Theatre Department

Faculty & Staff

Melissa Schlachtmeyer

Melissa Schlachtmeyershe/her
Theatre design, history of clothing, costume design.
B.A. 1994 Brown University
M.F.A. 2008 New York University
Reed College 2012–14.

Melissa Schlachtmeyer has designed for Opera, Dance and Theatre for companies such as Berkshire Opera, The Limon Dance Foundation, The Pearl Theatre, Eos Orchestra, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, BalletTech, Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Center for Contemporary Opera, The Flea Theatre, and German Theatre Abroad, having designs seen in Hungary, France, and Mexico as well as throughout the U.S.  She has been thrilled to work with directors such as Daniel Fish, Sam Helfrich, Peter Kazaras, Anne Kauffman, Jim Simpson, and Elizabeth Swados, as well as choreographers including Jonathan Frederickson and Neta Pulvermacher.  She has designed for Bebe Neuwirth, Kate Burton, and Alan Cumming, among other talented performers, and has taught classes in design at Fordham University in Manhattan, as well as designed at several universities, colleges and graduate programs. She has been nominated for a Henry Hewes award in New York, and has degrees from Brown University and the Tisch School of the Arts. Her interests include working with physical performers and the very tribal nature of clothing.

Melissa Schlachtmeyer passed away on August 6, 2014 at the age of 41. She was instrumental in establishing the design studio and the costume shop in the new Performing Arts Building, as well as the new curriculum. She will always be a part of Reed Theatre, and we miss her terribly. The New York obituary for her can be found here.