People of Rochester - Melanie
Melanie is a native Rochesterian who lives in Ontario. She graduated in 2019 from SUNY Fredonia, with a BFA in musical theatre.
She’s currently an instructor with the Rochester Musical Theatre Academy (at the Lyric Theatre), which started up during the pandemic. This is her first year with Lyric, “and I love them so much,” she said. She said everything is “socially distanced and masked” and “we’ve been able to run different courses for kids 12-18.”
Melanie is one of the drama instructors in these classes. They’ve recently switched to musical rehearsals, and she’s an assistant director for a musical. “It’s really fun!” she said.
The next RMTA performances Melanie was involved with were on the last day of April and the first day of May, and although there were pandemic-driven crowd restrictions, “we’re now able to get live audiences, about a hundred people per show.”
“I'm really proud of these kids,” she said.
Melanie is also a substitute teacher, so she had early access to the COVID-19 vaccine. She especially wanted to sub for her high-school chorus teacher, when the teacher is out. She teaches private voice and acting, too, and she gives beginner piano lessons. She also performs, “when the opportunity presents itself.”
When the pandemic hit, Melanie had been cast in JCC’s production of “Mamma Mia,” and she was music-directing a couple of programs; she was busy. During the pandemic, performance has been at a bit of a standstill, but she’s trying to get as much experience as she can here, “and then Atlanta is the next move,” she said.
Why Atlanta, I asked?
She said, usually people are deciding between New York and Los Angeles, but she likes warm weather, and Atlanta has a thriving theatre, film, and music scene. Plus, it’s warmer and cheaper than New York or LA. Also, one of her brothers recently moved to Atlanta.
She has five older brothers; Melanie’s the youngest of six children. Her brothers all love sports, and she was “the black sheep of the family,” she said, laughing.
She lives with her parents right now, as she prepares to move. Her parents were at high-risk for covid, so she had to be “extra closed-down” during the pandemic. She wasn’t super-worried so much for herself, but was concerned for her parents. Melanie was eager to get the vaccine. She had a significant reaction to the first dose of the Moderna shot, but her second shot was fine; only a sore arm. Now that they’ve all been vaccinated, they’re all able to relax a bit, which is really exciting, she said.
Thank you, Melanie!