James Lecesne

James recently starred in the critically acclaimed Off-Broadway and Los Angeles productions of his one-person, nine-character show, The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey, which won an Outer Critics Circle Award, an Off Broadway Alliance Award, a United Solo Special Award, and was nominated for  Lucille Lortel  and Drama Desk awards.   James’ first one-man play, Word of Mouth, was presented Off-Broadway by Mike Nichols & Elaine May, directed by Eve Ensler, and received the NY Drama Desk Award and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Solo Performance. Word of Mouth went on to be performed in Los Angeles (LA Weekly Theater Award), at the HBO Comedy Festival in Aspen, and in many cities throughout the U.S.  Last year, New York Stage and Film produced the premiere of his play Mother of Invention, starring Linda Lavin.  Other theater credits as an actor include Gore Vidal’s The Best Man on Broadway, One Man Band, directed by Jack Hofsiss, Cloud 9, directed by Tommy Tune, Extraordinary Measures, written & directed by Eve Ensler, the 30th anniversary production of The Boys in the Band, directed by Ken Elliot, I Am My Own Wife, The Mystery of Irma Vep (both at the Hartford Stage Co) and the premiere of Motherhood Out Loud at Primary Stages and at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles.   He has also appeared on television in Sex and the City and in the films Home for the Holidays, Broadway Damage, and Motherhood.

James wrote the screenplay for the short film Trevor, which received an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short.  He has published two young adult novels, Absolute Brightness and Virgin Territory, and he wrote The Road Home: Stories of Children of War, which was presented at the International Peace Initiative at The Hague.  He also co-edited the recently published The Letter Q (Scholastic, Inc.).  For television, James adapted Armistead Maupin’s Further Tales of the City for Showtime (Emmy Nomination), wrote one of the final episodes of Will & Grace, and is story consultant on this season’s ITV series Vicious starring Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi.   He executive produced the award-winning documentary film After The Storm, about life in New Orleans for young people following Hurricane Katrina and  is the co-founder of The Trevor Project, the only 24-hour crisis intervention and suicide prevention helpline for LGBTQ teens.  He also regularly speaks to corporate and educational groups on issues related to diversity awareness. James is profiled in the recently published Everyday Heroes (Welcome Books).