Lisa Quoresimo

Dr. Lisa Quoresimo is Associate Professor of Musical Theatre at Southern Utah University. She is the co-founder and co-director of Catalyst: a Theatre Think Tank, where she was recently director and dramaturg for Juliet & Romeo, a new musical by Tony-nominated composer Paul Gordon and Emmy winning composer Curtis Moore. Lisa's work as a performer and composer has been seen in the SF Bay Area at theatres such as Berkeley Rep, Shotgun Players, Brava Theatre, and the Davis Shakespeare Festival. As the artistic director of the Kairos Theatre in NYC, Lisa produced and directed upwards of thirty shows. Her vocal students have been seen on Broadway, national tours, and in the Vienna Boys Choir. She has served on the faculties of NYU and the Manhattan School of Music. Her scholarly work has been published in Voice and Speech Review, Theatre Topics, Global Performance Studies, Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, and Analog Game Studies. She has forthcoming chapters in books about Hamilton and on vocal pedagogy. Lisa holds a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from UC Davis, an M.A. from Carnegie Mellon, and is a proud member of Actor's Equity Association.

Highlights of Lisa's recent and upcoming work:

The Mysterious Stranger, a new musical based on the work by Mark Twain, September 2022

"Compel Him to Include Female Agency in the Sequel" in Hamilton, History and Hip-Hop McFarland, 2024

Persuasion, a modern romance
(Playwright)
Waterworks Festival at LiveArts, May 2024
Charlottesville, Virginia

Suu 2023-24 Season:
The Wolves, April 2024
- Director
The Prom, Feb 2024
- Musical Director
Twelfth Night, Sep-Oct 2023, SUU
- Director and Composer

Horse Thief, August 2023
Utah Shakespeare Festival, Words Cubed
Director and Dramaturg

Cloudy with a Chance of Contempt
Theatrical Shenanigans Podcast
Lisa's play was chosen to open the second season on August 6.

Discharge, August 2023
Valley Players, Napa, CA
A staged reading of one of Lisa's recent plays

Cloud 9, March 2023
Directed a beautiful work by Caryl Churchill in the Anes Theatre at SUU, and composed music for it. Here's the title track: Cloud 9

Best Practices for Vocal Pedagogy with Gender Diverse People, written with Dr. David Azul
Voice and Speech Review, Fall 2023

"Queering the Voice in Song"
Global Performance Studies Issue 4.1, 2021

Co-Directed Juliet & Romeo
A new musical by Paul Gordon & Curtis Moore
June, 2021
Catalyst: a Theatre Think Tank

Beckett's Babies Podcast Episode 82:
Interview with Dr. Lisa Quoresimo

What the critics have to say:

"Lisa Quoresimo plays a powerful and frightening Mother Superior"

Quoresimo directs with flair, evoking delightful performances by the two-dozen member cast"
SF Examiner

"Quoresimo did a powerhouse turn, never letting the density of the text get the better of her." -
SF Classical Voice

"Lisa Quoresimo plays a powerful and frightening Mother Superior"
Bitter Hack

"Quoresimo is marvelously over the top..."
The Davis Enterprise

"Quoresimo gives Dolly energy and heart"
Davis Enterprise

"Lisa Quoresimo’s piano-playing is great in its authenticity."
The Thinking Man's Idiot

"...live melodramatic piano accompaniment (deftly handled by Lisa Quoresimo)"
The Stage Review