News Room

Where Are They Wednesday: Leigh Barrett

Leigh Barrett, a member of Boston Theatre royalty and SpeakEasy alum.

Where Are They Wednesday: Erica Spyres

Erica Spyres has starred on Broadway, been a part of national tours, and graced concert stages around the world. And although she grew up in the Ozarks, Bostonians tend to claim her as their own, for this is where she made her professional stage debut and honed her craft.

Where Are They Wednesday: Sam Simahk

Curly in Oklahoma!, Tony in West Side Story, Rapunzel’s Prince in Into the Woods — there’s no role too big or song too tough for Sam Simahk, who has wowed audiences across the country over the past decade from Broadway to Houston, Texas to Fenway Park. Even at SpeakEasy, audiences have seen Sam command the stage with his powerful voice in Big Fish, and with no words at all in Small Mouth Sounds. With Sam back with us virtually for our 30th Anniversary Benefit Concert, we thought we’d ask him a few questions about his one-of-a-kind career – and if he has any advice for SpeakEasy on turning 30.

An Interview with Broadway Star De’Lon Grant

Four years ago, during lead-up to the 2016 election, De’Lon Grant starred as Haywood Patterson in SpeakEasy’s mega-hit production of The Scottsboro Boys, which sold out both its original run and its remount in January 2017. Six months later, De’Lon made his Broadway debut in Come From Away, the musical that has been stealing hearts for the past three years with its infectious lyrics and heartwarming message of how humans can come together in the most difficult of times. Now he’s back at SpeakEasy (virtually, anyway) to host our 30th Anniversary Fall Benefit: Celebrating 30 Years of Groundbreaking Theatre on November 17th, so we thought we’d catch up with the Broadway star on what he’s been up to these past four years.

An Interview with Poet/ Performer Micah Rosegrant

A published poet, a sold-out solo show, a prestigious fellowship with Arts Connect International, co-founding a theatre company… and still finishing up their senior year at Boston University. Micah Rosegrant, recently featured in our Emerging Theatre Leaders panel, is already …

Where Are They Wednesdays: Greg Maraio

Time was when SpeakEasy alumnus Greg Maraio (Significant Other, Casa Valentina, Necessary Monsters) hardly slept during the month of October, and not just because he is an in-demand actor.  For years now, Greg’s other job has been making incredible replicas of some of the most famous superhero costumes in the universe. That role has taken a new twist these days, as Greg details below in a wide-ranging interview about his careers onstage and off.  

Where Are They Wednesday: Mal Malme

It was just three years ago that actor Mal Malme came ashore at SpeakEasy after a wild five-week ride in a play that sparked exciting conversations about the nature of history and who gets to tell our stories.  Written by Jacklyn Backhaus, Men on Boats told a time-worn tale — the discovery of the Grand Canyon — in a bold new way:  with a racially diverse cast of female, trans, gender-fluid, and gender-diverse actors portraying the expedition’s all-white, all-male crew.

Miss Massachusetts USA Sabrina Victor

In May 2019, SpeakEasy audiences watched Sabrina Victor play Ama, a student of Aburi Girls’ Boarding School vying for the title of Miss Ghana in Jocelyn Bioh’s School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play. Now life imitates art as this November, Sabrina will travel to Memphis to compete for the title of Miss USA. For our first #WhereAreTheyWednesday feature, we interviewed Sabrina about her activism in her work as Miss Massachusetts USA and how her background as a performer has served her on the pageant stage.

Alex Lonati on Standing Room Only

Between her work as SpeakEasy’s Community Engagement and Special Events Manager and as an up-and-coming director in Boston, Alex Lonati wears a lot of hats. But even over six years later, she’s still remembered for her first major role in the Boston theatre scene: host of WERS’ Standing Room Only, Boston’s premier and only musical theatre radio show. With Standing Room Only’s Kitchen Kickline on Saturday, we thought we’d ask Alex about her four years as the host of SRO to build some excitement for this weekend!

An Interview with Playwright Alexis Scheer

Playwright Alexis Scheer curates Series 4 of our Play Discussion Club, entitled A Spotlight on Latinx Voices.

SpeakEasy University

The second semester of SpeakEasy University explores theatre production and arts administration.

Boston Podcast Project

SERIES 1: THE USUAL UNUSUALBY MJ HALBERSTADTDIRECTED BY MEGAN SANDBERG-ZAKIAN The Usual Unusual is a scrappy and quaint bookstore where Boston’s LGBTQ+ community has gathered to shop, organize, and flirt since the 70’s. When the store’s charismatic founder Penn announces his …