Adam Melberth's Bio
I don't believe in fate, it's just not my thing.
I have always said that my life has been governed more by "happy accidents" instead of some set path. Winning a guitar in a write-your-name-and-shove-it-in-this-box shoe store drawing doesn’t seem like something you would find written as a major event on Adam Melberth’s Divine Plan in big bold letters. Neither does wandering into a theatre when they just so happened to need someone to fill a role.
Let me explain.
I was born into a family that was bred for athletes. A tall mother and an even taller father - who received scholarship offers to play football or basketball to almost any institution in the country - just so happened to have the right combination of genes to create two sons who were ready to step on a field or court from birth. So with my older brother excelling in sports you would imagine that the youngest would continue the tradition, which I did, but my mother always told me I was the curious child who was into anything and everything.
She realized that fairly early when I used to make her watch me and the next door neighbor perform play (if you can even call them that) versions of classic fairy tales or when I walked in the door from school and proudly exclaimed, “Mom, I want to play cello!” I was also the cutest muskrat in A Muskrat Lullaby that she had ever seen. I even excelled in writing at a young age winning essay and short story competitions.
But like I said, the Melberth boys were born to be sporting men. So that’s what I did. Interspersed between football and basketball were orchestra concerts. After baseball games were rehearsals for The Adventures of Tom & Huck and so on. Anything and everything, remember? I wasn’t about to drop one thing for another; I had to do all of them at the same time. But I was young and didn’t know what I wanted to spend most of my time on, so I continued on with my schedule without a second thought, until these “happy accidents” started happening.
I was actually on my way to football practice when I received a phone call from Warehouse Shoes informing me that I had just won a Fender guitar in a drawing that I had already completely forgotten about. I picked up the guitar, immediately learned “Stairway to Heaven” and then it started its adventure as a professional dust collector. I won’t lie and say that I then dedicated every moment of every day learning chords and scales when I didn’t, but still, a new interest was definitely sparked.
Somehow basketball acted as a key component to me landing my first musical theatre gig. I attended a basketball camp at my soon to be high school the summer before my freshman year. Directly next door to the gym was the auditorium where a friend was in rehearsals for the musical Annie. After my camp was dismissed, I ventured into the theater to watch the show and ended up sitting near the director. Through a conversation with her, without an audition, I somehow landed the recently vacated role of Rooster Hannigan. After teaching a goofily tall, uncoordinated, pubescent preteen how to sing and dance I shined in my high school theatre debut. Due to this “happy accident” my love for theatre, music and singing was increased ten-fold.
A kid who never really gave singing a fair shot joined the choir. That guitar collecting dust in the corner was polished up and had a new acoustic friend sitting next to them that Christmas. In school I relished the chance to get up in class to read a speech or participate in debate. Being in front of people in class or at a concert really wasn’t a farfetched concept from someone who was playing in front of a football stadium full of people every Friday night. It was something I quickly learned I liked and I sought it out even more.
Fortunately, my high school provided me with the unique chance to join a select group of performers known as the Broadway Company. I auditioned and was accepted into the company as a sophomore and was exposed to music and theatre every day of my high school career. I even rose to an advisory role of dance captain where I was responsible for teaching a company of sixty plus choreography. That’s right; the uncoordinated kid who stumbled through his first musical was now an accomplished choreographer. I also met many other people interested in music like I was and formed my first band and started to hone my skills as a songwriter and musician. Being in a band introduced me to even more people interested in music and allowed me the chance to start writing for music websites as well.
I can easily say that I had a full plate in front of me. Try balancing a varsity football schedule with a run of FAME (oh, and there were no jokes made about that either…). After graduation there were definitely choices to make, but like I said, these “happy accidents” helped lead me down the artistic path. After graduation I was accepted to the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
While there I concentrated on both English Literature and Theatre&Drama. Yet in true Adam Melberth fashion, school wasn’t the only thing to occupy my time. I joined several bands throughout the years of varying success and toured the country. The Undergraduate Theatre Association and I developed a great relationship through producing shows and fundraisers where I started the annual fundraiser of UTA Prom. Top those off with positions on the Wisconsin Union Directorate Music Board and at a nationally distributed magazine called The Collegiate as the Arts Editor and I’d say I was back to my usual form.
Now another chapter is unfolding for me in the great city of Chicago. Adjusting to a whole new city presents some great challenges but they are ones I plan to take on full-heartedly. Because now after all has been said and done (but with still so much more to do) I am paving my own path to start my artistic career.
It’s not fate unfolding, but it sure isn’t an accident anymore either.
-Adam Melberth
I don't believe in fate, it's just not my thing.
