Melinda has been a performer since elementary school, when she played Nancy in Oliver Twist and all the parents in the audience laughed during her tragic death scene.
Since that time, her credits have expanded to include Libby Tucker, the leading role in Neil Simon’s I Ought to Be in Pictures (The Studio Players, Calgary); Connie Dayton in Come Blow Your Horn (Metro Theatre, Vancouver); and both the vampy chanteuse Celeste Romano and the shy, quiet bridesmaid Marina Galino in Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding (Hoarse Raven Theatre, Vancouver).
Melinda has written and performed a number of her own works, including Jew! (A Musical) (for the Vancouver Fringe Festival in Canada and Lost Theatre’s One Act Festival in London, UK). After moving from Vancouver to London to Paris, she created All That Matters (A Modern Mini-Musical about Motherhood), which premiered at the Montmartre Dionysia.
As a comic, Melinda has appeared at The Comedy MIX in Vancouver and was a guest comedienne with celebrated comedy troupe 30 Helens. In Paris, she has enjoyed appearances at Girls Gone Funny, French Fried Comedy Night, and Melting Pot Comedy Night.
Melinda also works as an emcee and performer for cabaret and burlesque shows, and she has performed in festivals and shows throughout Paris as well as in New York and St Louis. She served as co-producer and featured performer in Burlesque Moulin’s burlesque brunch series, Croissants & Corsets, and incorporated comedy and burlesque in her role as emcee for the very successful Cabaret et Vin, produced by Holly Bordeaux Productions.
Melinda’s cabaret work has led her to offering a successful series of classes in burlesque performance, confidence building, and public speaking. (Feel free to get in touch via the Contact page to learn more.) As for the stage, her most recent roles include Lady (formerly Lord) Capulet in Cygnet Theatre’s nearly-all-female production of Romeo and Juliet, and as one of the harrowed-but-hilarious mothers in the upcoming premiere of Koël Purie Rinchet’s original work, Mummy’s Dead, Long Live Mummy!
