Helen Lewis-Michelson

My teaching, research, and creative work as a dramaturg and director exemplify my deep commitment to representation, inclusion, and collaboration. I believe in helping students develop a globally-minded, pluralistic perspective on theater and performance grounded in empathy and relativism.

Helen Lewis-Michelson joined the Conservatory in 2010 and is a scholar, teaching artist, and dramaturg who has also taught at Northeastern University, Marlboro College, UMass Boston, and Tufts University, and guest-lectured at multiple colleges and universities in New England. Lewis-Michelson has served as dramaturg and consultant for numerous theater and opera companies in Boston, including Speakeasy Stage, Company One, the Longy School of Music at Bard College, and the American Repertory Theater. Lewis-Michelson was a featured speaker on drag performance at TEDx Berklee Valencia in Valencia, Spain, and served on the board of the Center for LGBTQ Studies at the City University of New York. Research interests include queer theater and performance, drag and gender-queer performance, theater historiography, American musical theater, and popular entertainment. Lewis-Michelson holds a Ph.D. and M.A. from Tufts University, and a B.A. from Brandeis University.

Notable Recent Works

Dramaturg, Head Over Heels, directed by Larry Sousa, Boston Conservatory at Berklee (2021) 
Director, Albert: A Musical, Boston Theatre Marathon at Boston Playwrights Theatre (2021) 
Dramaturg, As U Like It, directed and adapted by Melinda Lopez, Northeastern University (2021) 
Director, Hir (staged reading), Boston Conservatory at Berklee (2019)
Dramaturg, The Usual Unusual, SpeakEasy Stage Company (2019–2020)
Dramaturg, Fun Home, directed by Paul Daigneault, Speakeasy Stage Company (2018)