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, 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, in subsequent productions with Taichman, and at Juilliard with Director Maggie, Burrows.
Another theater credit is the score for 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.
Other prestigious compositions include several short pieces for episodes of the final season of HBO's Sex & The City, composition and performance in Seeing Is Believing with Dutch choreographer Maggie Boogaart, and a full symphonic rendition, orchestrated by John Marino, of her piece "Waiting Still," performed by The Klezmatics with symphonies in Hungary, Germany and the Netherlands.
In addition to the many productions with Rebecca Taichman, as a Music Director Lisa has worked with Wendy C. Goldberg, Daniela Varon, Joseph Adler, Lisa Rothe, Maggie Burrows, and for 5 years The New York Renaissance Faire.
As a freelance musician Lisa played on numerous film scores, documentaries, TV and radio jingles, and in 2018 she 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. Her latest score for Amy Guggenhiem’s Blindsight has garnered several awards and will hopefully be expanded into a full length feature.
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!