Melissa Milich

Melissa Milich

Melissa Milich, a former US Navy Intelligence Officer, served as a liaison to foreign militaries while deployed to more than sixty overseas locations in support of counterterrorism operations. She frequently found herself in battlegrounds and turf wars between foreign intelligence agencies. Now she writes about those experiences.

“An English Major in Camouflage”, a musical, was performed at the...
Melissa Milich, a former US Navy Intelligence Officer, served as a liaison to foreign militaries while deployed to more than sixty overseas locations in support of counterterrorism operations. She frequently found herself in battlegrounds and turf wars between foreign intelligence agencies. Now she writes about those experiences.

“An English Major in Camouflage”, a musical, was performed at the Hollywood Fringe Festival in 2022. In 2021, her madcap comedy “Spy Sisters” was a semi-finalist in Adam Driver’s Bridge Awards. “Life Is Short” was performed in London’s East End in 2021, and Veterans Repertory Theatre (New York) will stage her play in 2022. Her children’s books have been published by Bantam Doubleday Dell and Little, Brown. Her nonfiction has appeared in Newsweek, The San Francisco Chronicle, and the European edition of Stars and Stripes. She has also trained sea lions at a marine lab off the coast of California.


Plays

  • At Twilight In Watsonville - A Monologue by Melissa Milich
    Recommendations: 4
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    Cast: 
    1
    ·
    Genre: drama, experimental + 2 more
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    Keyword: small town, family + 4 more
    Genre: drama, experimental, immersive, young audiences
    Keyword: small town, family, agriculture, Memoir, monologue, neighbors
    So much happens just before dark. This play is set in my hometown, but the little tales told are a universal experience.
  • OvEn (an ode to Shakespeare) by Melissa Milich
    Recommendations: 10
    ·
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: comedy, melodrama + 3 more
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    Keyword: ten minute play, Shakespeare + 5 more
    Genre: comedy, melodrama, parody/spoof, satire, young audiences
    Keyword: ten minute play, Shakespeare, comedy, Cannibal, parody, adults as teens, LGBTQ
    I always suspected that Shakespeare's Ophelia and Cordelia were separated at birth. At the very least, I thought they should be in the same play. Think Romy and MIchele sell Girl Scout cookies.
  • Holy or Holey -- Catholic Rituals: A Monologue by Melissa Milich
    Recommendations: 3
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    Cast: 
    1
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    Genre: comedy, faith-based + 3 more
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    Keyword: Catholic, memories + 5 more
    Genre: comedy, faith-based, holiday, period, young audiences
    Keyword: Catholic, memories, rituals, Easter Sunday, monologue, family, holiday
    A woman reflects on an Easter Sunday from sixty years ago.
  • THE BRIDAL WAVE by Melissa Milich
    Recommendations: 5
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    Cast: 
    5–14
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 8 more
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    Keyword: elopement, wedding + 4 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, experimental, fantasy, farce, parody/spoof, political, satire, verse, zoom
    Keyword: elopement, wedding, Vietnam War, executive order, Lyndon Baines Johnson, soldier
    The ten minute audio version by Open-Door Playhouse can be accessed for free here: https://www.opendoorplayhouse.org/opendoortheaterplays/bridalwave

    Synopsis: While the Beatles sang love songs on American television, the Pentagon drafted 38,000 young men a month to keep up with the expanding war in Vietnam and the fight against communism. To fill those boots, on August 26, 1965, President Lyndon...
    The ten minute audio version by Open-Door Playhouse can be accessed for free here: https://www.opendoorplayhouse.org/opendoortheaterplays/bridalwave

    Synopsis: While the Beatles sang love songs on American television, the Pentagon drafted 38,000 young men a month to keep up with the expanding war in Vietnam and the fight against communism. To fill those boots, on August 26, 1965, President Lyndon Baines Johnson (also known as LBJ) signed Executive Order 11241, effective one second after midnight to end the draft deferment for married men. With the clock ticking on what was left of that day, many young couples rushed to the altar before the midnight deadline to avoid the war. They called it "The Bridal Wave."
  • SINCERE APOLOGIES by Melissa Milich
    Recommendations: 3
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    Cast: 
    1–2
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    Genre: comedy, commedia dell'arte + 2 more
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    Keyword: alien abduction, UFO + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, commedia dell'arte, dark comedy, farce
    Keyword: alien abduction, UFO, space men, outer space, city bus, two hander
    After a tough day at work, a tired commuter just trying to get home on a city bus gets kidnapped by space aliens.

