Maria-Christina Oliveras is an American television, stage and film
actor, singer and voice-over artist. She has performed extensively on
Broadway, off-Broadway, regionally, and in various films and
episodics, and is known for her versatility and transformational
character work in a number of world premieres. She is of Filipino and
Puerto Rican descent.Born in New York City, Oliveras is
first-generation American. The daughter of Beatrice, a nurse, and Luis
Tomas, a hospital food service administrator, she grew up in the
Bronx. She studied at Yale University, and received her B.A. with
honors in Theater Studies. While there, she was an active participant
in Yale Undergraduate theater, where she first met Alex Timbers, who
she has subsequently collaborated with on a number of projects, most
notably Here Lies Love. She was also a member of the esteemed a
cappella groups, SHADES (whose alumni include fellow Broadway
colleagues, Anika Larsen and Lauren Worsham) and WHIM N' RHYTHM.In
summer of , Oliveras was accepted into the Shakespeare Lab at the
Public Theatre, where she studied with Ron Van Lieu, Kate Wilson and
Michael Cumpsty, both of whom she later worked with on Broadway in
Machinal. One of students chosen, Oliveras went on to receive her
M.F.A. in acting from the National Theatre Conservatory in .Upon
graduation from the National Theatre Conservatory, Oliveras moved back
to New York City, and immediately started working on and off-Broadway,
and in film and television. She made her Broadway debut in Bloody
Bloody Andrew Jackson, also directed by Alex Timbers. She returned to
Broadway in the Roundabout Theater’s revival of Machinal, playing
multiple roles opposite Rebecca Hall. Dedicated to new works, other
off-Broadway credits include the world premieres of: The Civilians'
production of Pretty Filthy by Bess Wohl and Michael Friedman,
directed by Steve Cosson, Here Lies Love at the Public Theater,
Reading Under the Influence, starring Barbara Walsh, directed by Wendy
Goldberg, Night Sky, starring Jordan Baker, directed by Daniella
Topol; The Really Big Once, directed by David Herskovits; And Miles to
Go, directed by Hal Brooks; After, directed by Stephen Brackett;
Slavey, directed by Robert O’Hara. In , she originated the role of
Suzanne in the world premiere of Amélie at Berkeley Rep, directed by
Pam MacKinnon, book by Craig Lucas, music by Daniel Messe, lyrics by
Nathan Tysen and Daniel Messe, musical staging by Sam Pinkelton, and
musical direction by Kim Grigsby. In , she returned to the Public,
where she first studied Shakespeare, to play the Nurse in Romeo and
Juliet, directed by Lear DeBessonet for the Mobile Shakespeare Unit.
In the summer, she played Macbeth in a critically acclaimed -women
production of Macbeth, directed by Lee Sunday Evans, which the New
York Times hailed as "irreducible and transcendent," and Jacques in As
You Like It, directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch, both at Hudson Valley
Shakespeare Festival. In Spring , Maria-Christina returned to Broadway
in Amélie the Walter Kerr Theatre, in the role of Gina after a
sold-out pre-Broadway run at the Ahmanson in Los Angeles. She
subsequently went on to star in "We're Gonna Die" by Young Jean Lee at
the Ancram Opera House. In Spring , she returned to Los Angeles and
Center Theatre Group for the world premiere of SOFT POWER, a new play
with a musical, book by David Henry Hwang, music by Jeanine Tesori,
directed by Leigh Silverman, choreographed by Sam Pinkelton and music
directed by Chris Fenwick.
actor, singer and voice-over artist. She has performed extensively on
Broadway, off-Broadway, regionally, and in various films and
episodics, and is known for her versatility and transformational
character work in a number of world premieres. She is of Filipino and
Puerto Rican descent.Born in New York City, Oliveras is
first-generation American. The daughter of Beatrice, a nurse, and Luis
Tomas, a hospital food service administrator, she grew up in the
Bronx. She studied at Yale University, and received her B.A. with
honors in Theater Studies. While there, she was an active participant
in Yale Undergraduate theater, where she first met Alex Timbers, who
she has subsequently collaborated with on a number of projects, most
notably Here Lies Love. She was also a member of the esteemed a
cappella groups, SHADES (whose alumni include fellow Broadway
colleagues, Anika Larsen and Lauren Worsham) and WHIM N' RHYTHM.In
summer of , Oliveras was accepted into the Shakespeare Lab at the
Public Theatre, where she studied with Ron Van Lieu, Kate Wilson and
Michael Cumpsty, both of whom she later worked with on Broadway in
Machinal. One of students chosen, Oliveras went on to receive her
M.F.A. in acting from the National Theatre Conservatory in .Upon
graduation from the National Theatre Conservatory, Oliveras moved back
to New York City, and immediately started working on and off-Broadway,
and in film and television. She made her Broadway debut in Bloody
Bloody Andrew Jackson, also directed by Alex Timbers. She returned to
Broadway in the Roundabout Theater’s revival of Machinal, playing
multiple roles opposite Rebecca Hall. Dedicated to new works, other
off-Broadway credits include the world premieres of: The Civilians'
production of Pretty Filthy by Bess Wohl and Michael Friedman,
directed by Steve Cosson, Here Lies Love at the Public Theater,
Reading Under the Influence, starring Barbara Walsh, directed by Wendy
Goldberg, Night Sky, starring Jordan Baker, directed by Daniella
Topol; The Really Big Once, directed by David Herskovits; And Miles to
Go, directed by Hal Brooks; After, directed by Stephen Brackett;
Slavey, directed by Robert O’Hara. In , she originated the role of
Suzanne in the world premiere of Amélie at Berkeley Rep, directed by
Pam MacKinnon, book by Craig Lucas, music by Daniel Messe, lyrics by
Nathan Tysen and Daniel Messe, musical staging by Sam Pinkelton, and
musical direction by Kim Grigsby. In , she returned to the Public,
where she first studied Shakespeare, to play the Nurse in Romeo and
Juliet, directed by Lear DeBessonet for the Mobile Shakespeare Unit.
In the summer, she played Macbeth in a critically acclaimed -women
production of Macbeth, directed by Lee Sunday Evans, which the New
York Times hailed as "irreducible and transcendent," and Jacques in As
You Like It, directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch, both at Hudson Valley
Shakespeare Festival. In Spring , Maria-Christina returned to Broadway
in Amélie the Walter Kerr Theatre, in the role of Gina after a
sold-out pre-Broadway run at the Ahmanson in Los Angeles. She
subsequently went on to star in "We're Gonna Die" by Young Jean Lee at
the Ancram Opera House. In Spring , she returned to Los Angeles and
Center Theatre Group for the world premiere of SOFT POWER, a new play
with a musical, book by David Henry Hwang, music by Jeanine Tesori,
directed by Leigh Silverman, choreographed by Sam Pinkelton and music
directed by Chris Fenwick.
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