Lost Grrrl Found Photo credit: Chloe Fuller
New York-based creative partners Penelope Gould and Holly Nance began writing Lost Grrrl Found during their freshman year in NYU’s Dramatic Writing program, bonding over a shared love of Bikini Kill, zines, and Carrie Brownstein’s seminal memoir Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl. What began as a collaboration between a playwright and musician evolved into a queer, riot grrrl-inspired coming-of-age musical set against the early ’90s Pacific Northwest punk scene. Billed as “the only play with a mosh pit,” the production follows college freshmen Izzy and Morgan as they navigate friendship, queer desire, and the emotional upheaval of growing up.
Today, The Big Takeover premieres “Lesbian Spinsters,” a new song from Lost Grrrl Found that captures the messy aftermath of a first queer breakup. Drawing on the spirit of queercore pioneers Team Dresch, the raucous track finds Morgan and Izzy swearing off love altogether, turning heartbreak into a defiant singalong. The song will appear on Pupal Phase, the debut four-song EP from Lost Grrrl Found, arriving October 23.
“‘Lesbian Spinsters’ is the penultimate song from the staged version/full-length soundtrack of Lost Grrrl Found,” explains co-creator Holly Nance.
“This song finds Izzy and Morgan at their most heartbroken, with both of them having just experienced their first lesbian breakup. A lesbian breakup at age nineteen feels like a world-shattering, earth-crumbling, life-altering situation. We pulled from our own feelings of wanting to swear off love: ‘We’ll be lesbian spinsters at nineteen / lock up our hearts, throw away the key,’ became a mantra, and then lyrics. In writing this, we noticed that within ourselves and our communities, lesbian coming-of-age experiences are often propelled by these intense relationships. This song is for anyone who has wanted to swear off love forever.”
Gould and Nance began developing Lost Grrrl Found during the pandemic, eventually bringing in director, musician, and writer Marina Carlstroem to help bring the production to life. Set in the Pacific Northwest during the early 1990s riot grrrl movement, the larger 22-song musical combines the immediacy of a DIY punk show with the storytelling of musical theater, exploring friendship, desire, art, and activism.
The production has grown through years of live performances, with Abby Mohaddes and Marvelyn Ramirez helping shape the roles of Izzy and Morgan, respectively. Ramirez originated the role of Morgan, while Mohaddes has developed Izzy alongside the creative team since early 2025. Since premiering at The Parkside Lounge in June 2024, Lost Grrrl Found has regularly sold out performances across Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens, appearing at unconventional venues including Stone Circle Theatre, The Sultan Room, and TV Eye.
The DIY ethos behind the show extends to its music. Gould, Nance, and Carlstroem produce the songs themselves, with studio engineering handled by cast member Zac Wilson. On Pupal Phase, the team turns its attention to the relationship at the heart of the musical, exploring how queer friendships can be as formative, intense, and complicated as romantic ones.
“We’re so thrilled to be releasing our first LGF EP with four songs focusing on the queer friendship at the heart of the piece,” Gould shares.
“For us, ‘coming of age’ is about finding your people and learning how to be kind to each other, which we see the two characters Morgan and Izzy discover across these songs. It’s particularly meaningful because the core of the process of LGF has also been about queer friendships, and the way we work together to make the art we want to see. We mirror our riot grrrl foremothers in this method of artmaking, and sonically drew inspiration from bands like Team Dresch, L7, Tiger Trap, and many more bands of friends.”
With its blend of punk-rock irreverence, queer coming-of-age storytelling, and collective DIY creation, Lost Grrrl Found carries the riot grrrl tradition into a new theatrical context. “Lesbian Spinsters” offers a glimpse into that world, finding humor and solidarity in the impulse to swear off love when it hurts the most.
“Lesbian Spinsters” premieres exclusively with The Big Takeover ahead of the release of Pupal Phase, out October 23, 2026.
New music on the way? Pitch Big Takeover Exclusives.
