About

Lisa Hermanson is a theatre artist, musician, and educator originally from Seattle, Washington. She is currently located in Las Cruces, New Mexico, where she is an Assistant Professor of Theatre at New Mexico State University. She holds her MFA in Theatre Pedagogy/Performance from Virginia Commonwealth University, where she was also adjunct faculty in Theatre and Speech, and her BA in Theatre and Music from Seattle Pacific University. Lisa is a music director, director, pianist, vocalist, educator, and composer/playwright. She has worked in theatres across the country, including Virginia Repertory Theatre (Richmond, VA) and the 5th Avenue Theatre (Seattle, WA), as well as multiple years in theatre education in Seattle. Favorite directing credits include The Addams Family (NMSU Theatre), Jesus Christ Superstar (Blank Conversations, NM), Little Shop of Horrors (Theatre VCU, Assistant), 12 Angry Jurors (Meadowdale High School), The Good Doctor (Seattle Pacific University), and Robin Hood (Shoreline Christian School). Favoritee music credits include The Sound Of Music and Matilda (Las Cruces Community Theatre), Into The Woods (Theatre VCU, Assistant), Spitfire Grill (Northwest University), The Little Mermaid (Broadway Bound Children’s Theatre), several years with Covenant Kids (Shoreline Covenant Church), and work on the revival of Paint Your Wagon (5th Avenue Theatre). Productions local to Las Cruces include composition work for As You Like It, Tomás and the Library Lady and Letters to the Future, as well as music direction of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Godspell, The Prom, and co-director of Broadway On Stage (2020, 2021) and Stay Home For The Holidays: A Holiday Cabaret (2020).

In addition to working with published and classic pieces, Lisa also focuses on new work. Her current project is a musical on the question of immigration, the first draft of which was developed and workshopped in Richmond, VA as a culmination of her graduate work. Titled The Golden Door, a song from the show was also performed at Broadway On Stage 2020 (“When I Get To America”). The draft continued development with a second public reading in Las Cruces, NM, as part of the High Desert Play Festival in 2024.

Lisa believes in the human experience and meeting not just the audience, but the cast and crew with compassion and collaboration. This applies to her classroom and students with equal fervor. Lisa’s work has been described as a slice of “poetic realism”, the atmosphere of which she strives to bring to every production and experience.

Welcome!