Who’s Who: Bright Star Cast

AMY BARKER* (Mama Murphy) returns to SpeakEasy Stage Company where she also appeared in [title of show]. Credits include Merrily We Roll Along, Sunday in the Park with George, A Little Night Music (Huntington Theatre Company); James and the Giant Peach, Shrek (Wheelock Family Theatre); Vicki Nichols in The Full Monty (Westchester Broadway Theatre/Stoneham Theatre); Irene Molloy in Hello, Dolly! (Westchester Broadway Theatre); as well as productions at Pittsburgh CLO, North Shore Music Theatre, and ZACH Theatre. She graduated with honors from the University of Texas (BA in History) and The Boston Conservatory (MFA in Musical Theatre).

MATT DASILVA* (Daryl Ames/Dr. Norquist). SpeakEasy: debut. National Tour: Beauty and the Beast (Lefou). New York: Endlings (New York Theater Workshop); The Melting Pot (Everyday Inferno). Regional: Endlings (A.R.T.); How to Succeed… (Flat Rock Playhouse); Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Miracle on 34th Street (Ocean State Theater Company). Concert: Ragtime on Ellis Island. Matt wrote and performed original show Frivolous at the Providence Fringe Festival in 2019. He has spent some time working in progressive politics and also writes a semi-regular newsletter about sports gambling. Those last two things are not related, for the record. Proud Union member. Check out his Instagram here.

LAURA MARIE DUNCAN* (Alice Murphy) is thrilled to be returning to SpeakEasy Stage, having previously appeared as Helen in Fun Home, a role for which she was nominated for an IRNE Award for Best Actress (Musical). She is a Massachusetts native and a proud graduate of The Boston Conservatory. Broadway credits include the original companies of The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and South Pacific at Lincoln Center, as well as the final year of Billy Elliot. Laura Marie also played Christine in the first national tour of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Off-Broadway credits include Cupid and Psyche, La Terrasse, An Experiment with an Air Pump, House and Garden (Manhattan Theatre Club); and The Body Beautiful (York Theatre). TV/Film: Law and Order; Law and Order: SVU; Ed; Guiding Light. Things coming full circle as they do, Laura Marie is now enjoying the next phase of her career as an Associate Professor at The Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Love and thanks to Jeff, Paul Daigneault, and Josie – her precious pup.

RUSSELL GARRETT* (Daddy Cane) is thrilled to return to SpeakEasy where he played The Interlocutor in The Scottsboro Boys and Richard in The View UpStairs. Broadway and National Tours include The Scarlet Pimpernel, Show Boat, A Chorus Line, My Fair Lady, and 42nd Street. Local appearances include A Christmas Carol at North Shore Music Theatre, Amadeus and The Elephant Man at New Rep, Cabaret and The Producers at Ogunquit Playhouse, and 42nd Street and Around the World in 80 Days at Ocean State Theatre Company. Russell also works extensively around the country as a director and choreographer and is a current faculty member at Boston Conservatory at Berklee.

MELISSA GEERLOF (Lucy Grant) returns to SpeakEasy, having previously appeared as Hannah Campbell in Allegiance. Last Spring, Melissa was seen as Dyanne in Million Dollar Quartet at Greater Boston Stage before closing out The Donkey Show’s ten year run as Mia/Oberon. Melissa is a proud graduate of The Boston Conservatory with a BFA in Musical Theatre. She would like to thank her professors for preparing her for her new home in New York. Much love to Mom, Dad, Ant, and Ben.

WILL MCGARRAHAN* (Daddy Murphy) is happy to return to SpeakEasy Stage where he performed in The View UpStairs, The Bridges of Madison County, Casa Valentina, Big Fish, Far From Heaven, Next Fall, The Drowsy Chaperone, Reckless, Some Men, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Five By Tenn, Company, The Last Sunday in June, Elegies: A Song Cycle, Ruthless!, A Class Act, and A New Brain. Other local credits include The Little Foxes, Souvenir [Elliot Norton Award — Outstanding Musical Performance by an Actor], Stage Kiss, Peter and the Starcatcher, Light Up The Sky, Into The Woods, Death of a Salesman, Becky’s New Car, 33 Variations, The Chosen, The Temperamentals, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Grey Gardens, November, and Dirty Blonde (Lyric Stage Company); A Raisin in the Sun (Huntington Theatre Company), The Wind in the Willows and Happy Days (Gloucester Stage); Nine Circles (Publick Theatre/Gloucester Stage); The Moon For The Misbegotten, Buried Child (Nora Theater); and The Wrestling Patient (SpeakEasy Stage/Boston Playwrights/40 Magnolias). Will worked as an actor, singer and pianist for many years in Seattle before moving to Boston’s South End in 2001.

