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Melissa Pace Tanner
By Steven Fales | July 1, 2010
One of the most talented people I know (and the coolest) is an old friend from high school, Melissa Pace Tanner. We both grew up “Mormon” in Las Vegas. Melissa was one of those girls that gay boys (and straight boys) had a crush on because she was so beautiful and talented. I think we went to an old Sadie Hawkins dance! I have some fun stories about her. I asked her out once to see the opera Carmen. We got to the show at 8:00 pm and there was nobody there! If I had looked at the tickets I would have seen that the Sunday matinee started at 2:00 PM! When we got back to the car we started talking about musical theatre. For the first time I heard about Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat! I’ve been addicted to musicals ever since.
The next year, our senior year, we both played opposite each other as leads (Tony and Polly) in the musical The Boyfriend at UNLV! GLEE has nothing on us!
Years went by. Missions. Marriages. Children. But we have still stayed true to our musical careers. And I am thrilled that Melissa will be joining me as a special guest when I do Mormon American Princess, July 26 at 7:00 pm at the Tavernacle Social Club in Salt Lake City.
Melissa was singing/acting by age 7. Her performance as Ruby in “Dames at Sea” earned a best actress nomination for the prestigious John Mchugh award. She received scholarships in musical theatre to the University of Utah and Boston Conservatory. She traveled the South Pacific entertaining our troops. She fronted the Joe Muscolino Band for 10 years. She loves singing with her own quartet around her home town, Salt Lake. She sings regularly with the New Deal Swing Band. She’s been a guest with the Utah Symphony several times. She has an extensive resume of film and television roles from “Walker Texas Ranger” to a Sundance Film Festival premier. She has recorded four jazz albums, “When I Look at You”, “Am I Blue?”, “A Little Jazz With Your Mistletoe” and “Calm & Carefree”. www.melissapacetanner.com.
Steven and Melissa after a performance of Confessions of a Mormon Boy at the Coast Playhouse in Los Angeles. Her whole family came. And her cool husband!
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