Melissa Leilani Larson is a writer who graduated from The University of Iowa MFA Playwrights Workshop in May 2007.  She is the author of several produced/workshopped plays: The Church of St. Pinky at Katy, Texas; Hope Falls; A Flickering; Martyrs’ Crossing; Standing Still Standing; and Lady in Waiting.

Martyrs’ Crossing was produced at the 2005 Iowa New Play Festival, where it won the IRAM Best New Play award; it went on to be produced on the BYU mainstage in March 2006, enjoying a completely sold-out run and being named by The Deseret News as the best Utah Valley theatre production of 2006.  The staging of the BYU production was featured in Andy Lorimer’s Rocky Mountain Emmy-winning documentary A Cathartic Space (Mel appears briefly in the program, as do several scenes from the play).  Martyrs’ Crossing is presently being considered for production by several universities and theatre companies, and will have a reading as part of New York’s WorkShop Theater Company’s Sundays at Six in June 2008.

Lady in Waiting won the 2001 Lewis National Playwriting Contest for Women, received a staged reading at the 2002 KC/ACTF Region VIII Festival, and has been produced at three universities: BYU (2001), BYU Hawai’i (2002), and Cal State L. A. (2003). 

Mel adapted John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera for the BYU mainstage, enjoying a successful run and several sold-out houses in March 2004.  She contributed the vignette “A Place Apart”, about an early liaison of Louis XIV, to David Schweizer’s new collaborative collage Versailles, which premiered on the Iowa mainstage in March 2007.  Other work at Iowa included the Gallery Series productions Hope Falls (March 2007), A Flickering (February 2006), and The Church of St. Pinky at Katy, Texas, which appeared in the 2007 Iowa New Play Festival.

Also an accomplished filmmaker, Mel wrote the independent feature The Lilac Thief and has written, produced, and/or directed a number of short films including Iscariot, Traces, and 4:53, which was included in the LDS Film Festival’s inaugural Best of Festival tour. 

E-Cubed productions commissioned her to write the 2-hour pilot for their television series McCabe & the Kid, which is currently being shopped to networks.  Her screen adaptation of her award-winning play Standing Still Standing won the 2006 LDS Film Festival screenplay competition (www.ldsfilmfestival.org) and is presently in pre-production despite a lack of funds (please email Mel to help make this film happen!).  Also, Mel was recently commissioned to adapt C. Eric Ott’s heartwarming novel Jamie’s Watch for film.

An AEA membership candidate, Mel’s stage management credits include: An Empty Plate in the Cafe du Grand Boeuf, The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife, and Moon Over Buffalo for Iowa Summer Rep; Twitch, Militant Language, Abraham (I Am an Island), and Home Free! for The University of Iowa; Lettice and Lovage for Provo Theatre Company; Misalliance, Crazy for You, Cyrano, and The Clearing for Brigham Young University; The Legend of Timpanogos, Nutcracker, and Romeo and Juliet for Utah Regional Ballet; and Great Expectations for ARTE.  At present she is Production/Resident Stage Manager for New Play Project, a theatre company dedicated to producing value-based, new plays.

At present, Mel is working with New Play Project to prepare a production of Little Happy Secrets.  We are trying to meet a budget goal of $1900; you can make a tax-deductible donation at www.newplayproject.org.  If you make a donation of at least $10, we will send you a very professionally laid out copy of the script, or an NPP ticket voucher good for the entire upcoming season (instead of the tax deduction, that is).  Wahoo.

Other works in progress include a wacky Victorian comedy, Unravelling; a bio drama about Alexander Pushkin; and the creation of a TV pilot.

To download Mel’s production résumé, please click here.