Excerpt of Pearl Gluck’s Write Me,
soundtrack by Lisa Gutkin
Samples of Lisa’s compositions in Paula Vogel’s Indecent
Video features press photos and banners of Indecent productions from all over the world!
Mabou Mine’s Song for New York: What Women Do While Men Sit Knitting
“Stand Up”, from Seeing Is Believing, composed for Maggie Boogaart’s dance company, Dragon Productions
THEATER COMPOSITION & MUSIC DIRECTION
Lisa’s most extensive theater experience was with Paula Vogel’s Indecent, where she co-composed the score, co-music directed, and originated the role of Nellie Friedman, a violin playing member of a traveling theater troupe. The score was developed at Yale Repertory Theatre and LaJolla Playhouse in 2015 with co-composer Aaron Halva under the direction of Rebecca Taichman with Choreographer David Dorfman. It was a combination of original music and unique arrangements of pre existing repertoire and garnered a special Connecticut Critics Circle Award. The show eventually went on to the Vineyard Theatre and then to the Cort Theatre on Broadway in 2017, won two Tony Awards, and is still playing in theaters throughout the world, licensed with the original score. Lisa was co-Music Director when Rebecca Taichman received her Tony for Best Director, and went on to become sole Music Director at the Guthrie Theater with Director Wendy C. Goldberg, and then Joseph Adler, Lisa Rothe, at The Juilliard School with Director Maggie Burrows and for subsequent productions with Taichman.
In 2006 Lisa co-created - with Ruth Maleczech - Mabou Mine’s Song for New York: What Women Do While Men Sit Knitting, a Through Composed Multi Ethnic Folk Opera with text by New York writers including Migdalia Cruz, Maggie Dubris and Patricia Spears Jones, performed on a barge in NY’s East River.
From 2002-2004 Lisa toured in Seeing Is Believing with Dutch born choreographer Maggie Boogaart. In this piece about blindness Maggie danced with her eyes blindfolded, and Lisa performed her score which included a musical language to guide her movements on stage.
Lisa’s earliest Composer/Music Directing positions were in the 1980’s for The Lincoln Center Directors Lab with Director Daniela Varon, and for the The New York Renaissance Faire.
FILM and TELEVISION COMPOSITION
As a freelance musician Lisa has played on numerous film scores, documentaries, TV and radio jingles, and in 2004 she composed several short pieces for episodes of the final season of HBO's Sex & The City, and had an on-screen cameo as well at Charlotte’s wedding.
2018 Lisa scored her first film - Pearl Gluck’s Summer - which premiered at the 2018 Lincoln Center Jewish Film Festival. Since then she created another score for Pearl - Write Me, starring Lynn Cohen, and her latest score for Amy Guggenhiem’s Blindsight has garnered several awards and will hopefully be expanded into a full length feature.