Elliana (Ellie) Karris (she/her/hers) is a Boston based actor, singer, dancer, choreographer, teacher, filmmaker, and blogger. Born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, Elliana began taking dance at the age of three and has been performing ever since. Early on, Elliana trained with mentors such as Voltaire Verzosa, Jane Bartell, Chelsea Diehl, Nick Oberstein, and Lynn Fitzpatrick. In her teen years, Ellie found a passion for tap dance and has since trained loyally with tap masters Tony Coppola and Dianne Walker, becoming fluent in the Leon Collins tap rep and theatrical, rhythm, and funk tap styles.

Outside of theatre, Elliana has trained as a pre-professional ballroom dancer in American Smooth, International Latin, and American Rhythm styles. She has been fortunate enough to learn from ballroom champions Mariusz Zakrezewski, Lynnsay Ray, Dana and Tony Delgado, and Donovan Kirrane. 

​

She graduated cum laude from Emerson College with a BFA in Musical Theatre in May 2024. She learned from and worked closely with Christopher Shin, Scott LaFeber, Jon Goldberg, Ilana Ransom Toeplitz, Nicole Lewis, and M. Bevin O' Gara.  She has been fortunate enough to work with Courtney O' Connor, Dan Rodriguez, Marisa Kirby, Ethan Paulini, and Richard Maltby Jr. since starting her professional career. Along with performing, she has continued to perform and now dabbles in her own creative work as a choreographer and educator. She has been lucky enough to continue teaching acting and performance at Positively Arts, a nonprofit developed by Pilita Danesh-Simpson who's mission is to "empower youth through performance and artistic discovery". 

​

Some of Ellie's favorite roles include Hope (Urinetown), Holly (The Wedding Singer), Hélène (Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812), Serena (Legally Blonde), and Maddie (Rust 3). Some dream roles of hers include Amalia Balash (She Loves Me), Cassie (A Chorus Line), Clara (The Light in the Piazza), Fastrada (Pippin), Portia (Something Rotten!), Frenchy (Grease), Kathy Seldon (Singin' In The Rain), and any woman in the Sondheim canon.

​

Aside from theatre, Ellie has a deep love for filmmaking. She runs her own blog "Confessions of a Film Junkie" and a very silly Letterboxd account. Ellie is also a lover of podcasts, traveling, thrifting, museums, astrology, and Jellycat collecting (she has over fifty! Jellycat, if you need a brand ambassador please email her!).