Hi! I’m Laura Dadap. She/her.

Born and raised in NYC, I’m an actor-musician, activist, new mama, and small business owner dedicated to continually finding ways to collaborate to bring activism and the arts together.

Laura doesn’t know where her music will lead her, but she’s more than willing to follow its lead.”

- Nancy Ruhling

Finding grace, empathy and compassion in the work that I do has landed me on a path where I have been fortunate to develop many new works that uplift and amplify voices that in the past have been marginalized or unheard through storytelling and music. It is my commitment to continue weaving these threads into the world my young child, Thelonious, will grow into.

flavorfully yours,

RESUME

News

September 2022

In her first live performance as a core member of The Lobbyists, Laura will be playing Phebe Mitchell in MISS MITCHELL at Little Island’s Amphitheatre. Tickets for the shows on September 7-8 are available here.

MISS MITCHELL is a new concert-play musical centered on two women: Maria Mitchell, pioneer American astronomer and educator, and her “binary star” — her sister Phebe.

Maria is dedicated and steadfast, but unsure of her place in the world of science. Phebe is driven by passion and longing for adventure, but is pulled implacably into domestic life. One of these sisters has options, and can make a choice about what to do in her life. One does not have that choice.

Through haunting, stirring music, Drama Desk Award-nominated band and theater collective The Lobbyists weave personal stories with the life and legacy of these women to probe questions of female autonomy, women in STEM, and the still-present conflict between career and family.

The cast includes Tommy Crawford, Laura Dadap, Eloise Eonnet, Alex Grubbs, Sydney Torrin Shepherd, and Debbie Tjong.

july 2022

MISS TUTTI AND THE FRUITY BAND reunited to record some rockin’ tunes in July.

Stay tuned for updates on this release!

JUNE 2022

In the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned, Laura and bandmate Lacey from Macabre Americana drove down to WASHINGTON D.C. and performed music for participants in civil disobedience organized by CPD Action, Working Families Party, and Planned Parenthood Action.

april 2022

Laura closed a run of BHANGIN’ IT: A BANGIN NEW MUSICAL at La Jolla Playhouse originating the role of Constance.

“The diversity gives the show richly complex music and dance”
– The New York Times

“There’s lots to love…Jubilant, funny, accessible and entertaining…Well-crafted characters, quirky humor and touching moments…”
– The San Diego Union-Tribune

“[Bhangin’ It] presents multiple sides of complex discussions around cultural identity … and genuinely addresses these topics and conversations without sacrificing story, character or crowd-pleasing humor.”
– Los Angeles Times

Summer 2021

After a delightful workshop with White Heron Theatre and Almanack Arts on Nantucket, Laura developed music for The Lobbyist’s latest project, MISS MITCHELL. The group debuted a few of these original songs at Little Island’s first Storytelling Festival at the end of the summer.

September 2020

Laura and her partner, John, welcomed their son, Thelonious, into the world!

March 2020

UPDATE: Performances of Oratorio for Living Things presented by Ars Nova have been cancelled due to developments of COVID-19 in New York City.

In this sweeping world premiere, composer Heather Christian imbues the classical oratorio with blues, gospel, jazz and soul. The result is an in-the-round fusion of music and theater, staged by Obie Award-winning director Lee Sunday Evans and featuring eighteen virtuosic singers and instrumentalists. Both otherworldly and achingly intimate, Oratorio for Living Things heralds Christian as an undeniable artistic force — and inspires us to reflect on the mystery of human experience, set against the vast scope of cosmic time.

February 2020

Laura joined The Lobbyists in presenting their new musical, THE GOLDEN SPIKE, a collaboration with playwright Don Nguyen.

The work-in-progress presentation was held at BRIC Arts Media in Downtown Brooklyn on Feb 6th & 7th.

January 2020

Emergency Tiara performed during NAMM week at House of Blues Anaheim.

Upon returning, Laura celebrated her birthday with fellow Aquarian bandmates Emergency Tiara and Emily Afton with their first triple header birthday show at Rockwood Music Hall Stage 2 featuring Emily’s original music followed by Macabre Americana and a very special Emergency Tiara set including all 4 “sister wives”!

december 2019

Macabre Americana took a trip to the 1970s with OASIS: Time Travel Experience.

ABOUT THE EVENT: Time is just a concept. Getting lost in time is the closest you can get to being in the moment.

The OASIS travel agents and their Aunt Freckle will teleport you to 1979 and right back to the future in a span of one night at this dream-like event blending elements of immersive theatre, night club party and live performance.

november 2019

Emergency Tiara hit Tokyo to perform at a special one night only private party hosted by Dolce & Gabbana.

