Ella McGaunn Geiger

Theater Maker and Voice Specialist

Ella McGaunn Geiger has worked in a breadth of artistic roles, but the thread that unites them all is a deep mission to give people a voice:

  • In Ella’s work as a vocologist (vocal health specialist) she gives singers and actors the tools and techniques to make the art they want to make with authenticity, sustainability and health.

  • As an improvisor and improv coach she helps people to lose inhibitions and to trust the impulse that they have something meaningful to say.

  • As a director she brings stories to the stage, and gives voice to the written page. She strives as a director to bring new audiences to classic tales, give life to new works and use theater to help people see perspectives and stories different from their own.

  • As an advocate for gender affirming voice care and a creator of accessible arts spaces for people with disabilities, she amplifies voices that historically haven’t been heard.

  • As a writer and storyteller she seeks out stories that are impactful today by looking to forgotten voices and keeping a pulse on the heartbeat of culture.

Ella is a Massachusetts based musician and theater artist who co-owns Interlude Music in Maynard, MA with her husband Devereux. At Interlude Music Ella and Devereux connect people to their music through musical services such as composition, arranging, transcription, recording and more. They also produce musical and theatrical shows around Massachusetts and run a small private studio for voice, piano and songwriting.

Ella as a Theater Maker

Director

Ella has directed plays, musicals, improv shows and live radio plays. As a director she excels at collaboration and finding ways to make every person who touches the project shine. Ella takes a human centered approach to help each artist find their voice (whether on stage or behind the scenes) believing that the best works come from a place of love and authenticity. As a result of her extensive improv training, Ella is flexible and always up for a challenge and excited for new and novel ways to tell stories. As a voice scientist and lover of research, Ella brings a thoughtful approach to honoring the stories she brings to life on stage. With the heart of an educator she is equally comfortable working with adult professionals, amateurs and teenagers growing in their craft. Directing brings together Ella’s wealth of experience working with people, guiding voices, diving deep into language and linguistics, improvising, performing and telling stories that matter.

Performer

Comfortable in a variety of genres, Ella can be seen singing classical/liturgical music, musical theater (both contemporary and legit), as well as pop music. She can be coaxed into some jazz singing when her husband Devereux Geiger is playing piano. In college Ella studied opera and received considerable training in contemporary styles and musical theater post graduation. In a recent foray into Electronic Dance Music (EDM) Ella’s voice can be heard in the closing credits of an episodic animated musical Sirius AI: A Post Apocalyptic Musical. The pilot episode can be found here. When not singing live or recording Ella is a frequent comedic and musical improv performer (much to the dismay of her opera teachers).

Vocologist

Ella McGaunn Geiger is a vocal health specialist with training in voice science and voice artistry for singing, acting and speaking. She has had the opportunity to observe in some of the best voice clinics in the country including Bastian Voice Institute in Chicago, Sonnenberg Voice (Private SLP Practice in Chicago), Boston Medical Center, University of Utah Voice Clinic and others. Ella has received training in McClosky Voice, Estill Voice Model (levels 1&2), Women’s Voices in Midlife and Beyond, Body Mapping, Alexander Technique and more. Ella has a license as a Speech Language Pathology Assistant in the state of Massachusetts, but conducts most of her work as a vocologist/voice teacher because of her passion for closing the gaps in voice care. Ella has also helped clients with voice disorders as part of a voice care team, women struggling with their voices in peri and post menopause, and has worked with gender affirming voice care.

Playwright

Ella’s plays have been performed at Improv Boston, the historic Maynard Fine Arts Theater, and Boston Children’s Theater. Current projects include her first full length drama No Greater Evil and Impropriety: A Modern Operetta (a full length musical farce). Ella is a member of the Dramatists Guild. Interested theaters/groups can reach out directly regarding licensing and commissioning of her work. See below for more information.

Ella is a multidisciplinary theater artist committed to community based theater and increasing access and education in the arts.

