Biography
Maya is an actor, director, and teacher, whose theatrical career spans more than eighty productions across Off-Broadway, US regional, and Aotearoa New Zealand stages.
Her performance credits include Wicked (Glinda), Les Misérables (Eponine), Miss Saigon (Kim), Romeo and Juliet (Juliet), Cabaret (Sally Bowles), The Importance of Being Earnest (Cecily Cardew), How I Learned to Drive (Li’l Bit), HAIR (Sheila Franklin), A Doll’s House: A New Opera (Christine Linde), Uncle Vanya (Sonya), Guys and Dolls (Sarah Brown), Mame (Pegeen), 4000 Miles (Amanda), Spelling Bee (Marcy Park), Two Gentlemen of Verona (Julia), First Date (Casey), The Last Five Years (Cathy u/s), The Tamer Tamed (Livia), Avenue Q (Christmas Eve), and 1984 (Julia).
Directorial highlights include Mamma Mia! with G&T Productions and Capital Theatre Trust, as well as Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, Cabaret, Uncle Vanya, BUG, and Spring Storm. Maya served as the vocal director for the recent Circa Theatre production of Lizzie the Musical, and co-music directed Into the Woods in 2023. She is the co-director for WITCH Music Theatre’s Nov 2025 season of Amélie the Musical, in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington.
Maya trained at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and the Stella Adler Studio in New York City. She runs a private studio teaching voice and acting: www.mayahandanaff.co.nz
