BILLY ELLIOT's Maria May Stars in IF THE TREES COULD TALK Film, Screening This Weekend

Maria May makes the leap from Broadway to the silver screen!

Maria May has appeared in Broadway's Billy Elliot (Ballet Girl on pointe); in The Radio Christmas Spectaular, (Clara);, New York Musical Theater Festival's "Feather" (Dancer); and in Readings of Anastasia, with Angela Lansbury, and "Little Dancer",with Susan Stroman, in a role written for her "Young Charlotte".

Maria is featured in the new film, "If the Trees Could Talk", written/directed by Michael Weinstein. Maria plays "Young Abigail", a holocaust survivor. It's a drama/thriller/action short film. It has been screened at the Cannes International Film Festival, and Maria was nominated for Best Lead Actress in a Short Film at the International World Cinema Festivals of both London and Madrid.

The final NYC screening of "If the Trees Could Talk", is today, May 9th at 3:45 in Midtown at The Producer's Club, 358 W. 44th Sreet, between 8th & 9th Ave. The screening is open to the Public, ages 10 and up and there will be a Filmmaker Q&A after the film. Tickets are $13 and listed as the 3rd Film in Block 3 and can be purchased at www.nylaiff.com/NY_Tickets.html.

Maria can be seen in Stouffer's national commercial for Mac and cheese and will be in the upcoming film, "Back in the Day", a feature film in production as Young Maria, flashback version of Shannen Doherty's role
Maria is a professional actress, singer, dancer, and multi-instrumentalist with a strong drive and passion for performing. She made her Broadway debut in BILLY ELLIOT THE MUSICAL as a ballet girl on pointe in 2012. Earlier this year, Maria was nominated for "Best Actress in A Short Film" by the International World Cinema Festival of London for her performance in a holocaust short film, IF THE TREES COULD TALK directed by Michael Weinstein. Recently, Maria shot an episode of ABC's WHAT WOULD YOU DO? hosted by John Quiñones, to air in the show's upcoming Spring season. She currently plays the voice of "Hop the Squirrel" in NICK Jr.'s animated series ZACK AND QUACK, which began airing in May of 2014. Maria can also be seen in a STOUFFER'S national commercial for mac and cheese, a part of their 2015-16 campaign. Maria is currently working on BACK IN THE DAY, directed by Paul Borghese, where she plays "Young Maria" in flashback scenes for older Maria played by film and television star Shannen Doherty. The cast also includes Danny Glover, William DeMeo, and Joe D'Onofrio.

Maria was born in Barcelona, Spain and moved to New York City at the age of 6, along with her mother, with an American dream. She was accepted into the prestigious School of American Ballet at the age of 8 and trained vigorously in ballet, including pointe, at the school for 4 years. Maria first discovered her love for performing when she was chosen to appear in numerous New York City Ballet productions, including George Balanchine's THE NUTCRACKER as Marie (Clara) for 3 consecutive holiday seasons. She has danced on the well renowned Lincoln Center stage for over 150 performances and has also traveled with New York City Ballet to the Saratoga Performing Arts Center for their summer show seasons. In 2010, Maria landed her first professional role in THE RADIO CITY CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR performing as Clara, a featured role on pointe. In July of 2011, she joined the BILLY ELLIOT cast fulfilling her dream of becoming a Broadway performer. Maria was thrilled to later be cast in the 1st 29-hour reading of THE LITTLE DANCER, directed by award-winning director Susan Stroman, in which the role of "Charlotte van Goethem" was written specially for her. Shortly after, she was honored to perform in the 29-hour reading of ANASTASIA as "Young Anastasia", getting to sing alongside legendary Angela Lansbury in a harmonious duet. For both readings, Maria was privileged to work with award-winning Broadway songwriting team Ahrens & Flaherty.

Maria has done countless commercial and voiceover work and continues to strive for success in all performance styles. A straight-A homeschooled student with a flexible schedule dedicated to lessons, classes, and workshops, Maria trains toward honing her skills in acting, singing, dancing, and music. Maria dances ballet (pointe), jazz/theater, tap, contemporary, hip hop, and ballroom styles. She was picked out of hundreds of elementary school students to be a part of a ballroom dancing competition and performance team, representing Dancing Classrooms, a non-profit organization run by Pierre Dulaine in NYC.

Maria plays piano, guitar, ukulele, drums, djembe, violin, and melodica, and is a music lover of many styles, particularly theater, pop and R&B. Maria has a competitive gymnastics, figure skating, and dance background, and continues to keep her acrobatic and skating skills up to par. She has won all-around solo titles and 1st place trophies/medals of achievement in those exercises. Along with her professional career, Maria enjoys working on graphic design, songwriting, photography/film making, playwriting, choreographing, and fashion. Being trilingual and fluent in Spanish, she works for the Spanish market in TV commercials and voiceovers.

She currently resides in New York City and is a proud member of Actors' Equity, SAG-AFTRA, and AGVA. Maria is represented by CESD.