Female Musical Theatre Writers

[BroadwayFan1231]

Posted: 3/3/15 at 5:22pm

Hello!

I'd like to add to my reading/listening lists, looking for suggestions of contemporary female composers/lyricists/book writers.

Thanks!!

[Gothampc]

Posted: 3/3/15 at 5:37pm

Jeanine Tesori - Fun Home; Caroline or Change; Shrek; Violet; Thoroughly Modern Millie (added a new song)

Updated On: 3/3/15 at 05:37 PM

[rjm516]

Posted: 3/3/15 at 5:41pm

^ Seriously she was the only one I could think of! This is bad!

[ggersten]

Posted: 3/3/15 at 5:44pm

How contemporary?

Winnie Holtzman (book) Wicked
Catherine Johnson (book) Mamma Mia
Nell Benjamin (lyrics/music) Legally Blonde and others
Heather Hach (book) Legally Blonde

[Phillypinto]

Posted: 3/3/15 at 5:45pm

marsha norman, lynn ahrens, amanda green, Zina Goldrich and Marcy Heisler

sara bareilles, cyndi lauper, dolly parton?

Updated On: 3/3/15 at 05:45 PM

[Gothampc]

Posted: 3/3/15 at 5:46pm

Lucy Simon - The Secret Garden, Dr. Zhivago

[Gothampc]

Posted: 3/3/15 at 5:48pm

Susan Birkenhead

[JBroadway]

Posted: 3/3/15 at 5:48pm

Amanda Green!

[JoseLee_]

Posted: 3/3/15 at 5:55pm

Betty Comden, Elizabeth Swados, & Dorothy Fields

[guitarradulce]

Posted: 3/3/15 at 5:59pm

Here is a list from American Musical Theatre Live! Paris
Their next monthly open mic will be "Celebrating Women Composers & Lyricists in Musical Theater"


Betty Comden (On The Town, Bells Are Ringing, Singin’ In The Rain)
Carmel Dean
Carolyn Leigh
Christine Khandjian (Cabaret Jaune Citron)
Dolly Parton (9 to 5)
Dorothy Fields (Peter Pan, Wildcat, Little Me, and How Now, Dow Jones)
Dorothy Parker
Cindy Lauper (Kinky Boots)
Georgia Stitt (My Lifelong Love, This Ordinary Thursday)
Gretchen Gryer
Janine McGuire (Let’s Make Noise)
Jeanine Tesori (Violet, Shrek)
Jennifer Lucy Cook
Jenny Giering
Julia Meinwald
June Carroll
Kait Kerrigan
Kathryn Hathaway
Laura Kleinbaum
Lynn Ahrens (Ragtime, A Man of No Importance)
Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich
Marcy Norman
Lucy Simon (The Secret Garden)
Mary Cohan
Mary Rodgers
Micki Grant
Mindi Dickstein (Little Women)
Nicky Phillips
Sarah M. Underwood
Shoshana Greenberg
Tina Lear
Women Composers and Lyricists in Musical Theatre

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 3/3/15 at 6:15pm

Kay Swift was the first woman to compose a Broadway musical

[philly03]

Posted: 3/3/15 at 6:20pm

Jill Santoriello - Book, Music, Lyrics of A Tale of Two Cities (underrated musical)

I'm actually kind of surprised at the low number of women composing or lyricist. The new musical "It Should've Been You" has a female composer as well.

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 3/3/15 at 6:51pm

I am a lyricist- though my work hasn't yet been performed professionally because I'm still looking for a composer to work with. Hopefully, I can be on that list one day.

[Pauly3]

Posted: 3/3/15 at 8:45pm

Check out Laura Tisdall. She is a young composer, lyricist & writer in the U.K. She has written two musicals yet to be performed professionally, but some very well done demos from both her shows are available - and sung by some talented pros.

Faerytale
https://www.youtube.com/user/lauratisdall/videos

The In-BeTween
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheInBetweenMusical/videos

[acekatherineplumber2]

Posted: 3/3/15 at 9:08pm

Lisa Kron: lyrics to Fun Home
Lynn Ahrens: Book and lyrics of Rocky, Little Dancer, Suessical, Once on This Island.

[AHLiebross]

Posted: 3/5/15 at 12:23am

Deborah Brevoort, with whom I went to high school eons ago in Ridgewood, NJ, wrote a musical whose name I don't know. Chuck Cooper was part of the cast, and they eventually got married.

Deb also writes plays. "The Women of Lockerbie" has been performed in various small venues.

[Musical Master]

Posted: 3/5/15 at 12:45am

How about these two, should they count?

Heidi Thomas- (book revision) GIGI
Linda Woolverton (book) BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and LESTAT

[seahag2]

Posted: 3/5/15 at 2:41am

Mindi Dickstein wrote the lyrics to Little Women.
And Jeanine Tesori attended a women's college (Barnard), it's really no wonder she's so successful!

[Soozie]

Posted: 3/5/15 at 12:26pm

May be of interest:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/womenandhollywood/guest-post-keeping-score-a-record-number-of-female-composers-on-broadway-20150303