Deborah Wicks La Puma

Biography

Deborah Wicks La Puma is a composer, music director, and orchestrator. She is one of most produced Theatre for Young Audiences artists working today, with her work being seen across the globe and enjoying both popular and critical success. Her works include "She Persisted: The Musical" (Based on the book by Chelsea Clinton, at Bay Area Children's Theatre) with Adam Tobin; "Elephant and Piggie’s: We are in a Play!" (New Victory Theatre), "Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed: The Rock Experience" (Seattle Children’s Theatre) and "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" (Kennedy Center) with bestselling author Mo Willems. With playwright Karen Zacarias she created "Ella Enchanted" (First Stage Milwaukee, based on the book by Gail Carson Levine), "OLIVÉRio: A Brazilian Twist" (Kennedy Center), "Frida Libre" (La Jolla Playhouse), and "Einstein Is a Dummy" (Alliance Theatre). Other favorite projects include "Nobody's Perfect", a bilingual musical in English and American Sign Language, with creators Marlee Matlin and Doug Cooney, and "Perdida", a Mexican folk musical based on Shakespeare’s "Winters Tale”, with Salt Lake Acting Company's playwright-in-residence Kathleen Cahill. Her film scoring work with HBOmax includes "Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed: The Underground Rock Experience" and the upcoming series "Unlimited Squirrels". Musical arranging credits include the TYA hits "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever", Mo Willems' "Knuffle Bunny", Ken Ludwig's "Tom Sawyer", and Joan Cushing's "Petite Rouge". As a traveling music director she has worked at theaters such as The Guthrie, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Cincinnati Playhouse, The Kennedy Center and South Coast Rep. Her honors include the Harold Oaks Award for Sustained Excellence in TYA, an Off-Broadway Alliance Award, the Jane Chambers Playwriting Award, an NEA New American Works Grant, a Helen Hayes Award, two Parents’ Choice Awards, and an iParenting Media Award. A proud Mexican-American and "Navy Brat" who speaks Spanish and Portuguese, she is also a member of TYA USA/ASSITEJ International, ASCAP, and The Dramatist Guild.