Lisa Quoresimo

KKayenta Nw Play LabLisa Quoresimo’s work as director, playwright, composer and performer has been seen at Berkeley Rep, Utah Shakespeare Festival (Words Cubed), Shotgun Players, Brava Theatre, The Marsh, The Village Theatre, and many more. She has served on the faculties of NYU and the Manhattan School of Music, and is currently Associate Professor of Theatre at a university in Southern Utah. Lisa’s scholarly work has been published in Voice and Speech Review, Theatre Topics, Global Performance Studies, Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, and she contributed chapters to the books Hamilton, History and Hip-hop, Voice and Identity and Creak. Her book The Feminist Journey of Stephen Sondheim is forthcoming at Routledge. 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 Feminist Journey of Stephen Sondheim
Routledge Press, forthcoming 2027

Persuasion, a Queer Modern Farce
October 2026 29hr reading at Meaux Space, NYC
Kayenta New Play Lab, August 2025
Ivins, Utah
Waterworks Festival at LiveArts, May 2024
Charlottesville, Virginia

Matches
Premiere at Opera America
September 2026

A Matter of Perspective
Kayenta New Play Lab, August 2026

Theatrical Shenanigans Podcast Guest, September 2026

Affairs of State by Tony Manzo, August 2025
(Dramaturg)
Utah Shakespeare Festival, Words Cubed

Lighthouse, a new pop-country musical
Director and Musical Director
Kayenta Center for the Arts, June 2025

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

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

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

What the critics have to say:

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

"Since the music drives the show, it is Quoresimo’s flawless accompaniment that is the engine"
Red Licorice Reviews

"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