Nervous Breakdown in G Minor

Lewis Rawlinson is a Chicago-based cellist and theatre artist. Chicago acting credits include High Fidelity (Refuge Theatre Project, Non-Equity Jeff Award Production of a Musical), bare: a pop opera (Refuge), Fun Home (Towle Theatre) and Barney the Elf (The Other Theatre). San Francisco acting credits include Triassic Parq (Theatre Bay Area Award Nomination - Actor in a Principal Role, Ray of Light Theatre), Godspell (TBA Award nomination, OMG I Love That Show Productions), The Addams Family (Bay Area Premiere, Contra Costa Civic Theatre), Les Misérables (Broadway By The Bay) and Urinetown (Los Altos Stage Company).

As a cellist, Lewis has played with many orchestral ensembles, including two international tours to Asia and a performance of Saint-Saens' "La Muse et le Poéte" concerto for violin and cello as a soloist with the Billings Symphony Orchestra. In Chicago, Lewis has played cello for productions with Music Theatre Works and Porchlight Music Theatre, as well as in the Marriott Theatre's production of Titanic. He was also the alternate cellist for Goodman Theatre's production of The Matchbox Magic Flute, adapted and directed by Mary Zimmerman.

In addition to theatre, he has performed and recorded with indie/folk artists such as Liz and the Lovelies, The Okay Lakes and Laura Glyda. He played cello with the San Francisco-based band The Family Crest (NPR's Tiny Desk Concert alumni) on their Spring 2019 European Tour across Germany and Austria, their concert during the reopening of The Presidio Theatre and their musical adaptation of Romeo & Juliet at The Den Theatre.

Lewis graduated with Honors from Roosevelt University's Chicago College of Performing Arts with a Bachelor of Musical Arts Degree in Cello Performance and Arts & Public Policy.

www.lewisrawlinson.com / @lewiscellist

“Nervous Breakdown in G Minor drew the strongest response of any production I have seen at this [Winnipeg] Fringe. It’s a personal redemption story, well told and performed, but with Rawlinson’s exquisite cello playing as a bonus. You really owe it to yourselves to take in…this work.”
-Kevin Longfield, UMFM 101.5

“Lewis Rawlinson brings vulnerability and emotional depth to the stage, weaving his personal story with fragments of memory, music, and identity. The cello playing, as expected, is superb. Raw and immersive…offering a window into mental collapse that felt neither melodramatic nor clinical, but authentically lived.”
-Ashley Frantik, Jenny Revue

“A vulnerable young gay man aspires to be a concert cellist, but trauma and distress put his dreams on hold. Given the abdication of dignity that can come along with elite pursuit, owing to the historic amount of abuse in classical music against anyone who isn’t a cis male, the cure can be worse than the disease. Their loss. Here is a brave queer soul finally living his best life: a story well told by the Chicago-based actor-musician.”
-Lara Rae, Winnipeg Free Press – 4 Stars