Elise Santora (Hernandez)

Elise Santora is a native New Yorker of Puerto Rican and Cuban roots and her first professional stage debut was under the direction of renowned actor Jose Ferrer in the role as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz presented at the Tapia Theatre in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The rainbow continued at an early age when she sang as the youngest soprano in the International San Juan Choir that performed with such guests as classical guitarist Maestro Andres Segovia. Her TV credits include guest-starring in the CBS hit Bull and ABC's show For Life. Other TV appearances include NBC's The Manifest, New Amsterdam, Shades of Blue and CBS's The Code . She also guest-starred on the Netflix series Iron Fist, and Orange is the New Black. Recent stage appearances were in Anna in the Tropics in which she garnered a Henry award for Outstanding Actress in a play and another Henry award in the same category for Guadalupe In The Guest Room. She just completed a successful run of The Roommate at the Fine Arts Center in Colorado Springs. Her latest Off-Broadway appearance was at the Intar Theatre’s premiere of Scissoring. Broadway credits include In The Heights, The Capeman by Paul Simon, Adventures of Tom Sawyer directed by Scott Ellis and Man of La Mancha directed by Albee Marre. She left the Broadway company of In the Heights to star in the principal role of Abuela Claudia on its First National tour of the U.S. and Japan. Regional highlights include Man of La Mancha with John Cullum and as Morales in A Chorus Line starring Bebe Neuwirth. Her latest featured role in Los Angeles was at the prestigious Los Angeles Theatre Center’s Encuentro Festival in the critically acclaimed Dancing in my Cockroach Killers. She co-starred in the award-winning The Red Rose (Pregones Theatre) with the legendary Puerto Rican singer, Danny Rivera including encore performances in Puerto Rico (UPR) and New York’s Latino Theatre Festival. She has toured as backup vocalist with musical giants such as Bowie, Julio Iglesias and Danny Kaye's UNICEF tour in Africa. She was a dancer on the popular syndicated show Soul Train and a published poet at the young age of 16 for a national teen publication. She was a veteran professional teaching artist for both Manhattan Theatre Club and Theatre Development for NYC elementary and high schools and at Riker’s Island conducting playwriting residencies. She was the resident choreographer for Manhattan Theatre Club's Stargate Company for six seasons. She received a prestigious Ford Foundation grant for the development of her one woman show, A Woman and her Cigar. She is a professional speech and storytelling coach for local TEDTALK speakers, entrepreneurs, non-profit organizations and social justice leaders. Feel free to visit her websiteelisesantora.com for complete resumé, contact information and updates.