Tara was born and raised in the Bay Area in San Jose, CA. Whether it was karaoke with her Filipino aunties or yearly Nutcracker performances at her local dance studio, Tara has long had a love for performing. She attended UC San Diego as a pre-med student, and it’s there that she first found musical theatre through a university club: Muir Musical. Four consecutive years of musicals and a B.S. in neuroscience later, Tara took the leap and decided to pursue theatre.

After regional work in San Diego (La Jolla Playhouse, Lamb’s Player’s Theatre, SDMT) and a contract with Disney Cruise Line, Tara moved to New York City where she soon made her off-broadway debut as Diana Morales in the City Center Encores! revival of A Chorus Line. She continued her performing in regional productions across the nation. Some of her favorite credits include In the Heights (Vanessa) at Park Playhouse, Chicago (Go-To-Hell Kitty) at The MUNY and Pride and Prejudice at Theatreworks Silicon Valley where she originated the role of Lydia Bennet. Tara made her National Tour debut in Disney’s Aladdin as a swing performing the role of Fortune Teller and made her principal tour debut as Nessarose in Wicked.

Tara currently resides in Brooklyn with her partner Leo and her favorite sushi take-out across the street. You can keep up with Tara and find her most recent updates on Instagram @tarakostmayer