Motor City Youth Theatre
Nancy Florkowski, Founder and Director
(313) 535-8962 or e-mail nancy@mcyt.org

Writer to direct and appear in her own play
She's called Warren, Sterling Hgts. home

April 1, 2007

BY TOM LANG
FREE PRESS SPECIAL WRITER

Melissa Zinn is a Detroit native who formerly lived in Warren and Sterling Heights.

Her first story was written at age 6, a variation of "Alice in Wonderland." Twenty-five years later, a play of hers will be performed at Grantland Street Theatre in Livonia.

Melissa Zinn, 31, lives in Kalamazoo, where she began a new theater group, Abstraction Theatre, in September. Now, Zinn, a Detroit native who formerly lived in Warren and Sterling Heights, returns to metro Detroit for a one-night performance of her play "Nineteen Variations on Hamlet" -- a play she also directs and in which she plays Ophelia -- at 7 p.m. Friday.

"It was fun to take something like Hamlet that is so deep and so tragic but make something fun out of it; a different way of seeing it with the same characters," Zinn said of her playwright style.

Zinn, a 1993 graduate of Henry Ford II High School in Sterling Heights, and a cast of seven -- including her husband, Sid -- will do the one-night-only performance.

QUESTION: What's your favorite part of acting?

ANSWER: Probably the connection with the other actors and the connection with the audience. I think that is a magical thing that happens in live theater. Being able to share a story and to share part of yourself.

Q: How did you feel called to write?

A: My mother read "Alice in Wonderland" to me, and very soon after, I wrote a short story about Alice and her adventures. It was a similar thing I've done with "Nineteen Variations on Hamlet" -- taking something that exists and playing with it, stretching it out further and seeing what could happen with the characters in that story.

Q: What was your most embarrassing moment onstage?

A: (I did) a murder mystery show, and I was the killer that night so it was my big concession speech, and I used the "F" word and that wasn't part of the plan nor part of my normal performing. And I never use that type of language, but I was so into the moment, it just came out.

Q: What's your best moment onstage?

A: Definitely, it would have to be playing Ophelia. . . . Her mad scenes, when Ophelia goes crazy, goes insane -- I always found that to be very beautiful and very powerful. Then after the show, a mother brought her son up to me to show him I was OK. That was a great moment because it showed that my acting was so moving and believable that the little boy needed to see that I was OK.

Q: What tips would you give aspiring actors?

A: Believe in yourself. Don't be afraid to use yourself, parts of your personality that you might not like to show or be embarrassed about. Don't be afraid to show that side of you in your characters, and always strive to connect with the other characters and with the audience.