Lisa Loomer

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Lisa Loomer (born 1956 in New York) is a playwright and screenwriter of Spanish and Romanian ancestry[1] who has also worked as an actress and stand-up comic.[2] She is best known for her play The Waiting Room, in which three women from different time periods meet in a modern doctor's waiting room, each suffering from the effects of their various societies' cosmetic body modification practices (foot binding, corsetry, and breast implantation).[3][4] She also co-wrote the screenplay for the film Girl Interrupted. Loomer is an alum of the New Dramatists [5] and was a 1985 playwright-in-residence at the Intar Theatre in New York City.[6] Many of her plays deal with the experiences of Latinos and Hispanic-Americans, and with various aspects of contemporary family life.

Loomer is married to composer Joe Romano; their son Marcello was born in 1998.[7][8]

Awards

Loomer has won the Jane Chambers Playwriting Award (in 1994 for The Waiting Room[9]), the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the The Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays Award, a Back Stage West Garland Award for Playwriting (in 2003 for Living Out[10]), the Imagen Award for positive portrayals of Latinos in all media, and American Theatre Critics Association Steinberg New Play Award (in 1995 for The Waiting Room and in 1999 for Expecting Isabel.)[2][11] She won the Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play in 1999 for Expecting Isabel. ]She was also the recipient of 2 grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, and one from the New York Foundation for the Arts, and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.[6]

List of works

Plays

Play Title Premiere Date Premiere Theatre Premiere City Premiere Reviews ISBN for published version of play
A Crowd of Two (collaboration) 1981 The American Place Theatre New York City
All By Herselves (one woman show) Westside Arts Theatre New York City
Birds 1986 developed and produced as part of the South Coast Repertory Hispanic Playwright Project Costa Mesa, CA
Bocón! (a political fable for children) 1989 commissioned by the Mark Taper Forum Los Angeles ISBN 0-87129-870-8
Chain of Life 1990 Renegade Theatre Company's One Act Play Festival at the United Synagogue of Hoboken Hoboken, NJ New York Times
Accelerando 1991 Odyssey Theatre Ensemble new york ISBN 978-0-8222-1595-0 ISBN 0822215950
Looking for Angels
Cuts
The Waiting Room 1994 Mark Taper Forum Los Angeles Variety ISBN 0-8222-1594-2
Maria! Maria! Maria! Maria! 1996 Mixed Blood Theatre Company Minneapolis, MN Mac Weekly
Expecting Isabel October 7, 1998 Arena Stage Washington, DC CurtainUp ISBN 0-8222-1995-6
Broken Hearts: A B.H. Mystery November 12, 1999 Cornerstone Theatre Company at the Los Angeles Theatre Center Los Angeles CurtainUp
Living Out Jan 18, 2003 Mark Taper Forum Los Angeles Curtain Up Variety TalkinBroadway.com ISBN 978-0-8222-1994-1 ISBN 0822219948
Distracted March 15, 2007 Mark Taper Forum Los Angeles Blog Critics Magazine LA Times Variety

Screenplays

Note: Some screenplays may not have been produced as films.

  • Looking for Angels
  • Girl, Interrupted, 1999 (with James Mangold and Anna Hamilton Phelan, based on the memoir by Susanna Kaysen) ISBN 0-571-20211-X
  • A Little Love, 2000 (based on the book by C.C. Medina, aka Carolina Hospital and Carlos Medina)
  • Just Desserts
  • Dreaming
  • Brothers and Sisters
  • Nappily Ever After, 2008
  • The Education of Shelby Knox
  • Leaving Hollywood For America

References

  1. ↑ Breslauer, Jan (August 7, 1994). "As Her Many Worlds Turn". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 25, 2007. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Biography: Lisa Loomer". Meet the Company. Ashland, OR: Oregon Shakespeare Festival. 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-12. 
  3. ↑ "Seattle Rep presents Northwest premiere of LIVING OUT". East Side Latino Leadership Forum newsletter (Bellevue and East King County, WA: East Side Latino Leadership Forum). January 2004. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 2007-10-12. 
  4. ↑ "Lisa Loomer - complete guide to Playwrights and Plays". The Playwrights Database. Doolee.com. 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-13. 
  5. ↑ "New Dramatists Alumni List". New Dramatists. New York, NY: New Dramatists. 2005-11-18. Retrieved 2007-10-12. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Jennings, Coleman A. (1998). "Lisa Loomer". In Coleman A. Jennings. Theatre for Young Audiences. New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 429. ISBN 0-312-18194-9. 
  7. ↑ Henerson, Evan. "Lady in Waiting Playwright Delivers New Comedy That Meets All Her Expectations." Daily News (Los Angeles, CA). 2000-08-01. Retrieved on 2007-10-13.
  8. ↑ Salamon, Julie. "Playwright Maps Limits Of the Best Intentions." New York Times. 2003-10-14. Retrieved on: 2007-10-13.
  9. ↑ Layfer, Lauren ."Loomer play spotlights three ladies in 'Waiting'." The Michigan Daily Online. 1997-11-19. Retrieved on 2007-10-13.
  10. ↑ Living Out: Performance Guide Palo Alto, CA: Theatre Works. 2004. 7. Retrieved on: 2007-10-13.
  11. ↑ ATCA/Steinberg New Play Award Winners. St. Paul, MN: American Theatre Critics Association. 2007. Retrieved on: 2007-10-13.
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