TOVA KATZ

LYRICIST-COMPOSER // WRITER // PERFORMER

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About tova katz

 

   

Tova Katz (she/they) is a queer, genre-bending lyricist-composer, writer and performer. Their original musical work has been featured at La MaMa, 54 Below, and Joe’s Pub. Tova has been developing the new drag king musical Beneath the Bowtie with Alexandra Kalinowski and Katie Lindsay in the Geffen Writers’ Room, with a reading in 2022 (Geffen Playhouse) and an upcoming writing residency for the project at the Geffen in 2024. Tova composed music for the world premiere of Menstruation: A Period Piece written by Miranda Rose Hall and directed by Katie Lindsay in 2023 (Big Little Theater Co, in partnership with the LA LGBT Center). She is currently collaborating with Lisa Sanaye Dring on the new musical Unveiling with an upcoming reading in 2024 (Chalk Rep). This year, Tova performed their original solo musical See You at the Funeral! directed by Diana Wyenn at Los Angeles Performance Practice’s LAX Festival, with a performance from the piece featured in Gina Young’s SORORITY: Not Me at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA.

Most recently, Tova wrote music & lyrics alongside Lane Michael Stanley (book) for Jack & Aiden, a new queer and trans musical about grief, healing, and hot gay sex that premiered December 2023 — commissioned by Ground Floor Theatre in Austin, TX. 


Imagination saves her life every day.

Tova is a member of AEA/SAG-AFTRA/ASCAP/Dramatists Guild

 

NOT THAT MUCH

TOVA KATZ

LISTEN

NOT THAT MUCH

by Tova Katz

 

// P R O J E C T S //

Tova Katz makes queer genre-bending musical theatre as a lyricist-composer, writer and performer.


JacK & AIDEN

A TWO-PERSON QUEER AND TRANS MUSICAL ABOUT GRIEF, HEALING, AND HOT GAY SEX

Steve Rogers Photography - Justin P. Lopez as Jack, Laura Leo Kelly as Aiden at Ground Floor Theatre

 

JACK & AIDEN

Book by Lane Michael Stanley

Music & Lyrics by Tova Katz

Additional Lyrics by Lane Michael Stanley

When Aiden first meets Jack, it’s through the sex-saturated world of gay male hookup apps– Aiden’s first exploration since transitioning. But as the two spend more time together, things get complicated - they must navigate their grief, recovery and trauma and find out if they can hold one another’s human messiness. Jack & Aiden asks what it takes to open ourselves up to the profound joy and pain that come with truly being known.

Demos Recorded at Ground Floor Theatre (Credits) & Mixed by Michael O’Konis

Performed by Justin P. Lopez & Laura Leo Kelly

Jack & Aiden was commissioned by Ground Floor Theatre in Austin, TX, and premiered December 2023.

PRAISE

My review of Jack & Aiden: a musical so nice, I saw it twice...
This play totally rules.
— The Austin Chronicle
An honesty that is richer than that of star crossed lovers...
Go see it now.
— Broadway World

MENSTRUATION:

A PERIOD PIECE

AN EXPERIMENTAL NEW MUSICAL THAT TAKES PLACE INSIDE THE MENSTRUAL CYCLE

Lex Ryan Photography

MENSTRUATION: A PERIOD PIECE

WRITTEN BY MIRANDA ROSE HALL

Music by Tova Katz

DIRECTED BY KATIE LINDSAY

Claire, a lesbian approaching 40, has a choice to make about whether or not she wants to have a baby. Meanwhile, inside Claire’s uterus, a hormone named Emily pledges to interrupt the endless menstrual cycles by bonding with the next cycle’s egg herself. Through music, magic realism, and ensemble storytelling, our heroines leap between the living room, the uterus, the ovaries, and the fallopian tubes to test the limits of love, the limits of the body, and the limits of what any single organism can accomplish alone.

Menstruation: A Period Piece premiered at the Davidson/Valentini Theatre - produced by Camille Jenkins, presented by Big Little Theater Company in association with the Los Angeles LGBT Center with support from We the Women in March 2023.

Lex Ryan Photography


See you at the funeral!

A dark solo musical comedy

John Klopping Photography

 

See you at the funeral!

written, composed, & performed by tova katz

directed by diana wyenn

With original songs, a little tap dancing, and a lot of danger — a sweet-talking musician, the world’s oldest dominatrix, and Medusa (yes, that diva!) converge at one theatre for a queer raucous musical healing ritual unfolding in non-linear time. Increasingly fantastical and intimate, our heroines grapple with intersectional traumas of war, parent-child relationships, romantic partnerships, and patriarchy. Across generations and within a lifetime, See You at the Funeral! challenges the limits of forgiveness and ask what is possible when you question everything. In this solo genre-bending dark musical comedy, award-winning theatre makers Diana Wyenn (director/choreographer) and Tova Katz (writer/performer) take the audience on a twisting, howling, unforgettable ride.

