Diane Michelle is a storyteller. Whether the San Pedro, California, native is creating voices for The Simpsons, rendering the voice of Disney's Daisy Duck, or portraying Popeye's Olive Oyl in Prego ads, this voice-over actor, writer, musician, singer, teacher and artist understands and reveals the characters, whatever the medium. For her one-woman show at LAX's Encounter, Michelle played spaceship captain/diva VaVa LaVoom from the Annie Award-winning Elmo Aardvark cartoons. She founded the Goils, an Andrews Sisters-style group that toured Japan and performed on the Queen Mary for five years. One of the many songs penned by Michelle, "Neptune's Tavern," evolved into a children's book which she illustrated. In the Company of Sinners and Saints features music created with her daughter, Nicole Andrews. "Storytelling is a powerful way to effect change," Michelle says, "I hope that some light is shed on the subject of cyber-bullying with this play."
