Stephanie Bissonnette, a dancer and choreographer best known for her role in the original Broadway production of the musical “Mean Girls,” died Sunday. Bissonnette was diagnosed in 2019 with medulloblastoma, a rare brain tumor, according to her Playbill obituary. He was 32 years old.
“Our hearts are broken as the Mean Girls community mourns the loss of Stephanie Bissonnette,” the document reads. a message from the Broadway musical’s Twitter account on Sunday. “Our original Sweitzer, Dawn [sic]Stephanie was part of our Broadway troupe from our first show to our last show.
“He filled our theater with his laughter and friendship, inspired us with his fighting spirit and courage, and graced our stage with the fiercest talent Broadway has ever known,” the statement read. another tweet because of the musical.
Bissonnette played Dawn Schweitzer, a character played by Erin Thompson in the iconic 2004 film. She played that role from the first night of production in 2018 until the last night in 2020. She also appeared in the music video for to Keith Urban’s 2018 track “Never Comin Down”. ,” according to E! News.
After graduating from Point Park University’s Conservatory of Performing Arts, Bissonnette worked with Royal Caribbean Entertainment and moved to New York. He has choreographed pieces for the Muny, Seven and Riverside theaters and the Shakespeare Theater Company.
The poster’s obituary for Bissonnette notes that he “first recognized what he described as a ‘learning’ in his brain” during an “air bird” he performed for the musical Mean Girls in 2019. Four days later, he underwent emergency surgery and apparently recovered.
“I don’t think we would have found him [the tumor] if you had a normal 9-5 job,” Bissonnette told SurvivorNet in February 2020.
“Because I move around so much and do crazy things for a living – I’ve been doing it since I was 5 – alone [that] the little moment of the show [made me go], “Why am I in trouble today? Something else has to happen,’” Bissonnette said on the website.
Medulloblastoma most commonly affects children and adults between the ages of 20 and 40, according to the Cancer Research Center. It has a five-year survival rate of 72%, with treatments limited to surgery, radiation, chemotherapy and opting for clinical trials.
Bissonnette continued to act after surgery and radiation. She participated in “Ensemble,” a documentary about Broadway dancers facing pandemic closures in 2020. She also taught dance for musical theater at the Broadway Dance Center in New York.
In her free time, she has participated in charity projects such as “When The Lights Are Bright Again” – a book about the closures caused by COVID-19, with proceeds going to the Community Entertainment Fund. In his teaching biography for Broadway Dance Center, he called the institution his “second home”.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Stephanie’s family, friends and the entire Mean Girls community at this time.” a tweet from the “Mean Girls” account. read on sunday “She will be deeply missed and we encourage everyone to do something they love today in Stephanie’s honor.”
