Michelle Chin

Michelle Chin is a Faculty Associate for the School of Music, Dance and Theatre and a member of the music theatre performance faculty. She is a professional actress, musician, teaching artist, director, music director, choreographer, puppeteer, storyteller, and collaborator. After graduating Arizona State University in 2012 with a BM in Music Theatre performance, Chin has continued to call Arizona home but has had the pleasure of performing, teaching, and creating around the country and around the world. Outside of her role at ASU, Chin also holds the roles of Director of New Works and Director of Summer Camp for The Phoenix Theatre Company.

Some notable performance credits include: Once (Girl), The Glass Menagerie (Laura), The Hello Girls (Helen/Guitar), Steel Magnolias (Annelle), Ring of Fire (Player 1 - June Carter/Guitar/Percussion), Airness (Nina “The Nina”), Hand to God (Jessica/Jolene), Godspell (“Day by Day” soloist), Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Shlatko/Drums), Bullets Over Broadway (Olive), Ella Enchanted (Ella), Wonderland (Alice/Piano/Drums), John (Jenny Chung), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Voice 5), Grease (Patty Simcox), One Man, Two Guvnors (Rachel/Roscoe), The Whale (Ellie), and Cabaret (Sally Bowles). 

In addition to her actor-musician credits, Chin is also a multi-instrumentalist and has over 30 credits as a pit musician for various theatre companies. Chin also collaborates with various bands and has also worked as a studio musician. 

Other creative credits include: Murder for Two (Director and Musical Staging, TPTC), Every Brilliant Thing (Director, Samaritan Theatre), Justice (Movement Director, ATC), You Can’t Say That! (Director, TPTC), A Christmas Story (Music Director, ABT), Selena Maria Sings (Childsplay and Magik Theatre, Music Director), The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (Assistant Director, Childsplay), and The Antipodes (Assistant Director, Stray Cat Theatre).

Chin is passionate about new work development and was named the Director of New Works at TPTC in 2021. As a performer and creative, Chin has been a part of eight readings/workshops of new plays and musicals and four world premieres. 

Chin has been a coach, educator, and teaching artist for theatre, music, and musical theatre training programs at Arizona Broadway Theatre, Childsplay, Desert Foothills Theatre, Dreambox (Beijing and Shenzen), Endstation Theatre (VA), Phoenix Center for the Arts, Phoenix Symphony, The Phoenix Theatre Company, and prior to joining the faculty in 2022, served as a guest teaching artist and mentor at Arizona State University. As the Director of Summer Camp, she also currently develops and runs all of the youth summer arts education programming for TPTC. Chin has her own private studio of students and teaches various disciplines including: musical theatre, piano, music theory, acting, percussion, guitar, voice, and tap. She was recognized in 2018 as an Emerging Leader in the Arts in Arizona and currently serves as the president on the board for Stray Cat Theatre.