A recent project that has come across my "desk" has once again stirred up my ire about the disparity in opportunities for women in the arts. I was asked to think of living female musical theatre/composer lyricists that would perhaps like to have their work showcased in NYC and after rambling off a few names, I soon came up dry.
Many moons ago I posted about the imbalance of female directors in Hollywood. I don't know why I should be surprised by the same irksome fact about women in the theatre arts. According to 50/50 in 2020: Parity for Women Theatre Artists, female playwrights, directors and designers receive only 20% of professional production opportunities nationwide. Sadly, this is not surprising. Testosterone still dominates on Broadway, with the big three, The Shubert Organzation, Nederlander and Jujamcyn, helmed by men. Without getting on a soap box, I will simply say that as a female theatre artist, I certainly hope that the male/female ratio on Broadway does reach 50/50 in 2020. Much can happen in 10 years, that is for certain.
So, back to the task at hand. Below is the list of female composer/lyricists that I was able to come up with. Have you got any to add to the list? Surely there are more female musical theatre composer/lyricists with a story to tell. Let's make sure that their story is heard!
- Deborah Abramson
- Lynn Ahrens
- Beth Blatt
- Kirsten Childs
- Maggie Kate Coleman
- Gretchen Cryer
- Mindi Dickstein
- Danica Dora
- Beth Falcone
- Nancy Ford
- Ryann Ferguson
- Jenny Giering
- Zina Goldrich
- Rebecca Greenstein
- Kirsten A. Guenther
- Marcy Heisler
- Anna K. Jacobs
- Sophie Jaff
- Kate Kerrigan
- Kristen Lopez
- Julia Meinwald
- Kacie Sheik
- Georgia Stitt
- Joy Sun
- Jeanine Tesori
- Katie Thompson
- Sarah Wordsworth
- Amanda Yesnowitz
