{"id":40971,"date":"2025-07-11T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/muse.international\/?p=40971"},"modified":"2025-07-09T12:57:22","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T12:57:22","slug":"beyond-the-curtain-lisa-monde-on-celebrating-musical-milestones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/beyond-the-curtain-lisa-monde-on-celebrating-musical-milestones\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond the Curtain: Lisa Monde on Celebrating Musical Milestones"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

Lisa Monde is a writer, playwright, director, actress, singer, and theatre critic with a PhD in Musical Theatre. She has written ten plays and eight internationally performed musicals and, with over fifteen years of multilingual theatre criticism and two decades of experience, offers deep insight into musical theatre onstage and off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q1. Congratulations on winning the MUSE Design Awards! Can you introduce yourself and share about what inspired you to pursue design as a career?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My name is Lisa Monde \u2014 I am a writer, playwright, director, actress, and singer. I earned a PhD in Musical Theatre and am the author of ten original plays and eight musicals, most of which have been produced and staged in the U.S. and internationally. For the past fifteen years, I have also worked as a theatre critic, writing news articles, reviews, essays, and interviews for various specialized magazines\u2014in four European languages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My research-based work has been published in multiple scientific journals. I also teach acting and musical theatre performance to aspiring theatre and film actors, and I created an original master class in musical theatre history. I am a multi-award winner of various theatrical contests, playwriting competitions, and prestigious accolades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My life in musical theatre began over twenty years ago, when I first stepped onto the stage of a musical I composed and wrote myself. Since then, I\u2019ve written, directed, and performed in dozens of shows. I know the world of theatre\u2014and especially musical theatre\u2014inside and out. Being a critic, writer, journalist, and interviewer of legendary musical creators worldwide is one of the many roles I embrace.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Q2. What does being recognized in the MUSE Design Awards mean to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By talking to renowned creators and performers, I\u2019ve come to understand how important it is to share their stories, perspectives, and future plans with a broad audience. There\u2019s nothing quite like hearing directly from the creators how they wrote their masterpieces\u2014or from the performers how they originated the roles we all know and love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is both a great honor and a great pleasure for me to communicate with the legendary minds behind musicals such as Evita, Les Mis\u00e9rables, The Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, Starlight Express, Miss Saigon, and many more. It\u2019s also deeply meaningful to receive professional recognition for my work, to know that the material I provide is of high quality and resonates with a wide range of readers. Of course, this validation strengthens my confidence as a theatre critic and interviewer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m also proud to be part of the amazing, passionate, and hard-working team at The Theatre Times digital portal, which\u2014quite literally\u2014brings theatre from around the world to the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q3. How has this achievement impacted your career, team, or agency, and what opportunities has it brought so far?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I still can\u2019t believe that Alan Menken and Tim Rice\u2014whose music I grew up with, whose musicals I sang in and staged with schoolchildren\u2014spoke with me for hours. They not only shared stories about the creation of their masterpieces but also gave me advice for my own projects. I also had the honor of speaking with Michael Kunze and Sylvester Levay, Claude-Michel Sch\u00f6nberg, and many others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m deeply grateful for the opportunity to ask questions that matter to me as a composer, performer, playwright, and translator-adapter. Sadly, many of them are no longer young. Their voices and their stories are priceless. I promised myself I would publish a book of these conversations, titled Conversations About Musicals. I\u2019m honored to be the keeper of their stories and to have the chance to pass them on to future generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d say the story behind any success is simple: dedication and hard work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q4. What role does experimentation play in your creative process? Can you share an example?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n


First of all, I believe it\u2019s because I\u2019m deeply knowledgeable about the field I write about\u2014I come from the world of musical theatre, and that\u2019s exactly what I write about. Secondly, the exclusive and unique interviews I conduct with the very people who helped shape the world of musical theatre\u2014well, you really can\u2019t top that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also conduct thorough research when writing my articles and share those discoveries with readers. I believe my Master\u2019s degree in English Linguistics helps as well\u2014it allows me to write with clarity and precision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q5. What’s the most unusual source of inspiration you’ve ever drawn from for a project?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Music journalism is not an easy job\u2014you need to be highly knowledgeable and stay up to date with what\u2019s happening in the world of musical theatre across the globe. I do my best to personally attend significant premieres, which often involves travel and a great deal of time to gain access to the \u201cright\u201d people in the industry. Once again, persistence is key.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s only one way to overcome these challenges: never stop trying, never spare the time, and don\u2019t be afraid to be persistent\u2014even if it means being a little intrusive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anniversaries of Legendary Musicals around the World.<\/a><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Celebrating fresh perspectives and fearless campaigns\u2014dive into the 2025 LIT Advertising Awards Season 1 winners.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lisa Monde is a writer, playwright, director, actress, singer, and theatre critic with a PhD in Musical Theatre. 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