NOELLE DONFELD, Lyricist/Playwright
Noelle has had seven musicals produced during the last eight years, with one production currently scheduled for 2008. Hands, for which she was book writer, lyricist and co-composer with composer Nathan Wang, was presented at Stages 2000 by Theatre Building Chicago, under the direction of Chuck Smith, Resident Director of the Goodman Theatre. The Revolution of Betsy Loring, for which she was book writer and lyricist, was selected for a workshop production by Casa Manana, Fort Worth, Texas, in 2001 under its "Tomorrow Project" series. The production garnered rave reviews by the "Dallas Morning News" and the "Ft. Worth Star Telegram." She was commissioned by NextStage Productions, Houston, Texas, as lyricist for Twas, which was presented both at the Cashman Theatre in Las Vegas, and at the Lyndall Finley Wortham Theatre in Houston, under the production of Stuart Ostrow in 2002. Aesop, for which she was original book writer and lyricist, with composer Thomas Bahler, was selected by Musical Theatre West for its Festival of New Works at the Carpenter Center, in Long Beach, California, in 2004. Act 1 of Shahrazad, Heads or Tales?, for which she was lyricist,with book by Stephen Oles, and music by Sandy Shanin, was selected for presentation at the Theatre Museum, Covent Garden, by Mercury Musical Development in 2005. Noelle wrote the book and lyrics for Act 2 at the request of Playwrights Arena, which presented a workshop production at the L.A. Theatre Center and hopes for a full production in the future. The show was in the finals for PlayFest! 2008 and Stages 2007.
Two shows were produced in 2007. Noelle was commissioned as lyricist for Miss Vulcan 1939, with book by Marian Partee and music by Jan Powell, by Red Mountain Theatre, in Birmingham, Alabama. The musical comedy had its world premiere in September 2007 and will be produced again in Birmingham this September. Her one-act, Squeak, with Sachi Oyama, book, and Brian Leader, music, was read at Theatre Building Chicago and was staged at the Colony Theatre in Burbank, California, in June 2007. Other current projects include: Hannah Senesh, with composer Sandy Shanin; The Powder Puff Derby of 1929, with bookwriter Marian Partee and composer Jan Powell, Big Top, with composer Nathan Wang; Forbidden City, a finalist for the 2007 O'Neill Musical Theatre Conference, with book writer Sachi Oyama and composer Nathan Wang, and Mita, the Magnificent, a bi-lingual children's musical.
Donfeld, a graduate of USC, Magna cum Laude, was a writer for Voice of America's Latin American Division. A published songwriter, she is currently a member of the Dramatists Guild, ASCAP, ALAP, and on the Board of the Academy for New Musical Theatre, Los Angeles.