Beaver Reflections:
I graduated in 1989 and I loved high school. I mean, I met my husband at Beaver. David was also class of 1989. So I consider my time at Beaver life-changing. Softball and theater were my things. I was too self-conscious to be a good actor but I always appreciated the behind-the-scenes stuff. Steve Bogart was the drama teacher from my sophomore to senior year. He opened my eyes. He was the one that had me think about playwriting and tech design and approaching things not just in the way that they had been done before. I will always credit Miss Molding, my English teacher, for teaching me how to write. Being able to write well is an invaluable skill and it works in all walks of life. And David’s father taught at Beaver, so I’d be remiss if I didn’t also credit Mr. Weinraub for teaching me, for showing movies that I never would have watched otherwise, for getting me into Slaughterhouse Five and Kurt Vonnegut.

What is #happeningnow in your life:
I went to college at Franklin and Marshall. My first job out of college was actually at Charles Schwab and I became a stock broker. While I was at Schwab, a friend from college applied to graduate school for theater management programs. It was something I had never heard of and I was like, “That’s what I want to do. That’s it!” So I moved to New York in 1996 to get my MFA in theater management. My first internship was with Margo Lyon who produced Hairspray and Angels in America. Eventually, I ended up at Lincoln Center Theater, which was a dream job. If I had not given it up when my daughter was born, I would now be general manager of Lincoln Center Theater and a Tony voter. For our family, it made more sense to have me home with the girls. While I’ve been raising the girls, I’ve clearly missed theater. I joined the board of New York City Children’s Theater. We produce quality, enriching, engaging shows for children to enjoy with their grown-ups. We also go into the schools and have a lot of arts and education programs. We go into homeless shelters and help the kids there, and we do trauma-informed workshops. I’m the board chair, which clearly has been interesting during these pandemic times.

“Beaver helped me develop the passion for theater that I took into what became my career.”

– Melanie Weinraub ’89

Advice to current Beaver Students:
Be kind. Try new things. You can do hard things. Don’t be afraid to fail. You can always make a change