Biography: Lyricist, Composer, Poet, Performance Artist, Playwright
Mariénne Kreitlow (mar-ee-én cry-t-loh)
Mariénne is known for juggling genres and presenting works that surprise and delight audiences. A long time solo artist, she has released ten albums of original music to positive acclaim. Mariénne frequently collaborates with other artists to present theme-based concerts that navigate from the feisty to the earthy to the highbrow to the sacred. She believes her audience capable of traversing a wide terrain.
Her expansion into creating musical theatre has opened up a myriad of new works. Original music for Lysistrata and book and score for Earl Tracy were award-winning entries in the American College Theatre Festival. Mariénne was commissioned by Great River Educational Arts Theatre in St. Cloud to write the book and score for The Brothers Grimm, produced in 2011. Other musicals include “Yours, Thrognog,” co-written with Kitty Karn, and Excelsius. Her newest musical, Tesla’s Mistress, is about the inventor Nikola Tesla.
She believes art can foster self-empowerment while being thoroughly entertaining. Her mission statement? “juxtaposition = confusion = recalibration = delight = new reality”
Mariénne is a member of the Playwrights’ Center, New Musical Theatre Exchange, and Dramatists Guild of America. She is one of the founders of the Minnesota Garlic Festival and belongs to the Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota. As Keeper of Hearth and Home on her fourth-generation farm, Mariénne’s work often reflects a strong sense of place and commitment to honoring the land.