Singer, actress, songwriter, and recording artist Lisa Fishman has performed throughout the U.S. and Europe, performing and recording her own original pop-rock music, jazz, blues, cabaret and comic tunes, starring in Off-Broadway and Regional Musical Theater, singing and recording with several of the Country's top 'Klezmer' bands (Eastern European Jewish music), performing in her own, original Jewish musical act, "The Lisa Fishman Jewish Experience," starring in Yiddish Theater productions, singing jazz, rock, folk, blues and even heavy metal in bands from Coast to Coast, performing for children on television and record, and working as a voice over artist.
As a musical theater actress, Lisa played the role of Bobe Tsaytl (aka: "Grandma Tzeitl) in the Off-Broadway hit, "Fiddler on the Roof" in Yiddish, directed by Oscar and Tony winning actor/director, Joel Grey. Lisa also understudied Golde, Yente and Sheyndl in the production of "Fiddler" in Yiddish, which ran from the summer of 2018 until January of 2020. Lisa was featured alongside Broadway and film star, Mike Burstyn, in the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene's Drama Desk nominated, Off-Broadway sensation, “On Second Avenue,” in New York City and Los Angeles, and also shared the stage with Broadway star, Bruce Adler, in the hit show, "Bruce Adler, A, B, C."
Additional Off-Broadway credits include Toybe, the Innkeeper's wife, in the Drama Desk nominated hit, "The Golden Bride" ("Di Goldene Kale"), the singing and guitar-playing Troubadour in "Shpiel, Shpiel, Shpiel," written by the Tony and Oscar Nominated writer of "Tootsie," Murray Schisgal, and directed by Tony-Award winning stage and film director, Gene Saks, Broadway and Television star, Bob Dishy, and Motl Didner, and playing the chicken-plucking Leyele in the Off-Broadway hit, "Gimpel Tam," all produced by the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene in New York City.
Regional Theater credits include Sally Bowles in “Cabaret,” Nancy in “Oliver,” Fanny Brice & Emma Goldman in “Tintypes,” the Chanteuse, Chaya, in "Ghetto Cabaret," and Yente in "Shlemiel the First."
Additional Jewish Theater credits include starring in “Shpil-Zhe Mir a Lidele In Yiddish” ("Play Me A Song In Yiddish"), a two-person musical in English and Yiddish written by and co-starring Francois Lilienfeld, which toured throughout Germany, Switzerland, and Austria.
Lisa is an accomplished songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and recording artist, and has performed her original, eclectic material throughout clubs and cabarets in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Colorado, Washington, D.C., and various countries in Europe, and she can be heard on her original CD, “Tie Me Down.” Lisa is currently developing a one-woman musical show based on her many songs on dating and the search for love.
Lisa was one of the featured vocalists with Chicago's renowned "Maxwell Street Klezmer Band" from 1994 through 2000, and still concertizes with them as often as possible. She is featured on their 1996 recording, “You Should Be So Lucky!” (Shanachie Entertainment), and was seen performing with the band on several television programs, including "World Stage Chicago" and Public Television's "Artbeat.” Lisa is also a vocalist with Chicago’s "Modern Klezmer Quartet," and is featured singing jazz-inspired arrangements of Jewish standards created by Bob Applebaum on their 2007 recording “Jazz Klezmerology."
Lisa also sings with the Los Angeles based band, "Klezmer Juice," known for their featured scene in the film, "Wedding Crashers," and was one of the featured vocalists with "Mostly Kosher," a "Gypsy-Rock Klezmer Band" for their "Festival of Holidays" celebration at Disney's California Adventure Theme Park.
As a concert artist of Jewish music, Lisa has shared the stage with many of the greats from the world of the Music, Theater and Klezmer, including violinist Itzhak Perlman, Mandy Patinkin, Theodore Bikel, Jerry Stiller, Lainie Kazan, Tovah Feldshuh, Mike Burstyn, Bruce Adler, Renee Taylor, Claire Barry of the Barry Sisters, Fyvush Finkel, Dudu Fisher, Adrienne Cooper, Daniel Kahn, Frank London, Alicia Svigals, Lorin Sklamberg and other members of The Klezmatics, Michael Alpert and members of Brave Old World, Hankus Netsky and members of The Klezmer Conservatory Band, Zalmen Mlotek, Seymour Rechzeit, Deborah Strauss, Jeff Warschauer and Mendy Cahan.
Lisa also had the pleasure to backup the legendary Jewish singer and songwriter, Debbie Friedman, at a concert at Carnegie Hall, as well as to sing alongside Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul, & Mary, for a special Hanukkah concert at Chicago’s Athaneum Theatre.
Jewish concert highlights include Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center's Damrosch Park, the Barbican Centre in London, the Viener Konzerthaus in Vienna, The Hague, The Knitting Factory in New York, Los Angeles' Gindi Theater at the University of Judaism, and concert halls throughout Switzerland, Germany, The Czech Republic and The Netherlands.
Lisa can be heard singing the beautiful, Yiddish love song, "Sheyn Vi Di Levone,” in the 2003 film, "Dummy," starring Acadamy Award winner, Adrien Brody, Illeana Douglas, Ron Leibman, Jessica Walter, Vera Farmiga and Milla Jovovich. Lisa's singing and songwriting are featured during the closing credits of Amazon Studios' animated film, "The Alchemist Agenda," written by Marty Weiss, with her original blues tune, "Mr. Husky Eyes." Lisa is also a featured singer in the animated short film, "Labzik: Tales of a Clever Pup," which was based on the 1935 book by Chaver Paver, written by Jake Krakovsky and presented by Theater Emory of Emory College of Arts and Sciences. Lisa’s Jewish singing has also been featured on many television programs, including New York City’s “Jewish Entertainment Hour.”
In addition to her solo singing and songwriting work and involvement in Klezmer and Yiddish music, Lisa has also sung in bands galore from Coast to Coast - including several jazz ensembles, rock, blues and pop bands, an all-female acapella group, a variety singing and dancing act featuring music from the '40s through the '90s, and even a Motley Crue cover band where Lisa played the role of Vince Neil, the lead singer. Lisa also has had the immense pleasure and honor of sharing the stage and singing with Willie Chambers of the famous psychedelic soul band of the '60s and '70s, "The Chambers Brothers," known for their hit, "The Time Has Come."
Lisa has has done extensive performing and recording for children, including singing children’s songs and playing guitar as a series regular on WFTY-TV’s reading-readiness television program, “Raring To Read.” Lisa can be heard singing in English and Hebrew as the featured guest vocalist on the recordings, “A Part of a Chain” & “A Kid’s Life,” by award-winning, children’s recording artist and performer, Robbo, and Lisa was seen singing “Yiddish-ized” versions of new and old standards in a production of New York City’s “Kids and Yiddish.”
Lisa has also worked as a voice over artist, voicing animation, commercials, and jingles. She can be heard doling out comical one-liners in English and Yiddish as the voice of "My Yiddishe Bubbie," a dancing plush toy sold by major retailers worldwide.
Her original music can further be found on www.LisaFishmanMusic.com