My name is Meredith Julia Muirhead, but you can call me Mer.
Born and raised on Long Island, I've been singing, performing, and telling stories since I've been able to talk. I started taking dance classes at M & T Dance in Seaford, NY, my local studio, when I was just a toddler. At my first recital, I stood onstage in my little sparkly costume with my tiny tap shoes, and I knew that this was what I wanted for the rest of my life- to be onstage performing for an audience. I started piano lessons at the age of seven, and that brought me into the world of music theory and making sense of music, something I loved before I even truly understood it. It was the knowledge of music I gained from piano lessons that helped me teach myself how to sing.
Singing brought me a joy I'd never quite felt before. I loved artists such as Hayley Williams, Taylor Swift, Kellin Quinn, and Amy Winehouse, and being able to recreate their songs as my own pushed me towards musical theatre because that was a world where I could bring my own voice into an entire story. Once I appeared as a featured Hot Box Girl in my school's production of Guys and Doll's Jr in the sixth grade, the musical theatre bug got me for good. Whether it was school or community theatre, I was always in a show from then on. I played dream roles such as Carrie White in Carrie, Crissy in Hair, and Vivienne in Legally Blonde, as well as some unexpected yet equally exciting roles such as Grandma Rosie in The Wedding Singer, Miss Flannery in Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Sylvia in All Shook Up. I joined my love for piano with my love of musical theatre, accompanying at community theatre auditions and playing in the pit for a few community shows.
In the fall of 2020, I began my actor training at Hofstra University, pursuing my BFA in Drama Performance with a minor in musical theatre. (Oddly enough, I performed in my first-ever show at Hofstra at the age of nine, playing the Narrator in a Saturday Classes for Young People production of The Pied Piper.) At the end of my freshman year, I was cast in Hofstra's mainstage production of Everybody by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins as Girl/Time, which catapulted me into a love for modern plays. (I'll forever cite Jen Silverman as my favorite playwright.) I started to find myself as a writer and an actor, not just a singer who acted. This isn't to say I left the world of music behind at all; I was the pianist for Hofstra's 1910s-inspired production of Cymbeline for the 74th annual Shakespeare festival. I'll be returning to my roots in musical theatre just weeks before I graduate this May, performing as the Sara Berry soloist in 35MM: A Musical Exhibition.
In my time at Hofstra, I began to discover the stories I wanted to tell as a theatre artist. My queer identity has always been something I want to bring to my work, hence my love for queer storytelling and creating space for lesbians and trans people in the theatre community. Additionally, I have struggled with chronic illness, specifically endometriosis, for a large part of my life, which has brought me closer to the world of accessible theatre and creating space for disabled people within the theatre community. This the art I want to create- stories where people feel seen, heard, and strengthened to lift their own voices.
Outside of theatre, I've begun to teach voice to young children, having begun that at Queens College's Summer Theatre Camp for children ages 5-8. I work often as a party princess, dressing as various Disney princesses for children's parties, a job I find more rewarding than anything. I love reading, thrifting, going to concerts, and sampling all different kinds of tea. Thank you so much for coming to learn about me!