Today we’d like to introduce you to Melanie Gillespie.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I grew up in Dublin, Ireland in a creative family where music and theatre were at the core of our upbringing. My father was (and still is) a well-known entertainer (comedian and singer) and in 1994 he received an opportunity with the great late Frank Sinatra to come to the USA to perform. At 16, I packed my bags for the USA and although I was sad to leave behind friends and family, I was excited at the prospects ahead. I continued in theatre in high school and auditioned for some prestigious theatre colleges in the US. I chose Emerson College in Boston where I received my BFA in theatre training in 2001. I acted in several plays around the US and in Ireland and landed a role in a soap opera set in Connemara, Co. Galway. I also taught drama in schools around Dublin with the help of my good friend Ray Yeates who also commissioned me to write a play for kids in Dublin when a very famous part of Dublin (Ballymun) was going through an historical rebuilding. I eventually made my way back to Florida in 2007 and after having my 2 sons, James (10) and Patrick (8), I realized quickly that it was near impossible to juggle an acting career and raise my kids at the same time. My husband then lost a very successful restaurant and bar down in Florida to the unforgiving recession of 2008 so we packed up and headed back to Boston in search of work. I met with a business friend of mine and shared with her my dream to start drama classes for local kids and she offered her spacious basement as a starting point. My numbers quickly grew and after just a few weeks of basement drama, I had acquired a church hall space in Milton and started my first official Mel O’ Drama class with 12 children in September of 2011. Since then, we have grown to a multi-faceted drama school offering drama, improv, character development, movement and musical theatre classes year round with anywhere from 200-250 students per 10-week session. We also started a musical theatre production class which has become hugely successful and we’ve named it “Mel O’ Musical.” This program gives elementary aged kids the opportunity to experience a full production experience and teaches lessons such as commitment, respect, encouragement, confident and loyalty all of which will be important lessons they’ll plug into other areas of their lives off stage.
Has it been a smooth road?
Some of the struggles I faced (and still face) were balancing being a mother and a business owner. Trying to find enough hours in the day to tend to both my family and my business. Hiring people in the beginning who let me down was tough but I learned so much about how to hire, communicate my standards and how to put contracts in place. Delegating wasn’t always easy for me because this was my baby and I was afraid to trust anyone else with it but you learn over time that you’re NOT Superwoman and that there ARE people out there who have the passion for your business that you have. I was blessed in 2015 to find Robyn Fatseas who is now a full time teacher at Mel O’ Drama and a mentor to both the students and myself. We also hired a full staff for our musical theatre program and that has been a huge help in expanding my business.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into The Mel O’ Drama School of Acting for Kids story. Tell us more about the business.
Mel O’ Drama is an acting school for children aged 4.5-teens (no specific end age) where we offer an outlet where kids can use their imaginations to create scenes, skits and shows. It’s also a space where they can ultimately be free to be who they are and express themselves in many forms. They help us write our end-of-session shows, they help design some back ground pieces and they beam with pride and confidence when their show day arrives. I specialize in instilling confidence in children and reminding them to believe in themselves, that nobody should have the power to hurt or change them. I also specialize in finding something special in every child and helping them access their ‘super powers’ so that they can use that to their full potential. We help children find their voices in a fun and productive environment. My teacher, Robyn Fatseas is also a pediatric therapist and the tools she brings to our program are invaluable. I am most proud when parents tell me how much their child has grown outside of our classes as a result of what we teach IN class. I’m also immensely proud when I sit in an audience and watch my students perform, particularly those who thought at the beginning of a session that they’d never be able to stand on front of an audience to perform. They leave their shows feeling 6 feet taller and excited for the next show. What sets us apart from others is the intimacy of our program. Our number 1 goal is for every child to be heard and for every child to feel embraced, supported and heard by our staff. As the owner (and producer of our shows), I am extremely hands on making sure that every student has a place and making sure that nobody is left out. I think the main thing that sets us apart is the raw passion we have to be playful and silly and relatable to our students. Our efforts to bond with parents is also something that sets us apart. Our efforts on all ends are tireless.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I’m always looking for ways to expand. We’re hoping to train more teachers to bring Mel O’ Drama to many other towns both locally and nationally. Maybe even internationally! We hope to franchise Mel O’ Drama so that kids all over the world can benefit from our program. We’d love to eventually build our own theatre space where we can have an academy on site. I have branched out in many directions to help expose my business to as many as possible. I’m the author of a children’s book called Darlene The Drama Queen which is the story of an ordinary little girl with an EXTRAordinary imagination! At only six and a half years old (‘that half is quite exciting!’), she lives in a beautiful Castle with her pet Dragon Shakespeare and her floating mask mentors, Comedy and Tragedy. She takes us on a tour of Drama Land which is bursting with color and positivity and finally she leads us to her ‘stage of magic’ where she stands to help ‘friends who come to me with problems they believe will never end.’ In this first book, we are introduced to a shy little girl named Lucy who feels so ‘shy inside’ that ‘when people try to talk to me it makes me want to hide!’ Using theatrical play and encouraging affirmations, Lucy eventually walks off the stage taller and prouder than she ever thought possible! She ‘can’t wait to go practice’ all the wonderful tools that Darlene and her friends have given her to help her through the shy times. I introduced Drama Birthday Parties in few years back and they have become a big hit! I wrote short plays in different themes (fairies, princesses, pirates, circus) and we rehearse the show with the birthday child and his/her friends and then perform for parents at the end before we enjoy pizza and cake! I designed this type of a party because I was so bored at many kids parties (as were the kids) and I wanted to find a way for a party to be fun and productive at the same time! Parents LOVE my Mel O’ Drama parties as much as the kids and we book out -3 months in advance for those as we only offer them on weekends. I also have my own kids TV show called ‘Acting up with Mel and Gigi Giraffe’ on our local access TV channel where we produce 1-2 episodes a month. It has become a huge hit with local kids and we’re excited to pitch our show to networks in the near future.
Pricing:
- 10 weeks sessions range from $215-$280
- Musical Theatre Production class is $500 per student
- Birthday parties range from $300-$600 depending on package
- Darlene is $15 and available on my website
Contact Info:
- Website: www.melodramakids.com
- Phone: 617 276 2772
- Email: mel@melodramakids.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mel.odrama.94/
Image Credit:
Lori Lanergan, Ellen Rogers, Robyn Fatseas
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