photo by: Contributed

Louise ImMasche as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in "The Rocky Horror Show."

The theater community is in mourning after an area actor was killed in a car crash Friday night after a performance in Lawrence.

The 41-year-old actor, Louise ImMasche, of Kansas City, Missouri, has starred in numerous shows at Theatre Lawrence, including “White Christmas,” “Little Shop of Horrors,” “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert,” “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” and “The Rocky Horror Show.”

photo by: Theatre Lawrence

Louise ImMasche as Hedwig in “Hedwig and the Angry Inch.”

ImMasche had played Dr. Frank-N-Furter numerous times at Theatre Lawrence since 2016 and was reprising the role in this weekend’s run. The theater canceled both of Saturday’s performances of the show after learning of ImMasche’s death.

According to a Facebook page, ImMasche worked at GoodLife Innovations, a Lenexa nonprofit providing housing and day services for adults with disabilities.

In a Sept. 28 Facebook post, ImMasche discussed being “so happy to be in rehearsal for Rocky Horror again,” and mentioned that the role had come about 10 years ago when so many meaningful things, such as the GoodLife job and a relationship had also begun.

“I had no idea how full my life was about to become,” ImMasche wrote. “Don’t dream it, be it,” the post concluded — a reference to a lyric in “The Rocky Horror Show.”

ImMasche’s husband, Zachary Grant, told the Journal-World that ImMasche was an “independent artist above all else.”

Grant said ImMasche, who uses they/them pronouns, had written several musicals, including producing two of the shows to performance, “Femme Assassin Guy” and “Run,” and worked toward getting their namesake musical “Louise” going before finding interest in other projects.

He said that ImMasche was dedicated to providing excellent care to their clients at GoodLife and that they “were proud of the work they did in the mission to improve their clients’ lives.”

Although ImMasche lived in Kansas City, Grant said they had been a Lawrence resident for 13 years. “Lawrence is where their heart always was,” Grant said.

In 2014, when ImMasche played the role of Seymour in “Little Shop of Horrors,” they told the Journal-World that they fell in love with the production when their older brother played Seymour in a high school production in 1998. It was one of the first musicals they’d ever seen.

With dreams of a career in theater from a young age, ImMasche said they always loved the idea of a nerd as the hero.

“I liked rooting for a nerd,” they said. “I identified with that as a kid whose interests were theater in a small community that was really into sports.”

The day before their death, ImMasche posted a Bible verse from the Book of Matthew: “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

In a previous post they paid tribute to their mother, “whose unconditional love is a superpower,” and to their grandparents, who loved and encouraged them and “saw” their “essence.”

Around noon Saturday, the music director of “Rocky Horror” said on Theatre Lawrence’s Facebook page: “Out of respect for the family, we are not releasing additional information, however, we are devastated by the loss of one of our cast members, due to a collision on K10 after last night’s show. Your thoughts are very much appreciated at this time.”

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, Friday’s collision occurred after a 23-year-old driver who was westbound in a Chevrolet Tahoe on U.S. Highway 40 crossed the center and struck ImMasche, who was traveling eastbound, head-on.

photo by: Journal-World File

Louise ImMasche as Seymour in “Little Shop of Horrors.”

photo by: James Diemer

Jared Martin, from left, Jaryl Perkins and Louise ImMasche rehearse “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” at Theatre Lawrence.