Laura also welcomed a Luis and Clark five string carbon fiber cello to brave the long trip overseas into her instrument menagerie. His name is Hubie.

October 2019

Laura wrapped filming Miss Tutti And The Fruity Band: A Body Positive Show with Halleloo Creative.

Earlier in the month, Laura performed with The Lobbyist’s First Annual Gala, celebrating their establishment as a Theatre Collective after seven years together as a band.

Laura also had the honor of performing at the Kennedy Center this month in a concert honoring Lizz Suggs as Lydia Larkin in Sugg’s musical, Real Hard Math.

The “Miss Tutti and the Fruity Band” team!

September 2019

Laura hopped on a boat to Nantucket to perform with the company of Daniel Emond’s, Kill the Whale, a musical odyssey re-imagining Moby Dick. The group was fortunate enough to be introduced by acclaimed author, Nathaniel Philbrick. The ensemble most recently performed the piece in NYC’s Corkscrew Theater Festival in July 2019.

August 2019

Chautauqua Theatre Company presented Preston Max Allen and Jessica Kahkoska’s Agent 355 as the first musical in their New Play Workshop Series.

Laura spent two weeks developing this new work in its first fully staged iteration at the beautiful Chautauqua Institution.

JUNE 2019

Laura joined Lisa Howard, Colin Hanlon, and several other talented performers in a reading of Sarah Hirsch’s new musical, The Book of Holding On, at the Dramatists Guild.

The Book of Holding On is a whimsical, poignant exploration of fear of change, teenage mental illness (in particular, obsessive thoughts), and growing up.

JULY 2019

Corkscrew Theater Festival will present Daniel Emond’s Kill The Whale, a musical/concept album that re-imagines Moby-Dick as a series of songs baring the souls of each character on board Captain Ahab's vessel. The score, soaked in rock and hip hop, folk and roots, rhythm and blues, psychedelia and soul, is an eclectic reflection of America's diversity. Laura is slated to play Fedallah, personal harpooner, best friend, and muse to Captain Ahab, in this presentation.

May 2019

Laura got to record a live session with Emergency Tiara at Paste Studio NYC

April 13, 2019

Macabre Americana submitted a video for NPR’s 2019 Tiny Desk Contest.

“We build too many walls an not enough bridges.” - Isaac Newton

“Oscar” was born after a real conversation with a man who feared deportation after the 2016 US presidential election. It’s our anthem for all immigrants across this country: our nation was built on the backs of immigrants— and this song is as much of our love song for them as it is our battlecry for asylum seeker policy reform.

March 28, 2019

Check out MTF’s Agent 355 Jam Session in celebration of Women’s History Month.

The Culper Spy Ring famously helped George Washington win the American Revolution, but there's one secret they never revealed; the identity of their female member. Now, an all-female/TGNC punk-rock band will reveal the truth about the unknown woman that helped America's first spy ring "outwit them all." Challenging a history written by men, Agent 355 explores the loyalty, heritage, and courage of six real Revolutionary women whose stories, sacrifices, and secrets shaped the nation. These jam session songs are from the perspectives of historical figures such as Nathan Hale (Lauren Patten), Anna Smith Strong (Lauren Zakrin) and Sally Townsend (Laura Dadap).

March 25, 2019

Laura joined The Lobbyists in their presentation of a concert of music from their new musical THE GOLDEN SPIKE, a collaboration with Don Nguyen. The Golden Spike is the story of Sun Wu, a Chinese immigrant who worked on the Transcontinental Railroad thirteen years earlier who now finds himself trying to outrun the long arm of the law in hopes of reuniting with his wife and son. Weaving strong emotional narratives of Chinese and Irish immigrants of the railroad, The Golden Spike is a story of the pursuit of love, family, truth, and the sparkling light of equality under the otherwise dark shadow cast by the Chinese Exclusion Act.

March 5, 2019

Laura was a part of a La Jolla Playhouse Sponsored presentation of Bhangin' It in NYC on March 4th and 5th. Bhangin' It, featuring a book by Rehana Lew Mirza and Mike Lew with music and lyrics by Sam Willmott, draws inspiration from the high-stakes world of intercollegiate competitive bhangra – a traditional Indian folk dance morphed into a good ole American dance-off. The story follows a biracial student, Mary, who gets kicked off her bhangra team for not being "Indian enough." When she forms a team of her own, cultural authenticity and cultural pluralism are set on a collision course in this brash, intoxicating and gripping new musical.

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