean-Louis? They became engaged in August. No date has been set yet.
What about her name?
An agent suggested she use her middle name because if anyone Googled her name, only Lindsay-Elizabeth Hand will come up. If someone Googled Lindsay Hand, invariably, Lindsay Lohan will come up, too. And she would want no part of that.
So congratulations to Lindsay and the good things happening for her.
Sandra Okamoto, reporter, can be reached at sokamoto@ledger-enquirer.com or 706-571-8580.
