MARIA-CHRISTINA OLIVERAS is an award-winning actor, singer, writer, and educator. She has performed extensively on and off Broadway, regionally, internationally, and in film and television, and has served as a singer for esteemed artists, Taylor Mac, Toshi Reagon and Heather Christian. Dedicated to new works and underrepresented stories, her career is distinguished by her transformational character work in a number of world premieres, including most recently the role of Tolima in "Kiss My Aztec!" by John Leguizamo and Tony Taccone, music and lyrics by David Kamp, Benjamin Velez and John Leguizamo in the pre-Broadway run of Kiss My Aztec! at Hartford Stage. In 2018, she premiered and developed "El Huracan", by Charise Castro Smith, directed by Laurie Woolery and "Soft Power", a new play...
MARIA-CHRISTINA OLIVERAS is an award-winning actor, singer, writer, and educator. She has performed extensively on and off Broadway, regionally, internationally, and in film and television, and has served as a singer for esteemed artists, Taylor Mac, Toshi Reagon and Heather Christian. Dedicated to new works and underrepresented stories, her career is distinguished by her transformational character work in a number of world premieres, including most recently the role of Tolima in "Kiss My Aztec!" by John Leguizamo and Tony Taccone, music and lyrics by David Kamp, Benjamin Velez and John Leguizamo in the pre-Broadway run of Kiss My Aztec! at Hartford Stage. In 2018, she premiered and developed "El Huracan", by Charise Castro Smith, directed by Laurie Woolery and "Soft Power", a new play with a music by David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori, directed by Leigh Silverman. She previously originated roles in "Here Lies Love" and "Amelie" on Broadway. Television appearances include "NCIS:NOLA", "The Blacklist" and "Madame Secretary, and Film credits include "St. Vincent", "Manhattan Night", and "Vamperifica." She made her solo cabaret debut at the Tony-Award winning 54 Below, in a piece she wrote, "The Glory of Love."
Broadway: Amelie (cast album); Machinal; Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. Off-Broadway: Here Lies Love (Public; cast album); Pretty Filthy (Civilians; cast album); Taylor Mac’s 24 Decade…(St. Ann’s Warehouse); Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Public); Romeo and Juliet (Public); Zorba! (Encores!)). Regional: Kiss My Aztec! (Berkely Rep/La Jolla), Soft Power (CTG), Yale Rep, Berkeley Rep, Williamstown, Long Wharf, Huntington, Baltimore Centerstage, Sundance, O’Neill, among numerous others. Selected Film/TV: Manhattan Night, St. Vincent, "Nurse Jackie", "Law & Order: SVU", The Blacklist”; “Madame Secretary.” Education: B.A.—Yale University; M.F.A.—National Theatre Conservatory.
As an educator, she has served on faculty at Fordham University Lincoln-Center, Yale University, Primary Stages, Stella Adler Conservatory, among numerous others, and frequently serves as a guest speaker at universities throughout the country. She is currently serving as the Assistant Professor of Acting at Wesleyan University.
Maria-Christina is a founding member of Partial Comfort Productions, serves on the Board of The Civilians, is a member of the National Alliance of Acting Teachers and The Actors’ Center Workshop Company, and is an alumna of The Lark Playground and New Dramatists’ Composer-Librettist Studio, both dedicated to new works’ development and collaboration. She has served as a panelist and reader for various fellowships and programs including Sundance Institute, the Lark Play Development Center, New Dramatists, and Back to the Future/History Matters. She also serves on the Artistic Advisory Board of Live in Color and is the recipient of New Dramatists’ Charles Bowden Acting Award and the St. Ursula Award for Distinguished Career Achievement.
Maria-Christina also received the Embodying AntiRacism Fellowship at Wesleyan University.