Melanie Case
Encyclopedia
Melanie Case a.k.a. Melanie Salazar Case, is a Colombian-American actor, comedian, writer, theater director, filmmaker, producer, and teacher. She is the President and Co-founder of The Farm Hands Entertainment, with her partner Victoria Hope Martin, a media production company focusing on comedy, documentary, and LGBT films.
and was the founder of the improvisation troupe The Lunátic Players (now known simply as The Lunátics). She earned her bachelor's degree in theater from the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.
, Melanie originated the role of Pam in the award-winning world premiere production of the play Hunter Gatherers by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb. She has acted in many Killing My Lobster sketch comedy shows, including 2003’s Walks This Way, which also featured “luminary” folk singer Becky Stark
and directed by filmmaker Peter Glantz
. She has also performed in Shotgun Players
' production of Bright Ideas. She was deemed a comedy “expert” and “consistently hilarious” for her portrayal of myriad characters in that show. Other Bay Area credits include Catherine in Proof (play)
with Mendocino Theater Company, and a reading of Janet Allard's Vrooommm! at TheatreWorks (Silicon Valley)
.
She played Natalie in the indie feature film The Snake, featuring Margaret Cho
, co-produced and co-written by Eric Kutner (who also directed) and Adam Goldstein, who stars in the film. The Snake premiered at SXSW on March 13, 2009.
She also appeared in the indie film My Movie Girl, starring Mackenzie Firgens
. Evolution: The Musical!
a film in which she portrays a manipulative
and primal Queen Bonobo, premiered at the San Francisco International Film Festival
on May 6, 2008. She shared the screen with illBilly boys
, Andrew Bancroft
(of MC Jelly Donut notoriety) and Kenny Taylor
, who directed the film.
She also stars in Orifice Visit, a short comedy film about an awkward gynecology visit, that Case wrote and directed.
Melanie can be seen in commercials and videos for companies such as Subway Sandwiches, Hewlett Packard, Toyota, Brown and Toland Physicians, and the Nevada Department of Public Health.
She was a performance judge as a part of Opium Magazine’s San Francisco’s Literary Death Match in January 2009.
She also co-wrote and co-produced, with Amanda Gamer, a two-woman play about women’s self-love, in Los Angeles, The Sho Show (The Complex). Her first short film as a writer, Diner Ladies, co-written with Tonya Glanz after a 3:00 am riff at a San Francisco diner called Sparky’s, screened at the HiLo Film Festival and at Rooftop Films
in New York.
Glanz and Case are attributed with popularizing the phrase “On the siiiiiiide!” which is sometimes heard around San Francisco restaurants.
In 2005, she was the first female Lobster to direct a play, with her twisted take on fairy tales. The result was Kisses A Toad at the Yugen/Noh Space, about which Jane Ganahl of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote a feature story.
Early life
Case was born in Palo Alto, CA and raised in Menlo Park, CA. She went to Menlo-Atherton High SchoolMenlo-Atherton High School
Menlo-Atherton High School is a four-year comprehensive secondary school located in Atherton, California which was established in 1951. Menlo-Atherton is part of the Sequoia Union High School District....
and was the founder of the improvisation troupe The Lunátic Players (now known simply as The Lunátics). She earned her bachelor's degree in theater from the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.
Acting and Sketch Comedy
A company member since 2003 of the award-winning San Francisco sketch comedy group Killing My LobsterKilling My Lobster
Killing My Lobster is a San Francisco-based sketch comedy group and film production company.-KML Sketch Shows:Killing My Lobster is a non-profit arts organization based in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1997, Killing My Lobster, known primarily for its sketch comedy shows, also produces...
, Melanie originated the role of Pam in the award-winning world premiere production of the play Hunter Gatherers by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb. She has acted in many Killing My Lobster sketch comedy shows, including 2003’s Walks This Way, which also featured “luminary” folk singer Becky Stark
Becky Stark
Becky Stark is an artist, singer, songwriter and entertainer from Los Angeles, California. She is the voice of the band Lavender Diamond. She was raised in Maryland where she began performing as a child. At the age of 13 she travelled to the former Soviet Union as part of a U.S. State...
and directed by filmmaker Peter Glantz
Peter Glantz
Peter Glantz is an American director of theater and film, notably the films Lightning Bolt - Power Of Salad and the music video DVD Pick A Winner, both released through the record label Load Records...
. She has also performed in Shotgun Players
Shotgun Players
The Shotgun Players is a critically acclaimed California East Bay regional theater group formed in a pizza parlor in Berkeley, California in 1992 by artistic director Patrick Dooley. The group specializes in unfamiliar productions by modern playwrights, Greek plays, and Shakespeare...
' production of Bright Ideas. She was deemed a comedy “expert” and “consistently hilarious” for her portrayal of myriad characters in that show. Other Bay Area credits include Catherine in Proof (play)
Proof (play)
Proof is a play by David Auburn originally produced by the Manhattan Theatre Club on 23 May 2000. It then went to Broadway on 24 October 2000 at the Walter Kerr Theatre, and was directed by Daniel J. Sullivan, with Mary-Louise Parker as Catherine, Larry Bryggman as Robert, Ben Shenkman as Hal, and...
with Mendocino Theater Company, and a reading of Janet Allard's Vrooommm! at TheatreWorks (Silicon Valley)
TheatreWorks (Silicon Valley)
TheatreWorks is a non-profit, professional theater company based in Menlo Park, California and founded in July, 1970. The company is a member of the League of Resident Theatres and employs some 300 artists annually, including Equity and non-Equity actors, directors, designers and specialty artists...
