As a musical theater actress, Lisa played the roles of Yente and Bobe Tsaytl (aka: "Grandma Tzeitl) - as well as understudied the role of Golde - in the Off-Broadway hit, "Fiddler on the Roof" in Yiddish, directed by Oscar and Tony winning actor/director, Joel Grey and starring Tony nominee, Steven Skybell, which ran from the summer of 2018 until January of 2020 and was reprised in the Fall of 2022. 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 the starring roles of Sally Bowles in “Cabaret,” Nancy in “Oliver,” Fanny Brice & Emma Goldman in “Tintypes,” the Chanteuse, Chaya, in "Ghetto Cabaret," and Yenta Pesha 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.
As a voice over artist, Lisa has voiced animation and commercials - as well as English dubs for Netflix. In the world of animation, Lisa can be heard as the sassy character, Dogma, in the new Youtube animated hit, “God’s Gang,” (https://www.youtube.com/@GodsGangGo), and her character voices can also be heard doling out comical one-liners in English and Yiddish as the voice of "My Yiddishe Bubbie," (https://myyiddishebubbie.com/) a dancing plush toy sold by major retailers worldwide. She was also heard as the upbeat Jack Russell Terrier on the children’s television series, “The Adventures of Sparkster.”
As a voice over dubbing artist, Lisa can be heard as the leading role of Adina on the hit Belgian Netflix series, “Rough Diamonds," as well as the leading role of Helena in the soon-to-be-released Swedish Netflix film, “Trouble.” Lisa has also voiced multiple roles for other Netflix films and series, including, "Blood and Gold,” “Inganno,” “A Body That Works,” and “Society of the Snow.”
Lisa is an accomplished songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and recording artist, and has performed her original, eclectic songs - which blend her influences in rock, folk, jazz, blues, cabaret and comedy - 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 has also written a one-woman, theatrical and musical show entitled “Dating (And The Search For Love),” which has been performed throughout Southern California. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah_awH4jc3s)
Lisa was one of the regularly 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, Avi Hoffman, Seymour Rechzeit, Deborah Strauss, Jeff Warschauer, Cantor Magda Fishman and Mendy Cahan.
Lisa also had the pleasure of singing alongside Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul, & Mary, for the special concert, “Do It Yourself Hanukkah,” at Chicago’s Athaneum Theatre, as well as backing up the legendary Jewish singer and songwriter, Debbie Friedman, at her concert at Carnegie Hall. Additionally, Lisa continues to appear across the country yearly in the concert piece, “Soul to Soul,” produced by the National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene (NYTF), which tells through song the story of the mutual positive influences between the American Jewish community and the African American community, and she has also appeared in NYTF’s concert piece, “Ghetto Tango,” a show originally conceived of and performed by Adrienne Cooper and Zalmen Mlotek featuring songs from the Jewish Ghettos during World War II.
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, Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music, 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 can also be heard singing a new, original Yiddish song in the comic short film, “Cut-Off,” which premiered in the LA Shorts Fest in July of 2024. 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, songwriting work and involvement in Klezmer and Yiddish music, Lisa has also sung in bands and musical projects galore from Coast to Coast - including several jazz ensembles, rock, blues and pop bands, an all-female acapella group, a three-woman 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 currently performs with the fabulous cantor and tenor, Nicholas Hylander, in their original Broadway and Jewish musical reviews, and also has the immense pleasure and honor to share the stage 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”) in Los Angeles’ “Good Time Orchestra.”
Lisa’s extensive work performing and recording for children has included 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 children’s recording artist and performer, Robbo, a John Lennon Songwriting Award and Parents Choice Gold Award winner. Lisa was also a lead singer and performer in “Kids and Yiddish,” a musical revue produced by the National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene that featured songs in Yiddish and English and toured New York City.
In television, Lisa was featured as a senior resident on the program, “L.A. Dragnet,” featuring Ed O’Neill and Eva Longoria, and starred as casting director, Melissa, in the short film, “The Audition 2” written and directed by Michael Einav.
Lisa is also a leader of Jewish song for Shabbat and High Holiday family services at Valley Outreach Synagogue in Calabasas, CA, as well as a 6th grade Hebrew School Teacher.
More of Lisa’s original music can be found at www.LisaFishmanMusic.com, and more Jewish music and Jewish theater work can be found at www.LisaFishmanJewishMusic.com.