Marjorie Duffield

Marjorie Duffield is a lyricist, playwright, and screenwriter. She is one of the songwriters on OVER THE MOON, an animated feature-length musical from Netflix/Pearl Studios, written by Audrey Wells (THE HATE U GIVE, UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN) and directed by Oscar winner and Disney Legend Glen Keane (October 2020). As a writer for the stage, her play ICE ISLAND: THE WAIT FOR SHACKLETON was produced off-Broadway by The Melting Pot Theatre Company. She wrote book and lyrics for SIT-IN AT THE FIVE & DIME with composer Janice Lowe (New Harmony Project, Voice & Vision, Dixon Place), LUCKY HANS (White Bird Productions, music by Danny Ashkenasi), CYBER-ALICE (Lincoln Center Directors Lab at HERE, music by Sunmee Cho), IN A LAKE OF FIRE (Williamstheatre, music by Greg Pliska – Winner, Moss Hart Award and Finalist, Richard Rodgers Awards), TIT TALES, A BODY POLITICS CABARET (WOW Café and Williamstheatre, music by Greg Pliska), PRESENTING OLIVIA JAMESON (music by Robert Waldman), and lyrics for SOMEDAY (music by Chris Curtis). Other plays include ON THE ROAD TO LAST CHANCE (Theatre 333, Dixon Place) and FEVER (Women’s Project & Productions at La Mama Galleria). Screen credits include the feature-length screenplay for BETTERTHANDEAD (2012), and episodes of the TV series CAGED (2016). With Diana Yanez, she wrote the feature-length screenplay SCARY-ETTA and created the comedic web series, PIP AND PEN SHOW.  She also directed Diana’s solo piece VIVA LA EVOLUCION (Time Out NY Critics’ Pick – 2010 New York International Fringe Festival). Marjorie is a graduate of Williams College and a member of ASCAP, the Dramatists Guild, Honor Roll!, and Society of Composers and Lyricists. She received an MFA from NYU’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program, where she was a Jacob Javits Fellow. She was also a recipient of the Dramatist Guild’s Jonathan Larson Memorial Musical Theatre Fellowship.

WEBSITE AND SOCIAL MEDIA
http://www.marjorieduffield.com
FB: Marjorie Duffield
IG: @MarjorieDuffield
TW: @MargieWrites

MORE ABOUT ME
How do you overcome disappointment?*
Chardonnay.

If you could bring one change to theater, what would it be? *
Radical diversity and radical joy.

What is your favorite thing to do when you’re not writing?* 
I love planting, tending flowers, and growing seasonal vegetables – especially lettuces in my ½ wine barrel “salad bowl.” When gardening is out of season, I watch the sky, the moon, and the changing daylight as much as possible…and our cats of course.

Why do you keep doing theater?*
As Dietrich sang, “can’t help it….”

I feel most like myself when…*
writing lyrics or pointed dialogue. The journey of life seems to be that you don’t feel like yourself more and more often – so it is wonderful when your characters feel like you.

WHAT I'M WORKING ON
I am currently working on the lyrics and story of an adaptation of Jean Renoir's film FRENCH CAN CAN with Chris Curtis and Poppy Burton-Morgan, and the libretto of VIRAL with Xander Green.

KEYWORDS
Storyteller, Musicals, Songs, Plays, Adaptations, Queer, Lesbian, Anti-Racist, Diversity, Feminist, Family, Friendship, Film, Historical, Comedy, Young Audiences, NYC, LA, Tucson,  Nature-Lover, Animals.