It’s been almost a decade since Melissa Molano landed on our Ones to Watch list of actors. In 2017, Molano had just come off two starring roles at Stages and had certainly caught our eye as a talent destined for great things.
Little did we know that her talent would land her a job at one of Houston’s largest theaters. In 2021, when it was announced that Molano had joined the repertory company of the Alley Theater, we cheered – thrilled both for her and for all the new audiences she would soon impress.
While on paper, this career boost seems like a dream come true, it didn’t come without difficulties along the way. The year 2017, it turns out, was a time of great highs and lows for Molano.
“It was such a crazy time because that article happened and career-wise things were starting to go up, but it was also the year I had a lot of relatives pass away,” says Molano. “I was having a hard time personally because I was trying to figure out how to be in grief, but also still do this job as an emotionally available actor. And I was like, wow, I can’t connect to myself in the same way and my life is really shaken up.”
For the next year, Molano said she felt her light fading. She was working an office job and not in a headspace to chase roles. But then something happened that she calls her Michelangelo moment. Like the hand reaching out in the famous Creation of Adam painting, she got an email from Associate Artistic Director Brandon Weinbrenner that changed everything.
Why wasn’t she on the list for the Alley general auditions? Was she in town? He wanted to know. “I said yes, I’m in town and Brandon said okay, great, I’m going to put you in a noon slot. And that was like the moment where I was like, oh, well, I guess I need to get a monologue and I have to show up because you’d be a fool to say no to Brandon.”
When we went into the audition, she met interim Artistic Director, James Black. “It was funny because when I walked in, he said, what have you been working on? And I said, myself, and he laughed,” says Molano. “It was a really great experience, but in my mind, I thought, okay, well, that was nice, but I thought that’s probably it. The end. And then they ended up inviting me to Twelfth Night auditions and then I ended up getting cast.”
It was the opportunity she needed to rediscover her passion.
“I remember coming into that first Twelfth Night rehearsal, and I just felt like this is where I’m supposed to be,” says Molano with tears in her eyes. “Like, not necessarily like at this particular theater, but like in the theater and at this table and oh my god, I’m getting emotional, but it truly brought me back to life.”
From there, Molano was asked to be in two of the Alley’s most iconic productions, Summer Chills and A Christmas Carol, she performed once again at Stages and was set to join the Alley for Sense and Sensibility.
And then 2020 came, and we all know how that went. COVID hit, lockdown happened, and this time, taking a break from theater was thrust unwillingly upon Molano.
Like many actors, Molano participated in online shows when they happened, not ideal for someone who had fallen back in love with live performing. And then in 2021, Alley Artistic Director Rob Melrose reached out to invite her to join the company.
“I’m about to enter my 5th season and there were many times where I’ve asked, did I die? Is this all just like a dream,” says Molano, who is especially proud not only of being a local Houston actor in the company but also a child of immigrants. “To be a young Latin American woman at the Alley, it feels like a big breakthrough.” One she knows her family is and would be very proud of.
Of all the roles Molano has played on Alley stages since joining the company, none stands out more than her superlative starring effort in Jane Eyre, by far her biggest role to date. But no matter the role, Artistic Directo Melrose notes she is an utterly transformative actor.
“If you see Melissa in one or two plays, it is easy to see that she is an extremely talented ingénue in our Resident Acting Company and does an excellent job playing those kinds of roles…In rehearsal, I learn a great deal about the characters she plays by watching her live through their experiences.”
When asked how all this experience has shaped her as an actor, Molano says she’s learned to know and trust herself more, to speak up for what she needs as a performer, and to keep what she calls her tender heart.
“I really want to preserve this tender part of myself. Because sometimes this industry can harden you because it’s hard,” says Molano. “I still have hard work, you have new challenges and expectations and you have to keep moving…. But because I’m more self-aware, you know, and in tune. And I have more experience. I’m able to still work towards the same thing, but not compromise my whole system.”
Next, you can catch Melissa Molano in the Alley Theater’s production of Dear Alien starting May 13.
