Mindy Escobar-Leanse was raised in El Paso, Texas and became involved in theatre very early on; first at the JCC and then through a multi-disciplinary company for children, teaching all aspects of theatre. Soon she was involved in the University of Texas at El Paso's theatre program where she was active until coming to New York in 2007. She attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and has been performing as an actor and puppeteer all over the country and parts of Europe. Some credits include: Albuquerque (Ash Tree @ Duke City Repertory), Prague, Amsterdam (Maniacal Works), Paducah, KY; Detroit, MI and Madison, WI (Dinosaur Train Live) amongst other fantastic places. Most recently, Mindy has been the understudy, ASM and puppet wrangler for the Off-Broadway production of The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show. The show has broken box office records, has been nominated for a Drama Desk Award and will reopen at Theatre Row this June. She is a recipient of the 2012 Eugene O'Neill Puppet Pandemic Scholarship and is a three-year participant at the National Puppetry Conference in Connecticut  (under Hua Hua Zhang and Martin P. Robinson.) Other awards include the "Share the Spotlight" scholarship for performance arts from the University of Texas, El Paso. Leanse is also a company actor/puppeteer for the Wildlife Theatre: the outreach theatre company that works for the Wildlife Conservation Society which runs all of the zoos in the NYC 5 borough area. ​