MICHELLE MANIA is a founding member of the Pasadena
Shakespeare Company. Some of her past
credits include Juliet in "Romeo & Juliet," Hero
in "Much
Ado about Nothing," Duckling Smith
in "Our
Country's Good," Jenny Diver in "The
Beggar's Opera," and Carol Donovan
in "Pearls
and Marlowe." She was recently seen
at The Raven Playhouse in a production
of Neil Simon's "California
Suite" as Diana Nichols and will
soon be seen as the abused mother in the feature
film "Half
Way." She is also a proud graduate
of the performing arts program at Hollywood
High-school
under the direction
of Mr. Jerry Melton. In 1986 her life took
a turn
when a friend encouraged her to spend her summer
as a camp counselor working with developmentally
disabled adults. She began working at the Tierra
del Sol Foundation in 1991. Tierra
del Sol is a well respected non profit
organization that facilitates
independence in adults with disabilities. After
15
years of working at Tierra, Michelle has decided
to step down as the Artistic Director of the
Tierra Players to pursue her first love of
acting and
spend more time with her 2 children Matthew
aged 5 and
Madalyn aged 3. During her tenure at Tierra
she wrote, produced, and directed many original
works.
. It
was amazing to witness the growth and change
in her students over the years at Tierra. On
a personal
note, Michelle has been married for 6 years
to Matt
Mania who is a DP in the film industry. She
would like to sincerely thank Women in
Theatre for
this great honor, Tierra del Sol for
their overwhelming acknowledgment of what was
always a group effort
and lastly to her family for their continued
love and support.