  • The Bridal Wave (Audio version) by Melissa Milich
    Cast: 
    11
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    Genre: docudrama/historic, experimental + 5 more
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    Keyword: Vietnam War, weddings + 6 more
    Genre: docudrama/historic, experimental, farce, period, political, radio drama, satire
    Keyword: Vietnam War, weddings, justice of the peace, executive order, draft deferment, draft, Go-Go Girls, Greek chorus
    On August 26, 1965, President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed Executive Order 11241, effective one second after midnight to end the draft deferment for marriedmen. With the clock ticking on what was left of that day,
    many young couples rushed to the altar before the midnight deadline to avoid the war. They called it "The Bridal Wave."
  • Sleeping with Cicadas: A Fantasia on Bigfoot by Melissa Milich
    Recommendations: 8
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 5 more
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    Keyword: Bigfoot, monster + 6 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, farce, movement/physical, parody/spoof, satire, young audiences
    Keyword: Bigfoot, monster, cryptozoological, Mountain Folk, moonshine, campfire story, global warming, climate change
    An overzealous Bigfoot enthusiast who wants to bring home evidence that the monster actually exists, gets taken prisoner by a group of wary mountain folk who live in harmony with the hairy ape-like creature but fear for their illegal moonshine operation.
  • OvEn (Audio Version) by Melissa Milich
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 6 more
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    Keyword: innocent girls, Cannibal + 5 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, fable/folktale, farce, horror, parody/spoof, radio drama, young audiences
    Keyword: innocent girls, Cannibal, cookie sales, college admission, hansel and gretel, halloween, Bully
    Jenny and Lucy are selling cookies door to door when they go to the wrong house and encounter a cannibal with an appetite for more than just Thin Mints and Do-Si-Does.
    OvEn will be produced by Open Door Playhouse, a theatrical podcast on November 1 as part of a Halloween broadcast.
  • I AIN'T TIRED YET A Short Prayer and Play About Sojourner Truth (Monologue) by Melissa Milich
    Cast: 
    1
    ·
    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic + 4 more
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    Keyword: Sojourner Truth, slavery + 6 more
    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic, drama, faith-based, period, zoom
    Keyword: Sojourner Truth, slavery, Abolition, 19th century, Quakers, family, oppression, women's rights
    Sojourner Truth recounts her walk to freedom and her walk into a courtroom to get her son back after he was sold to a slave owner out of state. Selected for publication in the Venus Theatre inaugural anthology entitled, "Frozen Women/Flowing Thoughts."
  • OvEn - Revenge of the Gretel Scouts by Melissa Milich
    Recommendations: 5
    ·
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: comedy
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    Keyword: hansel and gretel, fairy tale + 5 more
    Genre: comedy
    Keyword: hansel and gretel, fairy tale, Cannibal, Girl Scouts, Innocence lost, witch, rivalry between the sexes
    This is a non-Shakespeare version of my previous play, OvEn, in which two girls get into big trouble selling cookies door-to-door when they encounter a cannibal and have to use their wits to escape. It is a feminist recast of Hansel and Gretel. Think Romy and Michele sell Girl Scout cookies.
  • HUMAN REMAINS by Melissa Milich
    Recommendations: 22
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    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: comedy, commedia dell'arte + 5 more
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    Keyword: corpse, Inheritance + 5 more
    Genre: comedy, commedia dell'arte, dark comedy, farce, movement/physical, parody/spoof, satire
    Keyword: corpse, Inheritance, mysterious, dead body, greed, funeral, delivery
    When a mysterious and gruesome box containing a former neighbor is delivered to their front lawn, a greedy couple make quick plans to cash in on an inheritance that supposedly comes with the corpse. (COMEDY)
  • PHIL GRUNENWALD'S KID (Three Pages) by Melissa Milich
    Recommendations: 7
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    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: drama, period + 1 more
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    Keyword: 1969, vietnam + 8 more
    Genre: drama, period, political
    Keyword: 1969, vietnam, marriage proposal, Unpopular War, Steady Girlfriend, AWOL, combat, Deploying Overseas, GI Bill, Baby Killers
    In 1969, on the night before he deploys to Vietnam for combat duty, a young soldier proposes marriage to his longtime sweetheart who is angry he waited to the last minute to tell her he was leaving.
  • The Midnight Marauder! by Melissa Milich
    Recommendations: 7
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: adaptation, comedy + 8 more
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    Keyword: girl sleuth, mystery + 2 more
    Genre: adaptation, comedy, commedia dell'arte, dark comedy, farce, melodrama, mystery/thriller, parody/spoof, romantic comedy, satire
    Keyword: girl sleuth, mystery, horny boyfriend, irreverent comedy
    An aimless young woman becomes victim to a mysterious intruder dubbed THE MIDNIGHT MARAUDER which suddenly gives her new purpose in life.
  • PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT by Melissa Milich
    Recommendations: 6
    ·
    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: romantic comedy
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    Keyword: one-minute play, marriage proposal
    Genre: romantic comedy
    Keyword: one-minute play, marriage proposal
    Jerry is about to propose to his longtime girlfriend, BUT, is that the woman he truly wants to marry?
  • An English Major in Camouflage by Melissa Milich
    Cast: 
    1
    ·
    Genre: musical
    ·
    Keyword: 20th century women in military, musical
    Genre: musical
    Keyword: 20th century women in military, musical
    While deployed overseas, a former college English major turned misfit soldier is assigned to teach a foreign general about American literature even as his country teeters on the brink of war.
  • A Short History of the Vietnam War According to Suzanne by Melissa Milich
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: comedy, period + 1 more
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    Keyword: vietnam, war + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, period, romantic comedy
    Keyword: vietnam, war, home front, wedding proposal, grumpy parents
    Everyone experiences war differently.

    NOTE: This is my first play written as an adult. I actually think I wrote better plays when I was a kid. At any rate, it reads kind of rough. Working on revising it. Any suggestions will be appreciated.)
  • OvEn (With Apologies To William Shakespeare) -- for young audiences by Melissa Milich
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, comedy + 10 more
    ·
    Keyword: comedy, Shakespeare + 5 more
    Genre: adaptation, comedy, commedia dell'arte, fable/folktale, fantasy, farce, horror, melodrama, movement/physical, parody/spoof, satire, young audiences
    Keyword: comedy, Shakespeare, parody, cookies, door to door sales, horror, Wicked Witch
    I always suspected that Shakespeare's Ophelia and Cordelia were separated at birth. At the very least, I thought they should be in the same play. Think Romy and Michele sell Girl Scout Cookies.