Theater Philosophy

In a world full of hatred and headlines of tragedy after tragedy it is easy to become numb. With theater we have the power to tell stories, learn about people and places we could never visit, and grow in empathy. Theater doesn’t just happen in New York, it happens right here in our very communities all around us. Theater should touch lives, and be a part of changing conversations and changing the world around us one audience, one story, and one community at a time. Being a part of a relational field like music and theater allows us to build friendships, collaborate and build worlds together. When we start a show all we have are words, beautiful words. When we end a show we have worlds. It feels fitting for words to speak something wonderful into existance.

Recent Production Highlights

  • Frankenstein and Friends was directed and compiled by Ella McGaunn Geiger. Performed at the historic Maynard Fine Arts Theatre in July 2023.

  • Theory of Relativity was directed by Ella McGaunn Geiger at Maynard High School in 2023.

  • A Christmas Carol: Live Radio Play was directed and adapted by Ella McGaunn Geiger. Performed at the historic Maynard Fine Arts Theatre in December 2023.

  • Hip for the Young Kids was presented several times throughout 2019 through popular demand at Improv Boston. Directed by Ella McGaunn Geiger and co-written by Ella and Devereux Geiger.

  • Meet the Roommates written by Jonathan Rand was performed at Maynard High School in November 2022 and directed by Ella McGaunn Geiger.

  • Dr. McGeiger's Spooktacular Laboratory: A Mad Scientist Laden Improv Show was directed by Ella McGaunn Geiger and performed at ACME Theater in October 2023.

  • Ella McGaun Geiger's sound design for The Squirrels by Robert Askins was nominated for a 2024 DASH Award. Kevin Nessman directed the sold out production at ACME Theater December 2023.

  • Image from the 2023 Production of Farce of Habit at ACME Theater. Directed by Kevin Nessman and Assistant Directed by Ella McGaunn Geiger.

Commission Ella as a Playwright or Perform Her Work

Works Available to Read or Perform Upon Request:

No Evil Greater -Full Length Drama by Ella McGaunn Geiger

  • Two women hundreds of years apart living seemingly different lives unite in their love, pains, struggles and singing. This play tells the story of Helena Scheuberin, the famous accused witch you’ve probably never heard of from Innsbruck, Austria in 1486.

Frankenstein and Friends: Live Radio Play -Adapted and Compiled by Ella McGaunn Geiger for the Stage

  • Dive into your inner nerd with the crazy and sometimes cringy fun of old time radio sci-fi. Ella McGaunn Geiger has gone into the depths of forgotten old time radio to bring together a show of three laugh out loud spooky (but not too scary) tales. Complete with ideas for sound effects and even musical commercial breaks. (4-10 Actors) Run time is approx 65 minutes. Link to an audio recording of the original performance here.

A Christmas Carol: Live Radio Play -Adapted by Ella McGaunn Geiger for the Stage

  • 90 minute adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic tale. This version is written to be performed on stage live with sound effects. Ella’s adaptation showcases a balance between the linguistic beauty of Dickens’ original text and the accessibility of modern speech. (4-10 Actors). Link to an audio recording of the original performance here.

Works Open for Commission (And Works in Progress):

Impropriety: A Modern Operetta

  • A young married couple grows bored of their life and the societal roles they are trapped in. Each conduct separate affairs and find their life has new meaning. This is until the husband has a shocking realization- his mistress is in fact his wife whom he thought he had grown disenchanted with. Now his mistress (wife) wants to divorce her husband (him) to marry her affair partner (still him). Can he divorce his wife and remarry his wife before she realizes she’s been in love with him the whole time?

Mending Socks and Broken Hearts (Drama)

  • Three generations of women sit together and mend clothes once the children are asleep. When folk tales, lives and secrets are shared perhaps more than just socks are being mended.

She Knows Things (Comedy/Drama)

  • Set in1960s rural Appalachia. Grace is a thrush blower (folk healer) for her town, and an educated woman. She’s devoted her life to raising her family and healing others, but when life takes a turn she finds she needs some healing herself.

Contact Ella.

interludemus@gmail.com
(978) 344-2688

100 Main St. #11
Maynard, MA 01754