Shellen Lubin

Shellen Lubin was born and raised in Valley Stream, New York, United States, by parents Samuel and Lora Lubin (née Bondrov), with her older sister Allene.[1] She graduated from Bennington College in 1974 with a triple major in Drama, Music and Dance. During her time at Bennington, she appeared in Miloš Forman's first film in America, 'Taking Off',[2] which featured two songs she wrote ("It's Sunday", which she performed, and "Feeling Sort Of Nice", performed by Karen Klugman).[1] After graduating, she moved to New York City to continue pursuing her career in music and theatre.

Her first major theater project after college was the musical Molly's Daughters, which she wrote for the American Jewish Theater in 1978.[3] It was produced twice, first at the Henry St. Settlement featuring Lisa Loomer and Jane Ives, then at the 92nd Street Y featuring Rosalind Harris and directed by Pamela Berlin. Afterwards, she spent a long time writing various plays and songs, most notably Imperfect Flowers for Gretchen Cryer and James “Jimmy” Wlcek,[4] and a number of songs with musician and composer Bill Dixon.[5] In 1983, WBAI-FM presented a one-hour special of her songs entitled Shellen Lubin, Songwriter/Singer. She also wrote and performed a one-woman musical about the experience of having her first child (entitled 'Mother/Child') at numerous cabaret spaces and theatres from 1986–88, including the Susan Bloch Theater and Interart Theatre.

In 1989, she began her professional theater directing career at the Producer's Club Theatre with LIARS, written by Elliot Meyers and starring James “Jimmy” Wlcek, Peter Sprague, Annie Hughes, and Joyce West.[1] She followed LIARS with the critically acclaimed Larry Myers’ Gene Tierney Moved Next Door in 1994 at Theater for the New City, with Cynthia Enfield, Rik Walter and Tom Fenaughty.[6] She worked with Larry Myers again two years later, directing Coffee With Kurt Cobain, starring Angelica Page Torn again at Theater for the New City. In 1996, she also directed an evening of one-act plays by Suzanne Bradbeer, Kaadi Taylor, and Andria Laurie at the Mint Theater for the Six Figures Theatre Company. Norman Siopis’ one man show, REAL, followed at the Trilogy Theater in 1998.[7]

She has spent the last few years working on My Brave Face, a ‘rocabaret’ which she co-created with Robert John Cook, starring Robert John Cook, Cynthia Enfield and Matthew Gandolfo. It spent the two years since its inception on the cabaret circuit to critical and audience acclaim, while going through rewrites, and is currently in the recording studio.[8]