Lisa 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 was a member of the 2024 PlayTime Playwright’s Cohort at Dramatic Question Theatre in NYC.
Among the many new works developed at her company, Catalyst: a Theatre Think Tank, she was director and dramaturg for Juliet & Romeo, a new musical by Tony-nominated composer Paul Gordon and Emmy winning composer Curtis Moore. She has served on the faculties of NYU and the Manhattan School of Music, as the artistic director of Kairos Theatre in NYC, and is currently Associate Professor of Theatre at a university in Southern Utah.
Lisa's vocal students have been seen on Broadway, national tours, and in the Vienna Boys Choir. 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:
Affairs of State by Tony Manzo, August 2025
(Dramaturg)
Utah Shakespeare Festival, Words Cubed
Persuasion, a modern romance
(Playwright)
Kayenta New Play Lab, August 2025
Ivins, Utah
Waterworks Festival at LiveArts, May 2024
Charlottesville, Virginia
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
Among the many new works developed at her company, Catalyst: a Theatre Think Tank, she was director and dramaturg for Juliet & Romeo, a new musical by Tony-nominated composer Paul Gordon and Emmy winning composer Curtis Moore. She has served on the faculties of NYU and the Manhattan School of Music, as the artistic director of Kairos Theatre in NYC, and is currently Associate Professor of Theatre at a university in Southern Utah.
Lisa's vocal students have been seen on Broadway, national tours, and in the Vienna Boys Choir. 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:
Affairs of State by Tony Manzo, August 2025
(Dramaturg)
Utah Shakespeare Festival, Words Cubed
Persuasion, a modern romance
(Playwright)
Kayenta New Play Lab, August 2025
Ivins, Utah
Waterworks Festival at LiveArts, May 2024
Charlottesville, Virginia
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
©kirsten lara getchell . photography klgphotography.com.