Name: Melissa Golden

Age: 23

From: Oregon, USA

Education: Linfield College, History BA, minored in German and Theatre Arts

Travel: Ireland, Austria, Slovakia, Italy, Czech Republic, Russia, Latvia, Estonia, Finland

Home in Hokkaido: Akabira - about 2 hours north of Sapporo, 1 hour south of Asahikawa

Hobbies and Interests: Hiking, skiing, snowboarding, tennis, Japanese pottery, ikebana, learning to play the shamisen.

Theatrical Education: In two and a half years constructing sets backstage, I worked on five shows, studying theatre history, literature, methods of directing, stage management, acting, and fundamentals of theatre design. In addition to theatre, I have four years experience directing amateur film.

Last Year’s Musical: I started out as the set designer but ended up stage managing, doing the lighting design, and overall technical direction as well. For the show, I designed and built the set, acquired or built props, created and modified the lighting design for each theatre we used, organized and trained running crews, set up the stage and backstage for each performance, ran each show as stage manager, and organized each set strike at the end of a performance.

This Year’s Musical: as director, I want to bring in as much creative and enthusiastic talent as possible. The reason I love theatre so much is because it is such a unique collaborative art form. This year I want to see that collaboration both on stage and behind the scenes. Because it is a modest-sized production, this year’s musical will give people of many different artistic talents a chance to contribute.