Lisa Bodollo

Lisa Bodollo
Teaching Assistant Professor, Theatre Education/Acting
bodollol25@ecu.edu
201B Messick
Mail Stop 553
East Carolina University

Lisa Bodollo has taught acting, directing, and theatre education at the university and K-12 levels for over twenty-five years. She received her M.A. from Central Washington University and her M.F.A. from Goddard College in Seattle, Washington, focusing on eco-dramatics that incorporate shadow puppetry, dance, and Indigenous storytelling.

Lisa has taught acting, directing, puppetry, and educational theatre at Northern Kentucky University, Xavier University, and East Carolina University. She has also developed and directed numerous drama programs for children of all abilities and underserved communities through organizations such as Cincinnati Uptown Arts, Xavier Lab School, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Northern Kentucky University’s Arts Enrichment Program, and Cincinnati Public Schools’ Books in Action, hosted by United Way.

Lisa has produced, directed, and taught theatre in New York City. Some of her favorite work directing credits include Newsies, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Mean Girls in collaboration with the Soho Shakespeare Company and Broadway writers and lyricists. Other directing credits include an original production for The Cincinnati Fringe Festival, Rock of Ages at The Kentucky Carnegie Center for the Arts, and over seventy musicals and plays, including Chicago, The Addams Family Musical, Jesus Christ Superstar, Hairspray, and The Miracle Worker.

Most recently, Lisa collaborated with Columbia University’s Center for Voice and Swallowing on a research study focused on specialized vocal training for puppeteers. This groundbreaking project bridges voice science with performance art to extending the sustainability of vocal performance. Lisa and her research team will present their findings at the upcoming national Fall Voice Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Her eco-dramatic work has led to involvement in both community and global artistic initiatives, including a climate change project with the Transcontinental Educator Artist Collective for Humanity (TEACH) and East Carolina University. Lisa is currently collaborating with The College of Charleston to create new works for the Climate Change Theatre Action Global Initiative.

Lisa has been recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts as a finalist for her adaptation of If People Could Fly, by Virginia Hamilton. She has received two Cincinnati Environmental Educational Commitment Grants for her playwriting and outreach work on The Super Pollinators hosted by the Cincinnati Nature Center and The Orca Project inspired by environmental advocacy at West Coast Langley Whale Center. Throughout her teaching career, Lisa has also received Enquirer/Fifth Third Bank Theater Educator Acclaim Awards and the Educational Theatre Association Exemplary Theatre Program Award.