above all, mel believes in the power of story. An avid reader from a young age, mel has always been drawn to stories of growth, hope, and overcoming impossible odds. As an adult navigating an increasingly turbulent world for artists, mel has carved a path intersecting entertainment, education, and activism. For years, mel veered away from performance, knowing how unstable and uncertain a career in the arts can be. Instead, at college, mel chose the famously lucrative english rhetoric as their major, and backed it up with the equally marketable anthropology minor. Post-graduation, while using their degree to debate classic novels with regulars at a seattle coffee shop, mel found an audition notice for the london academy of music and dramatic art. On a whim, they auditioned, and out of nearly 10,000 applicants worldwide, earned one of 30 slots.

Upon graduating, mel returned to the us in the midst of a pandemic, a historic election, the beginning of the streaming wars, and a looming writers’ strike. Since their return, they have cobbled together a life as a creative; supplementing their performance income with directing, producing, and teaching. While financially precarious at times, this lifestyle suits mel, who thrives on a challenge and needs the stimulation being a multi-hyphenate provides.

Along this journey, mel found immersive performance and fell in love with it. They and their partner, Oliver Cruz, dream of creating immersive worlds that blend story and escape room mechanics on a theme-park scale. Their inaugural project, Novapunk’s “Rewilder” imagines a solar punk (read: optimistic) post-apocalyptic version of society grounded in real life regenerative farming practices. More on that soon…