Alex As President Of Schmengie
Alex has been acting since the invention of sand, and has appeared in cabaret and night club shows, musical theater, a few Greek tragedies, an opera and an occasional circus. Seriously. Since moving to Southern California in 2006 Alex expanded a well-established theatrical acting career that included stops at the Steppenwolf, the Bailiwick and the Producers Club, into movies and television at Warner Brothers, Disney and Amazon. She made Television history as one of the first Trans women to play a Trans character on television in Romy and Michelle- Behind The Velvet Rope, a Disney made for TV movie.
She won accolades for her groundbreaking performance as Davina in the Golden Globe, Emmy Award and Peabody Award winning Amazon show Transparent and had reoccurring roles in Goliath, The Connors, Never Have I Ever and Diary of a Future President. She made her Broadway debut as Waxy Bush in Richard Bean’s dark comedy The Nap and in 2020 became the first out Trans woman to play Madame Morrible in the Broadway production of Wicked. In 2022 she appeared as Inspector Ainsley Lowbeer in the Amazon sci-fi thriller series The Peripheral.
Alex is also the author of her autobiography “This Time For Me” and is an associate professor of acting at the University of Southern California. An ongoing scholarship “The Alexandra Billings Scholarship”, is named in her honor.
Alex dreams big and gathers quickly. As she and Chrisanne stand side by side, she has found a partner in life who lifts her up and breathes life into her dreams.
This Time For Me
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The Alexandra Billings Scholarship - USC School of Dramatic Arts
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Celebrating 75 Years Of The Usc School Of Dramatic Arts
Chrisanne As Chief Operating Officer
Chrisanne graduated in 1981 with a bachelors in Speech Communication. Although she has yet to use the actual degree to land a job in that arena, her course work provided a solid foundation for speaking out and speaking up. In the 1990s, during a lengthy stay in the insurance industry that included a stint as Vice President for a Lloyds of London broker, she, along with a good friend, formed a theatre production company becoming a managing director, producer and theater director for many award-winning Chicago theatres.
When she and Alex moved to Los Angeles in 2006, Chrisanne left insurance for good and began directing in Los Angeles. In 2018, when Schmengie was formed, she began producing movies and commercials.
Her advocacy work compelled her to march for woman’s rights, trans rights, animal rights, Black Lives Matter, human rights, and all those whose voices are silenced by indifferent and privileged people. Of which, she is aware that, she is one. Pre-COVID pandemic, she began designing homemade cards specifically made for Queer and marginalized communities. Her art began as a stress reducer and enhances a voice already manifesting in the projects Schmengie produces. Chrisanne uses a full-length mirror in her office to list projects coming to and developed by Schmengie. She is the analyzer and the linear thinker, and yet, as she organizes, she dreams and she manifests, writing on a clear space that is the literal reflection of what she hopes and what she believes.