Lisa DeSpain News

Theater Latté Da has announced the commission and first workshop of the new musical She's Come Undone, with music and lyrics by Michael Holland and a book co-written by Darrah Cloud and David Simpatico.

On Site Opera, New York's pioneering opera company rooted in site-specific storytelling and the immersive experience, announces their 2022-2023 lineup of mainstage and collaborative productions as they close out their tenth anniversary season.

Join playwright David Simpatico and composer Lisa DeSpain as they discuss their new work, That Hell-Bound Train, on Saturday, July 23rd at 5pm as part of the Rhinebeck Writers Retreat’s “Meet the Writers” series. This special event will take place at Clinton Community Library at historic Clinton Town Hall in Rhinebeck, NY (1215 Centre Road) and will include a meet and greet reception, followed by a discussion and Q&A with David and Lisa about That Hell-Bound Train. 

Rhinebeck Writers Retreat will host 16 award-winning musical theatre writers of eight new musicals for eight consecutive weeklong residencies between July 3 and August 28.

A female-led world premiere, Staggerwing brings to life the historical and dangerous flight of aviatrixes Louis Thaden and Blanche Noyes as they compete for and win the grueling transcontinental 1936 Bendix Trophy Race.

Bonnie Comley, Founder of BroadwayHD, was the guest speaker at MAESTRA's May seminar at SongSpace. Composer/lyricist and music director Georgia Stitt founded the MAESTRA organization in 2017 to give support, visibility, and community to the women who make the music in the musical theater industry. The MAESTRA membership is made up of female-identifying, non-binary, and gender non-conforming composers, music directors, orchestrators, arrangers, copyists, rehearsal pianists and other musicians who are underrepresented minorities in musical theater. Songwriter and composer, Kathy Sommer, moderated the seminar.

Utah Symphony and Utah Opera (USUO) unveil a series of creative projects to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Golden Spike, the ceremonial final spike that joined the rails of America's First Transcontinental Railroad at Promontory Summit, Utah in 1869. After a concert with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on Friday, May 10 at 8:00 p.m.-exactly 150 years to the day since the railroad's completion-USUO presents performances throughout the month of May that feature works newly composed to mark this anniversary. These events and many others are highlighted as part of Spike 150 (spike150.org), a statewide effort to celebrate the Golden Spike.

Utah Symphony and Utah Opera unveil a series of creative projects to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Golden Spike, where the final railway spike north of the Great Salt Lake connected the rails of America's First Transcontinental Railway at Promontory Summit in May 1869. The projects are part of USUO's annual Cultural Festival which highlights a special theme each year that provides a new focus to connect our community through music and more. For more information visit https://utahopera.org/schedule/cultural-festival/

SheNYC announces their second annual benefit concert, NOTEWORTHY: A Night Celebrating Women Songwriters. The event will take place at The Green Room 42 on Saturday, April 7th at 7 PM.

OPERA America, the national service organization for opera and the nation's leading champion for American opera, is pleased to announce the latest recipients of Discovery Grants from the Opera Grants for Female Composers program, made possible through the generosity of the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.

Cabaret patroness Madame Mathieu has selected Broadway's Jackie Burns (If/Then, Wicked), and tenor Josh Page (America's Got Talent, Forte) as the guests of honor at the March edition of the Bistro Awards Critics' Pick Madame Mathieu's Soiree.

Cabaret patroness Madame Mathieu has selected Broadway's Jackie Burns (If/Then, Wicked), and tenor Josh Page (America's Got Talent, Forte) as the guests of honor at the March edition of the Bistro Awards Critics' Pick Madame Mathieu's Soiree.

WEBroadway announces its first annual benefit concert, NOTEWORTHY: A Night Celebrating Female Songwriters.

Honeck-Moss Productions will present "In The Works,' an exciting new series conceived as an opportunity for composers to try out new work in front of an audience and see how it plays in a supportive environment.  

They're baaaaaaaaack! The York Theatre Company welcomes the return engagement of the game show for musical theater lovers, Tune in Time, presented by Amy Engelhardt and Heather Shields.

The York Theatre Company (James Morgan, Producing Artistic Director; Evans Haile, Interim Executive Director; David McCoy, Chairman of the Board), celebrates Pride Month with the June installment of the game show for musical theater lovers, TUNE IN TIME, presented by Amy Engelhardt and Heather Shields, hosted by Emily McNamara, with Musical Director Nate Buccieri and annoyingly insistent timekeeper Sheila Head, and featuring celebrity guest judges drag performers Marti Gould Cummings, Judy Darling and Brita Filter, on Monday evening, June 20, 2016 beginning at 7:30 p.m. at The York Theatre Company at Saint Peter's (Citicorp Building, entrance on East 54th Street, just east of Lexington Avenue).

Musical Theatre Factory (MTF) will present its monthly Factory Salon with guest host Rebecca Naomi Jones, and featuring the work of Justin Levine (Pepper and Sam), Sukari Jones and Ben Krauss, and Julia Jordan and Lisa DeSpain (Storyville) and performances by Jason Gotay (Spiderman, Bring it On) and Sara Kapner (bare the musical).

The York Theatre Company welcomes the May installment of the game show for musical theater lovers,  Tune in Time, presented by Amy Engelhardt and Heather Shields, hosted by Emily McNamara, with Musical Director Nate Buccieri and annoyingly insistent timekeeper Sheila Head, celebrates warmer weather and skimpier clothing with celebrity judges Nick Cearley and Lauren Molina (from the popular performance group The Skivvies) and Tony Award winnerDaisy Eagan (The Secret Garden), on Monday evening, May 9, 2016 beginning at 7:30 p.m. at The York Theatre Company at Saint Peter's(Citicorp Building, entrance on East 54th Street, just east of Lexington Avenue). 

The York Theatre Company (James Morgan, Producing Artistic Director;  Evans Haile, Interim Executive Director) welcomes the return engagement of the game show for musical theater lovers called Tune in Time, presented by Amy Engelhardt and Heather Shields, with an evening celebrating Broadway's Online/Internet Showstopperson Monday, March 14, 2016 beginning at 7:30 p.m. at The York Theatre Company at Saint Peter's (Citicorp Building, entrance on East 54th Street, just east of Lexington Avenue). 

The York Theatre Company welcomes the return engagement of the game show for musical theater lovers called Tune in Time,presented by Amy Engelhardt and Heather Shields, hosted by Emily McNamara, with Musical Director Nate Buccieri and annoyingly insistent timekeeper Sheila Head at The York Theatre Company at Saint Peter's (Citicorp Building, entrance on East 54thStreet, just east of Lexington Avenue).