Elizabeth Nestlerode

Born in California and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Elizabeth went on to receive her BFA in Musical Theatre from the University of Miami in Florida before settling in New York City to pursue a career in the performing arts.

Elizabeth came to the theatre from a strong music background. She began singing in churches as a child and started studying piano at age six. After focusing on classical piano for 10 years, she made the transition to other genres and shifted her focus to acting. She has performed as an actor/musician in numerous shows (including Tommy Tune's world premiere production of 54 Forever).

On stage, she has worked Off-Broadway, and regionally, under the direction of Brian Yorkey in Aida and The Who's Tommy at the Village Theatre and Linda Hartzell in High School Musical at the Seattle Children's Theatre. She appeared as Betty Lanza in the world premiere production of Lanza! directed by Charles Messina and produced by Phil Ramone and as Kitty Bennett/Georgiana Darcy in Pride and Prejudice the Musical directed by Mark Lamos. On the small screen, Elizabeth has appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman, as well as a number of short films and web series.

Elizabeth composed the music for the song "Riding with Night" (French lyrics by Danny Merritt) which premiered at the 2014 Edinburgh Festival in the play Riding with Night, written by Danny Merritt. She also composed the music for the song "Parole in Pane" (Italian lyrics by Estan Torres-Urso) which premiered in Lugano, Switzerland in the musical Les Prince Heureux.

She has written the book, music, and lyrics for three original musicals: The Royal Troubadour premiered at The American School in Switzerland in 2013, Switched premiered in 2014 and Circus Minimus premiered in 2015.

Elizabeth's original songs and arrangements have been performed by herself, her colleagues, and her students, in concerts as well as full productions in the United States and internationally, in Switzerland and Guatemala.