“I first stepped on the stage when I was 17 years old. I knew then it was for me. I was immediately comfortable there. It’s homey in a way. It has a scent and energy like nothing else. And though it is a real work environment, it produces a magic, a magic that only the theater can.”

Elissa has a storehouse of characters, voices and dialects that are all a part of her originally written vignettes. Combining humor and humanity, she stirs Christian theater by bringing flesh and blood to the biblical Truth of both the Old and New Testaments.

Her characters allow us all to risk ourselves openly and be vulnerable enough between laughs to learn the wonder of being fully human.

“ My approach to writing sketches and developing the characters I portray is simply this: in meeting different people, I often ask myself, where can this personality, or this situation, be found in scripture? Suddenly a story set in the bible, comes off its pages and is relateable to today’s audience”.
Elissa’s studies in various acting styles, drama, improvisation, theater of the absurd, oral interpretation and of course comedy are evident as she transforms into Eve calling out to Adam.

A native New Yorker, she studied with the Ruth Klinger Studios in New York City, and has her Bachelor of Arts in Drama and Speech Arts from Hofstra University.

Her resume includes acting with various community theaters and summer stock, including a leading role with the Blackfriar Shakespeare Company’s off-off Broadway production of the Merry Wives of Windsor.

She brought her character portrayals to Kathy Troccoli’s K.T. and Friends Cruise, The Singles Bonanza of Palm Dessert California, at the Union Theater Madison Wisconsin, Bethel College, St. Paul Minnesota, The Lambs Theater, New York City, Women’s Aglow International New York Spring Retreat, Mt. Bethel, Pennsylvania.

“I am grateful to the Lord for allowing me to serve Him in this arena.My hope is that people see Jesus in my work, my everyday life. To be a living epistle, surrendering to Him at each turn in life. Striving to be like Him, is my one true desire.”