Alumni Feature: Melody Munitz

As of this November, I’m just wrapping up nearly a year on the road playing Wednesday Addams in the National Tour of “The Addams Family”! 78 cities later, I’m back home in New York for a moment, before heading out again for a little bit to play Lucy in the North American Tour of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” with live symphony orchestras across the US and Canada in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Peanuts cartoons. Previously, I was on the road with the American Girl National Tour, originating the role of Madison, a new American Girl Doll character who was based on me! Performing in National Tours has been my dream since before I even joined BYE, so getting to experience this dream become my reality has been more special than I can put into words. Dreams really do come true!

Scroll down to learn a little more about Melody, her background and his advice for young performers.

About College & Pre-College Training

Between my junior and senior years of high school in 2017, I attended the University of Michigan's MPulse Musical Theater training program and learned a truly formative amount! Earlier, between my freshman and sophomore years of high school in 2015, I attended Rider University's Musical Theatre summer training intensive, which was also a wonderful experience.

After a truly dreamy and incredibly fulfilling four years, I graduated from Penn State three years ago with dual degrees in Musical Theater with Honors and Psychology with Honors with a Neuroscience emphasis. Academics were always important to me growing up, but I’d also known since I was 7 that I wanted to be a professional performer, so as I began looking into colleges, I was eager to find a school where I could get both great training in musical theater and continue to pursue my other passions, particularly my love for science. When I toured Penn State, one of my first questions for the faculty in the School of Theater was if double-majoring was possible; unfortunately, they told me that the musical theater program was so rigorous with so many required credits that it wasn’t possible to fit in a double major. I fell in love with Penn State anyway, and when I was accepted to the Schreyer Honors College, I knew it was the school that I belonged at.

Well long story short, I ended up adding a Psychology minor as soon as I could and just kept adding more and more science classes each semester until I finally turned my minor into a full Psychology double-major. I was proud to graduate in 2022 as valedictorian for both the Musical Theater and the Psychology programs, and as the first person to prove that it is possible to double major with Musical Theater at Penn State after all. Now there are other undergrads at Penn State in the years behind me who are pursuing minors and double majors instead of having to abandon other academic passions that they may hold alongside theater. That’s what I’m most proud of… being able to show what’s possible and inspire others to follow their dreams past the barriers that arise. Penn State was an absolutely incredible environment for me to continue to grow as an artist and person, and I truly couldn’t have dreamt of a better place or group of faculty & peers to have spent my undergrad with.

BYE Memories …

I vividly remember my first time walking through the stage door at Carnegie Hall for my first performance there with BYE. I had spent years admiring BYE from afar, and the day that I was invited to audition for the group I felt like I had been handed a golden ticket. Walking through that stage door into the backstage at Carnegie Hall , then, felt like walking into Willy Wonka’s factory. I couldn’t believe my eyes. That whole first day was a thrill, and I was so grateful each and every time I got to walk through the doors of Carnegie Hall, stand on that miraculous stage, and sing with my wonderful BYE pals and peers.

A little advice from Melody …

One piece of advice I’d love to share is that there truly are so many different paths in this career, and you get the honor of carving your own! It is all too easy and tempting to look at people you admire and wish that your journey looked like theirs… and while it’s great to look up to your peers and be inspired by those around you, at the end of the day, their journey is theirs and yours is yours! This industry will surprise you (as it has me!) by presenting you with opportunities you never could’ve dreamt of, while the opportunities you clung to sometimes dissolve in front of your eyes. It’s all a big adventure, and while that uncertainty and trust can be scary and hard, that’s also the magic and the thrill. I never could've dreamt up during my BYE days exactly this path that I’ve been fortunate to walk on, just as the path you’ll take towards your dreams will surprise and delight you.