Lisa Jolley has been an improviser since 1990, studying and performing at the Magnet Theater, the Upright Citizens Brigade (original cast member, Evente - directed by Armando Diaz), and Chicago City Limits (MainStage and touring company). She is also a former cast member of Boom Chicago (Amsterdam), and returned in 2023 to perform in their 30th Anniversary shows. After her time at Boom, she developed her solo musical improv show, Jolley On the Spot, an improvised cabaret, with Frank Spitznagel, musical director at the Magnet. It was performed at Don’t Tell Mama, the PIT, the Del Close Marathon at UCB, two years at the Chicago Improv Festival, and at the Hudson Theatre in Los Angeles. 

​

Lisa has taught improv and musical theater at UNC-Chapel Hill, the North Carolina Theatre Conservatory, William Peace University, the Comedy Conservatory, Saint Mary’s School, and as a guest at the Yale School of Drama. 

 

Privately, she currently teaches voice and coaches musical theater, improv, acting, and audition technique and prep.

 

Theater credits: 

Broadway: Hairspray

Regional: Sweeney Todd, Les Miserables, Into the Woods, Next to Normal, Sylvia, The Producers, and more.

Television: The Staircase, Banshee, Law & Order: SVU, Sex and the City. 

 

Education: BFA in Musical Theater/Drama from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music.

​

Website: lisajolley.com