About the music

Lola Cortez is a composer for theatre and film who writes music that reaches for the big feeling: cinematic orchestrations built around raw, character-driven songs.

The Bluebird & The Lynx is her musical adaptation of Akimi Yoshida’s acclaimed manga Banana Fish. Set in the criminal underworld of 1980s New York, it follows Ash Lynx, a 17-year-old gang leader hunting for the truth behind a mysterious drug connected to his brother’s insanity. When Eiji Okumura, a Japanese photographer’s assistant, arrives in the city, their worlds violently intersect, forcing them to confront a conspiracy that reaches the highest levels of power.

Its 15 original songs blend hip-hop, rock and lyrical contemporary styles, a score The Wesleyan Argus called “a tour de force of orchestration.” The show premiered to a sold-out run at Wesleyan University’s historic Patricelli ’92 Theater and earned Lola the Gwen Livingston Pokora Prize for Composition and High Honors in Music. Its demo recordings now stream on Spotify, and the show has built a following of more than 14,000 people across social media.

Developed as Lola’s undergraduate honors thesis, The Bluebird & The Lynx is an unofficial adaptation. She is currently pursuing rights for its professional development.