Marisa was born a multicultural fish-out-of-water in the suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio. Having graduated cum laude from NYU Tisch's New Studio on Broadway (BFA in Drama: Musical Theatre), she now works as a professional artist and teacher.
Marisa employs her empathic nature as her greatest strength, which allows to her to find rich, layered and intense emotional depth with every character or movement she discovers. Her Scorpio sun makes her not afraid of anything--especially to be silly or ugly.
As a mixed ethnicity, bisexual, and complex woman, Marisa continues to advocate for not only the necessary uplift, but the celebration of LGTBQIA+ and BIPOC/Global Majority stories/storytellers.
TWELFTH NIGHT with EMIT THEATRE 2022-23 School Tour
Marisa will be performing in an immersive/interactive retelling of Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare, directed by Victoria Giambalvo. After being washed ashore in Illyria, Viola disguises themselves as a man named Cesario and finds themselves in a love triangle between Orsino, the Duke of Illyria, and Olivia, the Lady of Illyria. A series of shenanigans challenges Viola's ability to maintain their disguise while they interact with the intricacies of Illyrian society. This adaptation challenges the gender binary by presenting Viola as a non-binary individual forced into a binary world.