Meet Leen!

South Pacific Spotlight: Leen Abusalem joins a talented cast in her Summer Place Theatre debut

Leen Abusalem is a graduate of Neuqua Valley High School and has been performing on stage since being in her middle school productions of Oliver and Bye Bye Birdie. A talented singer and advanced tap dancer, Leen is making her debut at Summer Place Theatre as a Nurse in South Pacific.

Leen joins a talented and experienced ensemble cast that has been working hard to create an exciting and moving production to celebrate the 70th anniversary of this Amercian musical theatre classic.

South Pacific opens on June 7!

Get your tickets here

QUESTION: Who or what inspired you to start doing theater?
LEEN ABUSALEM: I started doing theatre because of my love for acting at a young age. I basically bugged my parents for a couple years until they helped me audition for my school’s musicals.

Q: What was the musical that had you fall in love with musicals?
LA: As cheesy as it sounds, it was definitely West Side Story. I think i’ve seen it over forty times in my life.

Q: What is the favorite role you've ever played?
LA: It’s hard to choose, but anything that involves tap, I lived for!

Q: What is the dream role you still want to play?
LA: My dream roles are definitely either Anita in West Side Story or Amber in Hairspray. Both drastically different, yet both incredibly fun and challenging.

Q: What is the most challenging part of bringing this story to life?
LA: The most challenging part about bringing South Pacific to life so far has been intent. It’s really important that we portray the right message to the audience, especially because the topics touched on are still very prominent today.

Q: Do you have any performance superstitions?
LA: My high school director would always turn on some music and have us meditate for a bit before the show. The goal was to imagine a radiant light of positive energy shining out from your chest into the audience. You’ll catch me with headphones in the dressing room meditating every time!

Q: If someone was going to make your life into a movie, who would you want to play you?
LA: I actually have no clue. My sister came up with Kiera Knightley, and I guess I can see it!

Q: What do you do when you’re not doing theater?
LA: When I am not doing theatre I am most likely rewatching How I met Your Mother episodes or stressing about school, sometimes both simultaneously.

Q: Which character from South Pacific would you most like to have dinner with and why?
LA: I think I would like to have dinner with Billis. I just don’t think I could stop myself from laughing enough to actually eat.

Q: Why should people come see this production of South Pacific?
LA: This production is filled with some of the most diverse and talented actors that I have ever worked with! I think that this performance can really be the turning point to those who may have preconceived perceptions of what theatre is like. Come and give us a chance, you might love it!

Come see Leen and the rest of this incredibly talented cast when South Pacific opens on June 7.

Learn more about our production here   Get your tickets here