Sarah Hirsch

Biography

Sarah is a bookwriter, lyricist, and composer, as well as a music director and accompanist. She majored in music at Yale University and received her M.F.A. from the Tisch Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program.

Sarah's musical USHER, co-written with Molly Fox (and based on Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher") was named “Outstanding Musical” at the 2008 New York International Fringe Festival and received a full production in Washington D.C. in 2014 by Pallas Theatre Collective. DAMASCUS SQUARE, co-written with Oran Eldor and Shai Baitel, received a full production at the Axelrod Performing Arts Center in 2015 and was a finalist for the 2016 Kleban Prize. BECOMING DAVID, written with Nick Myers, received an Equity reading at the Dramatists Guild in 2016 and was a finalist for the 2017 Richard Rodgers Award. THE BOOK OF HOLDING ON received two Equity readings in New York and a full production over Zoom at Santa Clara University in 2021.

Favorite music-directing credits include IRON JOHN at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, SPELLING BEE at Santa Clara University, WEST SIDE STORY at McCallum Fine Arts Academy, COMPANY at Nittany Theatre at the Barn, and PARADE at FUSE Productions.

Sarah is passionate about teaching music and drama to children and teenagers. She has led mini-musical-writing workshops at McCallum Fine Arts Academy, Camp Arena Stage, and Boston Children's Theatre, in which she has guided groups of students through writing and performing their own short musicals.