Melanie La Barrie is a former DJ and Calypso singer from Trinidad. Hailing from Greater London, she is also an actress best known for her roles in EastEnders and Casualty. She did her first major play in her hometown. A 24-year-old Melanie played a 40+ woman in Christopher Rodriguez’s Clear Water.
Theatre:
Apart from her life on screen, she also works in theatre and has amassed quite a few credits to date, which include her roles as Mother in Clear Water at the Oval House Theatre; Agnes Brown in Passports to the Promised Land by Nitro; Rose Red in Snow Black and Rose Red by Queenie Productions; Ms Sherman in Fame: The Musical by Adam Spiegel Productions; Ensemble/Sarah’s friend in Ragtime by Sonia Friedman Productions, and Woman of the Wold in Blues in the Night at the West Yorkshire Playhouse;
She also portrayed Ma Rainey in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom at the Liverpool Playhouse (2004); Mrs Corry in Mary Poppins at Prince Edward Theatre (2006); Pearl in Daddy Cool at the Shaftesbury Theatre (2007); The Nurse in The Sunshine Boys at the West Yorkshire Playhouse (2007); Mme Thenardier in Les Miserables at the Queen’s Theatre (2008); Desdemona in Rue Magique at the King’s Head Theatre (2008); Mama Euralie in Once on This Island in the No.1 UK Tour (2009); Mrs Fezziwig in A Christmas Carol (2009); Mrs Phelps in Matilda by the Royal Shakespeare Company (2010); Addaperle/Aunt Em in The Wiz at the Birmingham Rep (2011); Mrs Phelps in Matilda (West End, 2011); Miss GooKool in Play Mas at the Orange Tree Theatre (2015) and Madame Morrible in Wicked by Playful Productions (2018) among others.
Workshop:
Her workshop list includes Maria in Porgy and Bess, Mrs Phelps in Matilda, Ursula in The Little Mermaid, Johnson’s Mother in The Realness.
TV:
Her work in television includes her role as Resus Nurse in EastEnders (2001) and Anita in Casualty (2004).