Ariana Molkara

Ariana Nicoletta Molkara was born on May 16, 2003 in Southern California. She fell in love with the arts and entertainment at an early age of five, when she began to take part in theatrical productions in local theaters and at school. She has played countless leading roles since then, including Maria in West Side Story. At the age of seven, her professional career officially began with work in commercials, as well as several short films that were featured in numerous film festivals where she was awarded and recognized as best actress in her category. Her breakthrough in film and television came when after a worldwide search, she was cast as a supporting actress in the feature film "Septembers of Shiraz" alongside Academy Award Winner Adrien Brody and Academy Award Nominees Salma Hayek and Shohreh Aghdashloo. As of 2022, Ariana can be seen playing the series regular role of "Darby" in Nickelodeon's new comedy series, Warped. She additionally has been cast in three TV pilots ("Chad: An American Boy" for Fox, "The 46 Percenters" for ABC, and "The Untitled Kourtney Kang Project" for NBC). Her aired television credits include guest starring roles in Nickelodeon's Nicky, Ricky, Dicky, and Dawn, Disney's Andi Mack, CBS's Code Black, and ABC's Speechless. Ariana is also extremely passionate in music and is an aspiring singer/songwriter. She has sung in countless national singing competitions where she has won multiple platinum awards. Among these was The American Protege National Competition, which awarded her with first place. As a first place winner, she earned herself an honorary performance in New York's prestigious Carnegie Hall. She has been taking classical and opera training with The Royal Conservatory of Music since she was 12 years old and through the years, she has won a total of five national gold medals for earning the highest examination score in the country. As a result, she was invited multiple times to sing at the Newman Recital Hall at USC. Amid the Covid-19 closures, Ariana spent her quarantine days competing in BroadwayWorld's Next On Stage High School competition where she made it to top 10 out of a pool of over 700 contestants. Week after week, Ariana sang Broadway covers that were judged by Broadway celebrities like Jackie Burns (Wicked), Arielle Jacobs (Aladdin), Kyle Parker (Kinky Boots), Brittney Johnson (Wicked), and Derek Klena (Anastasia). Off screen and stage, Ariana finds pleasure in using her musical talents to give back and make a difference. In previous years, she traveled to New York with her performing team and sang to little kids who were hospitalized at the Montefiore Children's Hospital. She has also sung in various local hospitals, charity events, fundraisers, and convalescent homes throughout the years. Along with her artistic endeavors, Ariana is a dedicated student and scholar and finds great importance in her education. She graduated in 2021 from Riverside Poly High School. Upon high school graduation, Ariana committed to the University of Pennsylvania for study at the Wharton School of Business. Ariana is also an aspiring writer and published author. During quarantine, she submitted a written reflection on Covid-19 to Writopia Publishing Lab's International writing competition. After a worldwide search, her piece was chosen to be featured in an anthology called "We Can Still Connect" which is now available for purchase on Amazon. Ariana believes that the powerful combination of creative ability and intelligence is the key to a world of possibilities.