I have always said that my life has been governed more by "happy accidents" instead of some set path. Winning a guitar in a write-your-name-and-shove-it-in-this-box shoe store drawing doesn’t seem like something you would find written as a major event on Adam Melberth’s Divine Plan in big bold letters. Neither does wandering into a theatre when they just so happened to need someone to fill a role.
Let me explain.
I was born into a family that was bred for athletes. A tall mother and an even taller father - who received scholarship offers to play football or basketball to almost any institution in the country - just so happened to have the right combination of genes to create two sons who were ready to step on a field or court from birth. So with my older brother excelling in sports you would imagine that the youngest would continue the tradition, which I did, but my mother always told me I was the curious child who was into anything and everything.
She realized that fairly early when I used to make her watch me and the next door neighbor perform play (if you can even call them that) versions of classic fairy tales or when I walked in the door from school and proudly exclaimed, “Mom, I want to play cello!” I was also the cutest muskrat in A Muskrat Lullaby that she had ever seen. I even excelled in writing at a young age winning essay and short story competitions.
But like I said, the Melberth boys were born to be sporting men. So that’s what I did. Interspersed between football and basketball were orchestra concerts. After baseball games were rehearsals for The Adventures of Tom & Huck and so on. Anything and everything, remember? I wasn’t about to drop one thing for another; I had to do all of them at the same time. But I was young and didn’t know what I wanted to spend most of my time on, so I continued on with my schedule without a second thought, until these “happy accidents” started happening.
I was actually on my way to football practice when I received a phone call from Warehouse Shoes informing me that I had just won a Fender guitar in a drawing that I had already completely forgotten about. I picked up the guitar, immediately learned “Stairway to Heaven” and then it started its adventure as a professional dust collector. I won’t lie and say that I then dedicated every moment of every day learning chords and scales when I didn’t, but still, a new interest was definitely sparked.
Somehow basketball acted as a key component to me landing my first musical theatre gig. I attended a basketball camp at my soon to be high school the summer before my freshman year. Directly next door to the gym was the auditorium where a friend was in rehearsals for the musical Annie. After my camp was dismissed, I ventured into the theater to watch the show and ended up sitting near the director. Through a conversation with her, without an audition, I somehow landed the recently vacated role of Rooster Hannigan. After teaching a goofily tall, uncoordinated, pubescent preteen how to sing and dance I shined in my high school theatre debut. Due to this “happy accident” my love for theatre, music and singing was increased ten-fold.
A kid who never really gave singing a fair shot joined the choir. That guitar collecting dust in the corner was polished up and had a new acoustic friend sitting next to them that Christmas. In school I relished the chance to get up in class to read a speech or participate in debate. Being in front of people in class or at a concert really wasn’t a farfetched concept from someone who was playing in front of a football stadium full of people every Friday night. It was something I quickly learned I liked and I sought it out even more.
Fortunately, my high school provided me with the unique chance to join a select group of performers known as the Broadway Company. I auditioned and was accepted into the company as a sophomore and was exposed to music and theatre every day of my high school career. I even rose to an advisory role of dance captain where I was responsible for teaching a company of sixty plus choreography. That’s right; the uncoordinated kid who stumbled through his first musical was now an accomplished choreographer. I also met many other people interested in music like I was and formed my first band and started to hone my skills as a songwriter and musician. Being in a band introduced me to even more people interested in music and allowed me the chance to start writing for music websites as well.
I can easily say that I had a full plate in front of me. Try balancing a varsity football schedule with a run of FAME (oh, and there were no jokes made about that either…). After graduation there were definitely choices to make, but like I said, these “happy accidents” helped lead me down the artistic path. After graduation I was accepted to the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
While there I concentrated on both English Literature and Theatre&Drama. Yet in true Adam Melberth fashion, school wasn’t the only thing to occupy my time. I joined several bands throughout the years of varying success and toured the country. The Undergraduate Theatre Association and I developed a great relationship through producing shows and fundraisers where I started the annual fundraiser of UTA Prom. Top those off with positions on the Wisconsin Union Directorate Music Board and at a nationally distributed magazine called The Collegiate as the Arts Editor and I’d say I was back to my usual form.
Now another chapter is unfolding for me in the great city of Chicago. Adjusting to a whole new city presents some great challenges but they are ones I plan to take on full-heartedly. Because now after all has been said and done (but with still so much more to do) I am paving my own path to start my artistic career.
It’s not fate unfolding, but it sure isn’t an accident anymore either.
-Adam Melberth
Copyright © 2008 by Adam Melberth • All Rights reserved • E-Mail: amelberth@gmail.com
