Biography
Laralee was born in Texas and has over 100 live productions to her credit as either writer, director, or producer; although most of the time, as all three. Half of Twenty Two (2014) is her debut feature film.
The first thing you must know about Laralee is that she never stops working. You will rarely catch her when she is not in the middle of a project, and if she is, you can be assured, she is in that very moment, planning the next production. Laralee has directed hundreds of actors. She loves working with adult actors, as well as children. With the added advantage of being an actress herself, her experience gives her an in-depth understanding of what an actor craves on set. Actors she worked with from the beginning of her career, still work on her sets today.
She has a like-mindedness with children, and truly enjoys working with child actors on set. She thinks children are magical beings, who have no limits to their imaginations or abilities. They respond well to her mostly comedic inspired direction, but they clearly comprehend when she conveys the motivation for a dramatic moment.
She also enjoys working with animals, and during her career has included animals in many of her productions, valiantly breaking the traditional rules of the entertainment industry by blending adult and child actors with a variety of animals, repeatedly, in productions throughout her career.
Laralee has directed everything from Shakespeare to Sketch Comedy, generally writing or adapting the original stories for each production. With her first stage appearance at the age of 5; Laralee is very accustomed to the interior of theaters, auditoriums and coliseums. All three of her children were brought into theaters commonly within their first few weeks of breath; her cast members instantly becoming comfortable with the bright eyed appendage on her hip as she directed show after show.
As an actress, Laralee received awards for her performances in various Alamo City theaters, including The Actor's Theatre, San Pedro Playhouse, and the Melodrama Playhouse, (where the famed Greater Tuna duo, Joe Sears and Jaston Williams began). At 23, Laralee created a Sketch Comedy Troupe in San Antonio, Texas, called, The Playroom Players, where she was once compared to Carol Burnett, (also from San Antonio) by theater critic John Igo. She reveled in writing and directing hilariously larger than life characters, and uniquely outrageous storylines. As she progressed, Laralee began to experiment with, what at the time were the beginnings of multi-media in her productions, blending video performances with live theater. She directed music videos to accompany her musical comedies. The Playroom Players troupe performed in theaters and comedy clubs all over San Antonio through 1989.
In 1989 Laralee left San Antonio to throw her hat into the ring in Los Angeles, California. She worked in L.A. for 10 years, first through a temporary service to the entertainment industry where she would spend weeks, and sometimes months in locations like Virgin Records, and Agency for the Performing Arts, soaking up every tidbit of information available to her; while also performing or writing and directing productions in venues like The Victory Theatre, The Enchanted Forest Theater, The American Renegade Theater and many more. During her 10 years in Los Angeles, Laralee had the pleasure of directing some of the most talented actors in the industry; many of which you have seen regularly in film and on television.
In 1999 she was coaxed back to San Antonio, where she began to write, direct and produce for world renowned pianist, Anya Grokhovski, founder of Musical Bridges Around the World. It was during this time Laralee began to search for a performing arts academy where her children could go to learn all of the performing arts under one roof. With none available, Laralee ultimately founded the Land Of Virtuosity (LOV), a unique performing arts academy for children, where their talents, in all aspects of the performing arts, could be nurtured to their maximum potential.
In January of 2014 the LOV was placed on indefinite hiatus when Laralee was offered the opportunity to write, direct and produce the film, Half of Twenty Two . She fully intends to re-open the LOV at some point in the distant future.
In early 2014, Laralee founded her production company, Minoan Temple Studios, carefully choosing to brand it with a symbol representing an ancient, daredevilish, gymnastic sport in Minoan culture "Leaping the Bull", which represents how she approaches everything in life.
