Melissa Jane Shaw

MJ is a director, choreographer, actor and dancer based out Toronto. MJ is the founder Seventh Stage and co-founder of LaRouge Entertainment. She has been nominated for two Dora Mavor Moore Awards for acting, one BroadwayWorld Toronto nomination for Best Female Lead Actor and two BroadwayWorld Toronto nominations for Best Original Choreography.

MJ has choreographed and/or directed 25 professional musicals in the last 5 years including Crazy For You and City of Angels (Theatre By The Bay), Rocky Horror Picture Show (Sudbury Theatre Centre), Blood Brothers, Little Shop of Horror, Full Monty, A Chorus Line, Cabaret, She Loves Me and A Christmas Carol (Rose Theatre Brampton) and many more. She has also recently choreographed the musical movie Country Crush and several episodes of Stanley Dynamic for YTV. Most recently she has created two original shows with the University of Toronto /Sheridan College Theatre (Hazel McCallion Musical and How To Make Love in A Canoe) and is now part-time faculty for their theatre program.

In addition to acting in dozens of stage shows across Canada, MJ has acted in 5 of Seventh Stage’s 7 productions, amongst dozens of other productions across Canada and the US. On screen, she is heading into her 4th season as Melanie on the TVO/APTN medical drama, Hard Rock Medical. You may also have caught her on ‘dance expert’ appearances for the The Dr.OZ and Steven & Chris Show, improvising for two seasons on the Howie Mandel show This Is How We Do It (Global/NBC), playing Sajuica for three seasons of Erky Perky (YTV) and hosting two seasons of What’s Cooking (W Network).