You only die once—don’t miss it! 

See You at the Funeral! was originally developed at La MaMa E.T.C. directed and choreopgraphed by Tricia Brouk.

you only die once. 

don't miss it!

2016 Originally developed at The Club at La MaMa, NYC

2022 Presented at Los Angeles Performance Practice’s Live Arts Exchange [LAX] Festival

 

2017 Official Selection at The ONE Solo Theatre Festival, NYC

Tova Katz performing at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles, Elon Schoenholz Photography

2023 Presented adapted excerpt at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles

 

2018 Winner - Outstanding Solo Performance in a Musical or Cabaret in 2017 Fresh Fruit Theatre Festival, NYC


 

TOVA KATZ MUSIC

// MUSIC & LYRICS //


JACK & AIDEN

MUSIC & LYRICS BY TOVA KATZ

BOOK & ADDITIONAL LYRICS BY LANE MICHAEL STANLEY

 

Demo Recording Credits — Music & Lyrics: Tova Katz - Additional Lyrics: Lane Michael Stanley - Orchestration: Julie Richardson - Vocalists: Justin P. Lopez (Jack), Laura Leo Kelly (Aiden) -Piano/Conductor: Trey Shonkwiler - Mixing: Michael O’Konis - Orchestra & Production Credits, Recorded Live at Ground Floor Theatre Austin, TX


MENSTRUATION:

A PERIOD PIECE

Music by Tova Katz

BOOK & LYRICS BY MIRANDA ROSE HALL

 
 
 

Demo Recording Credits — Music: Tova Katz - Lyrics: Miranda Rose Hall - Orchestration - Alexandra Kalinowski & Michael O’Konis - Vocalists: Jo Lampert (Egg), Bibi Mama (Emily), Liz Eldridge (Uterine Chorus 1), Audra Isadora (Uterine Chorus 2), Marnina Schon (Uterine Chorus 3) - Keyboard/Music Direction: Elizabeth Curtin - Cello: Griblas Lizama - Drums: Nick Stone - Tracking and vocals engineered, mixed, and mastered: Margaux Morales - Producer: Misha Riley - Executive Producer: Big Little Theater Company - Recorded at Total Annihilation Studios, Los Angeles, CA


See you at the funeral!

BOOK, MUSIC & LYRICS BY TOVA KATZ

 
 
 

// UP next //

Projects in development

SPIT ME OUT

A musical short film

WRITTEN & COMPOSED by Tova Katz

Directed by lauren ludwig

CHOREOGRAPHED BY DIANA WYENN

Produced by The barn pictures, jer adrianne lelliott, kaia ferrari

On her way out of town for good, Dina—a bubblegum-chewin’ fast-talkin’ queer grifter—makes a surprise pit stop to convince her beloved Bev to escape “the pious throttle of their small town church” (Dina’s words). But Bev—the assistant pastor with quiet charm and dry wit—isn’t so sure about leaving everything behind. Amidst escalating scrutiny from the zealous congregation, the couple wrestles with their uncertain future as they discover that even as we brokenly rip one another to shreds, each of us is aching to know love, forgiveness... and goddammit, a little bit of grace.

 

beneath the bowtie

A NEW MUSICAL

book by katie lindsay

music by alexandra kalinowski

lyrics by tova katz

story by katie lindsay, alexandra kalinowski & tova katz

Lights up on The Marquese, a swanky, mafia-owned New York City club where drag kings dazzle high-end clientele with showmanship and seductive gender play. It’s 1949, and though homosexuality and “cross-dressing” are illegal, a vigorous mob-protected drag scene has turned the Village into a hub of queer expression. Amidst the dazzle and danger, Donny, a young queer runaway, dreams of being a star, falls in love, and discovers the home she’s always longed for. As the world becomes increasingly hostile to queer people, Donny must confront the meaning – and the cost – of becoming your truest self. 

ORIGINALLY DEVELOPED IN THE GEFFEN WRITERS’ ROOM - UPCOMING RESIDENCY WITH THE GEFFEN SPRING 2024


unveiling

A NEW MUSICAL

BOOK BY Lisa sanaye dring & tova katz

MUSIC & lyrics by tova katz

IN DEVELOPMENT WITH CHALK REP - UPCOMING READING FALL 2024


blow, honey, blow

PILOT

written by tova katz

CREATED by TOVA KATZ, traci hays & puppett

 

News & Updates 

  • February 2024, entered production for musical short film Spit Me Out in Los Angeles (writer/composer/performer) directed by Lauren Ludwig, produced by The Barn, Juju Lelliott and Kaia Ferrari, choreographed by Diana Wyenn, music directed by Brett Ryback.

