Melissa DuPrey

Chicago, IL

Melissa DuPrey

Chicago, IL

Melissa DuPrey is a multidisciplinary performer, comic, educator, producer, musician, and playwright rooted in the Puerto Rican community of Humboldt Park, Chicago. She is a critically-acclaimed solo artist whose self-produced work spans over a decade. Her 5 full-length solo plays (SEXomedy, SUSHI-frito, Good Grief, SEXomedy 2.0, RISE OF THUNDERDOME) highlights the intersections of diasporic Blackness, queerness, healing, liberation, and sexuality. DuPrey is also a community organizer and spiritualist who launched The Good Grief Project in 2020- an extension of the social justice component from her solo play, Good Grief, where communities of color are connected to local, accessible and multidisciplinary mental and spiritual wellness practitioners of color in Chicago.

DuPrey’s full-length play, BRUJAJA, was digitized as a theatrical film by UrbanTheater Company for its world premier in 2021. She is a seasoned stand-up comic of 12 years who has performed in Chicago, New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. She is a regular emcee of The Fly Honey Show and the LatinXt festival at Navy Pier. She was most recently seen as a recurring character on How to Die Alone(HULU/Onyx), “Dr. Sara Ortiz” for two seasons on Grey’s Anatomy (ABC), and on Empire (FOX). She has guest starred on The Resident (FOX), Chicago PD (NBC), and The Chi (Showtime). Her theater credits include works at Teatro Vista, Court Theater, The Goodman Theater, Steppenwolf, Free Street Theater, UrbanTheater Company, Victory Gardens, The Greenhouse Theater, Oracle Theater, and Teatro Luna. She is an associate of UrbanTheater Company, ensemble member of Teatro Vista and Africaribe, a bomba y plena group. DuPrey also teaches her own performed narrative curriculum at DePaul University, Randolph College MFA program, and Vagabond School for Acting.