Wednesday Webinars at Wharton: Marissa McGowan & Michael Mendez

Wharton Arts welcomes world-renowned Broadway star and music industry veterans Marissa McGowan and Michael Mendez to its line-up of Performing Arts School faculty to participate in “Wednesday Webinars at Wharton”, a series of weekly one-hour online virtual workshops exploring what it means to have a career in the professional musical theatre world, including the sharing of personal experiences, behind-the-scene stories, tips, training, and more. Proceeds from the series will benefit the Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts Scholarship Fund. Each weekly webinar will be hosted on Zoom on Wednesday afternoons from 4-5PM EST. Tickets are $20 ($10 for Wharton Arts students). For more information, call (908) 790-0700 or email info@whartonarts.org.

 ABOUT MARISSA MCGOWAN

Marissa McGowan is currently appearing in the Roundabout Theatre Company Broadway Revival of Kiss Me Kate at Studio 54, playing the Wardrobe Mistress and understudying Lilli Vanessi, played by the incomparable Kelli O’Hara. McGowan had the honor to be chosen by Marvin Hamlisch to star as Stella Purdy in the world premier of Marvin’s last musical The Nutty Professor, directed by the legendary Jerry Lewis, for which she won the “best leading actress” award in Nashville for her performance. McGowan has appeared on Broadway in the A Little Night Music revival alongside Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury (Original Cast Recording), Bonnie and Clyde (Original Cast Recording), and Les Miserables (Revival and National Tour), where she performed both the roles of Eponine and Cosette. Television credits include Major Crimes (TNT) and Odd Mom Out (Bravo). Concert appearances include Lincoln Center in a tribute to Marvin Hamlisch directed by Mike Nichols, Susan in The Sweet Smell of Success in Concert (Hudson Theater NYC), and soloist with the Indianapolis Symphony, Naples Philharmonic, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Omaha Symphony, Houston Symphony, Kalamazoo Symphony, Phonecia Festival of the Voice, New Albany Symphony, Annapolis Chorale, Alpine Theatre Project, and the American Cancer Society Marvin Hamlisch tribute at the Hudson Theater in NYC. As a pedagogue, McGowan has taught master classes across the country and has a roster of private students in the NYC area.

 ABOUT MICHAEL MENDEZ

Michael Mendez has appeared on Broadway in Chaplin and Off-Broadway in Fat Camp (American Theatre of Actors). Regional credits include Damn Yankees “The Red Sox Version” (Goodspeed), Grease (North Shore Music Theatre), Fat Camp (Playhouse Square, NYMF), Hello! My Baby (Goodspeed), How The Grinch Stole Christmas (The Old Globe), and The Full Monty (AMTSJ). Mendez received his BFA from the University of Arizona.