  • December 2023, wrote music & lyrics for Jack & Aiden alongside Lane Michael Stanley (book) commissioned by Ground Floor Theatre in Austin, TX

  • July 2023, performed adapted piece from See You at the Funeral! at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, directed by Diana Wyenn, as part of Gina Young’s SORORITY: NOT ME

  • March 2023, wrote music for world premiere of Menstruation: A Period Piece - (book/lyrics by Miranda Rose hall, directed by Katie Lindsay)

  • December 2022, wrote lyrics and co-created story with Katie Lindsay (book) and Alexandra Kalinowski (music) for Beneath the Bowtie — with staged reading held at Geffen Playhouse

  • October 2022, joined Chalk Rep Writing Group

  • October 2022, performed See You at the Funeral! directed by Diana Wyenn at Los Angeles Performance Practice’s LAX Festival

  • May 2022, wrote and performed new short musical play can’t / need / never / have for MeetCute LA at the Renberg Theatre LA, directed by Lane Michael Stanley.

  • January 2022, original song (music & lyrics) commissioned for Queering the Canon: Sondheim, a Ring of Keys event at Joe’s Pub, directed by Ann James, music-directed by Julianne Merrill

  • November 2021, joined Geffen Writers’ Room ‘21-’22 as lyricist for development of new musical Beneath the Bowtie with collaborators Katie Lindsay (book) and AK Kalinowsky (composer)

  • January 2021, held workshop reading of new original short musical film, DINA

  • February 2020, composed and music-directed reading of Miranda Rose Hall’s Menstruation: A Period Piece with Center Theatre Group and We the Women in Los Angeles, directed by Katie Lindsay

  • February 2020, performed lead role in reading of Bixby Elliot’s If on a Winter’s Night at The Blank Theatre in Los Angeles, directed by Kate Jopson

  • February 2020, performed as Little Stone in a reading of Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice in partnership with LA Opera at The Getty Villa, directed by Katie Lindsay

  • December 2019, performed as lead Mary in We Three Sisters, a new musical based on Chekhov’s Three Sisters at Thymele Arts in LA, directed by Margaret Startbuck

  • November 2019, performed West Coast Premiere of See You at the Funeral! at the Broadwater Main Stage, LA, directed by Diana Wyenn

  • July 2019, performed in DUSTY, staged reading at Outfest LA, TCL Chinese Theatre, directed by Jane Clark

  • April 2019, Queer Cabaret performance with The Commons LA directed by Jer Adrianne Lelliott, The Other Space

  • April 2019, Reciprocity Artist Retreat through Asylum Arts & Institute for Jewish Creativity

  • December 2018, solo musical performance in Pure Imagination at Theatre Unlimited Studios, LA

  • November 2018, featured musical storyteller at Breaker/Broken at Open Space Cafe LA

  • June 2018, featured musical storyteller at Breaker/Broken at Open Space Cafe, LA

  • May 2018, performs excerpt from See You at the Funeral! at Bowery Poetry Club Fresh Fruit Festival Awards Gala.

  • April 2018, performs with Justin Sayre’s Sweet Nell Theatre Collective at NAVEL, LA

  • March 2018, performs See You at the Funeral! excerpt at What’s The Story? at The Last Bookstore, LA

  • February-July 2018, Inquiry Fellowship at AJU’s Institute for Jewish Creativity

  • Spring 2018, awarded Fresh Fruit Festival's Fruitie Award for Outstanding Solo Performance in a Musical or Cabaret for her work in See You at the Funeral!

  • January 2018, T solo musical performance in Spectacular Cabaret at Unlimited Theatre Company, LA

  • July 15th 2017, See You at the Funeral! featured as part of NYC's Fresh Fruit Festival at The Wild Project!

  • May 30th 2017, Single Release Concert at Pianos LES: single release: Not That Much

  • April 24th 29th, and 30th 2017 See You at the Funeral! Official Selection for The ONE Festival at Teatro Circulo

  • January 20 2017, Tova Katz interview will air on Tricia Brouk's podcast The Big Talk

  • January 20th 2017, Tova Katz solo set at Sanctuary Anti-Inaugural Ball at HERE Arts Center NYC

  • January 6-15th 2017, Tova Katz featured in Mieke D & Susana Cook's original Squirts performance at The Club at La MaMa