.
She played Natalie in the indie feature film The Snake, featuring Margaret Cho
Margaret Cho
Margaret Cho is an American comedian, fashion designer, actress, author, and recording artist. Cho is best known for her stand-up routines, through which she critiques social and political problems, especially those pertaining to race and sexuality. She has also directed and appeared in music...
, co-produced and co-written by Eric Kutner (who also directed) and Adam Goldstein, who stars in the film. The Snake premiered at SXSW on March 13, 2009.
She also appeared in the indie film My Movie Girl, starring Mackenzie Firgens
Mackenzie Firgens
-Early life:Firgens was born in Burbank, California, close to Hollywood, and was raised by her musician/actor father and singer/artist mother. She has said that she knew she wanted to be an actor from a young age, and would put on plays for her parents and friends, often playing several roles. She...
. Evolution: The Musical!
Evolution: The Musical!
Evolution: The Musical! is a short musical comedy depicting the struggle between Evolution and Creationism, through two groups of fictional characters: "The Beasties" and "The Blesseds"...
a film in which she portrays a manipulative
Psychological manipulation
Psychological manipulation is a type of social influence that aims to change the perception or behavior of others through underhanded, deceptive, or even abusive tactics. By advancing the interests of the manipulator, often at the other's expense, such methods could be considered exploitative,...
and primal Queen Bonobo, premiered at the San Francisco International Film Festival
San Francisco International Film Festival
San Francisco International Film Festival is the oldest continuously running film festival in the Americas. Organized by the San Francisco Film Society, the International is held each spring for two weeks, presenting an average of 150 films from over 50 countries...
on May 6, 2008. She shared the screen with illBilly boys
IllBilly productions
illBilly productions is an entertainment company based in San Francisco. Founded by Kenny Taylor and Andrew Bancroft, illBilly productions is responsible for numerous live comedy shows and films that range in subject matter from a rapping jelly donut, to a version of the Angel Gabriel that prances...
, Andrew Bancroft
Andrew Bancroft
-Films:Bancroft wrote and starred in Evolution: The Musical! which was screened at the 2008 San Francisco International Film Festival. He also wrote, directed and starred in the music video "Maximum Wage".-Features in the media:...
(of MC Jelly Donut notoriety) and Kenny Taylor
Kenny Taylor (director)
Kenny Taylor is an American filmmaker.Born and raised in Southern Oregon, Kenny Taylor moved to Los Angeles as a teenager, where he began working as an actor, stand-up comic, and screenwriter....
, who directed the film.
She also stars in Orifice Visit, a short comedy film about an awkward gynecology visit, that Case wrote and directed.
Melanie can be seen in commercials and videos for companies such as Subway Sandwiches, Hewlett Packard, Toyota, Brown and Toland Physicians, and the Nevada Department of Public Health.
Writing
Melanie is a playwright as well as a screenwriter. Her first one-act play, written for 12–14 year-olds, Seventh Grade Freaks will be published by Smith and Kraus publishers this year. Palo Alto Weekly recently did a feature story on her play.She was a performance judge as a part of Opium Magazine’s San Francisco’s Literary Death Match in January 2009.
She also co-wrote and co-produced, with Amanda Gamer, a two-woman play about women’s self-love, in Los Angeles, The Sho Show (The Complex). Her first short film as a writer, Diner Ladies, co-written with Tonya Glanz after a 3:00 am riff at a San Francisco diner called Sparky’s, screened at the HiLo Film Festival and at Rooftop Films
Rooftop Films
Rooftop Films is a non-profit film organization based in Gowanus, Brooklyn. They are best known for their Rooftop Films Summer Series, a screening series/film festival that runs from June through September every year and consists of as many as 47 outdoor screenings of new, independent short and...
in New York.
Glanz and Case are attributed with popularizing the phrase “On the siiiiiiide!” which is sometimes heard around San Francisco restaurants.
Directing and Producing
Case’s film directing and producing debut, Orifice Visit was completed in September 2008, and awaiting festival notifications. She is currently directing a video for non-profit organization Pacific Environment.In 2005, she was the first female Lobster to direct a play, with her twisted take on fairy tales. The result was Kisses A Toad at the Yugen/Noh Space, about which Jane Ganahl of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote a feature story.
Press
- Curve magazine article about Case http://www.curvemag.com/Curve-Magazine/Web-Articles-2008/Q-A/
- East Bay Express review of Learn to be Latina-- "But it's Case who steals the show as Mary O'Malley, an ethnicity consultant with hipster glasses and dominatrix boots. Colombian-American and bilingual in real life, she'll invent a Spanish proverb on the spot, and say it in a perfect accent. Her favorite? 'Las buenas Latinas no comen cuca.' " http://www.eastbayexpress.com/ebx/las-buenas-latinas/Content?oid=1623534
- SF Chronicle review of Learn to be Latina http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/26/DDHG1C4QVR.DTL
- SF Weekly review of Learn to be Latina-- "Case runs off with the show..."
- Palo Alto Weekly article about Case and Seventh Grade Freaks
- SF Chronicle Article about Case directing Kisses a Toad
- Variety review of Hunter Gatherers
- SF Chronicle review of Hunter Gatherers
- SF Weekly review of Hunter Gatherers
- SF Station review of Hunter Gatherers
- Examiner review of Hunter Gatherers
- Talkin’ Broadway review of Hunter Gatherers
- SF Weekly review of Bright Ideas
- Oakland Tribune review of Bright Ideas
- Review of Case’s performance in Vroooommm!