Melissa Tom

Melissa Tom's performing arts training started with piano at age 8 and a humble a capella choir at the age of 10, and has since grown to include tap dance and a B.A in Theatre from SJSU, with emphases on acting, makeup application and design, and children's theatre. She has also received training from Comedy Sportz of San Jose (improvisation), and American Conservatory Theatre (ACT) of San Francisco (mime, Commedia d'ell Arte), and she continues to train in acting and stage combat.

Favorite roles include Ariel in The Tempest, the rapier-wielding Abram in Romeo and Juliet (Shady Shakespeare Theatre Company), Helen Chao in Flower Drum Song (West Valley Light Opera), a Fanciulla in Manon Lescaut (West Bay Opera), and Libby in The Bullfighter from Brooklyn (Cinequest). She also originated the title role in Alice's Adventures (an original, interactive children's play adapted from Lewis Carroll's book) with Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose. As a vocalist, Melissa has been a featured soloist during choral tours in California, Hawaii, Poland, and the Czech Republic.

Melissa also works behind the scenes, freelancing as a makeup artist and designer, including working as the Principal Makeup Assistant at West Bay Opera in Palo Alto. Recent shows she has designed for include West Bay Opera's Die Zauberflote, Sunnyvale Community Players' production of The Wiz, and Shady Shakespeare's 2007 productions of The Tempest and Macbeth. Her work with makeup can be seen later this winter, where she will be both designing and applying the makeup for Santa Clara Players' Cirque du Soleil-esque December production of Waiting for Godot.