Leslye Mistry

Orr, Leslye (Leslye Susan Mistry), a remarkable performer, writer, teacher, and disability advocate, passed away on March 22nd in St. Paul, MN. She was 69 years young. She left us suddenly and unexpectedly, but peacefully. Her vibrancy persisted until her last day. Leslye was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in 1955, on New Year's Eve - a fitting birthday for the life of the party. She was the fourth of eight children in the boisterous and resilient Orr family. She was blind from birth, and learned to walk by following her mother's finger snaps. After 18 eye surgeries, she gained low tunnel vision in her right eye. She proudly referred to herself as a "cyclops," and saw her disability as a gift that fostered her big imagination.She loved to perform ever since she was a child. She would mimic cartoon voices and animal sounds at the dinner table, and stage elaborate skits in the basement. As a teenager, she acted in dozens of school plays, and was later inducted into the Lincoln High School Hall of Fame. In 1974, she ventured out of Sioux Falls to join the Children's Theater Company (CTC) in Minneapolis. She then studied voice and speech in New York City at the Working Theater, before returning to Minnesota, where she happily spent her last 50 years.Leslye was a pillar in the Twin Cities arts community. For over a decade, she was a voice coach and actor at CTC. She performed with Ballet of the Dolls, Illusion Theater, Jungle Theater, and Dudley Riggs, and was awarded playwriting fellowships by the Jerome Foundation and Minnesota State Arts Board. In 1992, she fell fast for her husband, Zaraawar Mistry, an Indian-born fellow theater artist. They married within a year of meeting. For 32 years, they were partners in love and art, and they passed their creativity on to their son, Sam. From 2006 to 2023, they ran Dreamland Arts, a 40-seat black box theater attached to their house in St. Paul. It was a space for artists of all backgrounds to tell their stories.Leslye passionately promoted the "possibilities of disabilities." Her picture book, The People on the Corner, taught children how to be inclusive in fun and games. Her one-woman play, Hand in Hand, explored the bond between Helen Keller and her teacher, Annie Sullivan. Audiences were asked to close their eyes throughout the show, and "see" through the touch of hands and the mind's eye. Leslye toured Hand in Hand in all 50 states, and internationally with the U.S. State Department. She created many other unforgettable solo shows, from her signature comedy Women Who Drink, to Wisecracks from My Father, and What I Thought I Saw: Random Acts of Blindness. Her vocal sound effects were showcased on A Prairie Home Companion and Island of Discarded Women. We will hear her baby cries, dog barks, and spaceship beeps for the rest of time. In the beyond, Leslye joins her father, Russell, and four of her siblings, Stephanie, John, Christopher, and David. They are off dancing together under a disco ball.Her infectious joy carries on in her son, the light of her life, Sam, and her husband, the love of her life, Zaraawar; her darling mother, Jean; her dear siblings, Meredith, Jennifer, and Michael; her siblings-in-law, Larry, Bill, and Leslie; her husband's siblings, Honaawar and Dilaawar, and their spouses, John and Kelly; her nieces, Natalie and Taylor; her nephew-in-law, Mike; her nephew, Slade; her grand-nephews, Arden and Jal; her grand-niece, Francesca; and the countless other lives she touched.In lieu of a funeral, her request is that we throw parties (plural!), where we share our favorite sound effects, sing songs, and live it up. She left us with a beautiful parting message. "Thanks to all my loved ones, I had the best life ever because of you! I will always be in your heart whenever you need me."As she often joked, her epitaph is: "I'm here all week!"Gifts in Leslye's honor can be made to Springboard for the Arts, where a new fund to support artists with disabilities is being established in her name. Please select "Dedicate my donation in honor or in memory of someone," and for honoree name, write in "Leslye Orr": https://springboardforthearts.org/about-us/donate/