Elissa Piszel was on the stage as a ballet dancer since she was three. She grew up hanging out in community theaters in her hometown of Pennsylvania singing her heart out in Musicals from Mystery of Edwin Drood to Jesus Christ Superstar. Elissa began her professional career in the creative arts during high school getting paid to do Equity Summer Theater at Muhlenburg College in Pennsylvania. In her junior year, Elissa auditioned and got in to prestigious Governor's School for the Arts at Bucknell University. Elissa auditioned for NYU Tisch Undergrad and got into the Lee Strasberg Institute. While in college , Elissa starred in a film called Shudder Speed while premiering in Los Angeles, California Elissa got the film bug. She wanted to get out and work and not waste any time. She left school and got an agent and booked her first commercial in 2001. Elissa continued to study acting at a two -year acting program at the New Actors Workshop with Mike Nichols, Paul Sills and George Morrison. Not only was she booking films, print and commercials but Elissa wanted to have control of her own work. So she went on to start her own theatre company called YOLO Theater Group with Pete Dorton. Her theater group produced over 15 plays on theater row and has a huge fan base. She also produced casting seminars and Oscar events. She continued to study with Uta Hagen at HB studio and Seth Barrish at the Barrow Group. Then, Elissa started her own Theater company called Artistic Circle and produced a play called The Love Talker with Director Chris Henry from Royal Family Productions. Elissa joined forces with two powerful women to start Liquid Productions, Joan Pelzer (Follow Me Friday) and Sharon Oswski . This company united with writer Michael Rhodes to produce original works and cabarets. One called RSVP.
Elissa is a proud member of Sag and Equity since 2001 and has performed with Stephen Rea (The Crying Game) on Broadway in Sam Shepard's play Kicking a Dead Horse. Los Angeles is a second home to Elissa when she is not in Manhattan working on sets she studied improvisation with UCB and The Groundlings. She also loves to go home to PA teach improvisational dance and theater to children.