JARED SCOTT MILLER (Billy Cane) is thrilled to make his SpeakEasy debut. He was last seen as Rocky in Moonbox’s production of The Rocky Horror Show. He is a recent graduate of The Boston Conservatory with a BFA in Musical Theatre. Some favorite roles include, Billy Bigelow in Carousel at (Boston Conservatory at Berklee): Billy Lawlor [u/s] in 42nd Street (Theater By The Sea); and Alfred in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (3DaysPrior). He would like to thank his parents, brothers, Kaela, and best friends for their support. Visit his website here.

ROBERT SAOUD* (Mayor Josiah Dobbs). SpeakEasy: Casa Valentina, Xanadu, The Drowsy Chaperone, The New Century, Some Men, Anna in the Tropics, Hello Again! National tour: Groucho, playing Chico Marx opposite Gabe Kaplan as Groucho. Elsewhere in Boston he has worked at the Huntington Theatre Company, Trinity Repertory, North Shore Music Theatre, Merrimack Repertory, Lyric Stage Company, New Repertory Theatre, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, Worcester Foothills, The Publick Theatre, Overture Production and was in the cast of Boston’s longest running show Shear Madness. He is a 2000 Fellow of the Eugene O’Neill Cabaret Symposium and has performed numerous cabarets in New York and Boston. He is a proud member of Actor’s Equity.

STEPHEN SHORE* (Jimmy Ray Dobbs) returns to SpeakEasy having previously appeared as Eamon in Once. In New England, he has appeared as a Tragedian in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead at the Huntington Theater Company and King in Big River at Heartwood Regional Theatre. Select Regional Credits include: Treasure Island (Fulton), Million Dollar Quartet (Encore Theatre), Oklahoma! (Roxy), The Taming of the Shrew (TX Shakes), Cymbeline (VA Shakes), Of Mice and Men (Cardinal Stage) and Illyria: A Twelfth Night Musical (GA Shakes). UNCSA grad (BFA). Stephen would like to thank Grace, Mom and Nana for their love and support. For Dad. Visit his website here.

TAYLOR THOMAS (Ensemble/Margo u/s) is delighted to be making her SpeakEasy debut in Bright Star. She is currently studying at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee to earn her BFA in Musical Theater with an Emphasis in Songwriting and will be a senior in the fall. Previous credits include: Ensemble/Fiona [u/s] Shrek, Old Jew on Incident at Vichy, The Frogs, The Cradle Will Rock, and The Chaperone in The Drowsy Chaperone. Taylor’s original music can be found here. She thanks her family in Louisville, Kentucky for their love and sense of humor.

JUDE TORRES (Ensemble) is humbled to make his SpeakEasy Stage debut, having recently been featured in their staged reading of The Last Ship to Proxima Centauri. Jude is a songwriter/bassist for the band FuzzKill and has been as Robbie Hart in The Wedding Singer, The Playwright in Vietgone, Ram in Heathers,  Favorite Son in American Idiot, Riff in West Side Story, and Picasso in Picasso at the Lapine Agile. He recently worked backstage on Moby Dick at the A.R.T. and is pursuing an MS in Speech-Language Pathology. Much love to the cast, Paul, Misha, KB, and Goku the cat.

VICTOR CARRILLO TRACEY (Ensemble/Max/Billy u/s) is so excited to be making his SpeakEasy debut! Victor is currently a rising senior at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee where he is pursuing his BFA in Musical Theater. Past regional credits include Spring Awakening (Melchior), West Side Story (Riff), Hairspray (Link), Peter Pan (Peter), and Jesus Christ Superstar (Peter). Victor would like to thank his family for their constant love and support.

SANTINA UMBACH* (Margo Crawford) is excited to be back in Boston and at SpeakEasy Stage after appearing here in The Great American Trailer Park Musical (Pickles), Nine (Lina Darling), and In The Heights (Nina Rosario). Other credits include: Mamma Mia! (Broadway), Dear Jane (Off-Broadway), Mad Libs Live! (Off-Broadway), The Prince of Egypt (Tuacahn Amphitheatre), Evita (Asolo Rep Theatre), Evita (Arts Center of Coastal Carolina), Aladdin (Disney Music Group/Japan Tour) and various readings/workshops throughout NYC. A huge thanks to Paul, TPG, my family, and Diego. Check out her Instagram here.

ELERI WARD (Ensemble/Alice u/s) is thrilled to be making her SpeakEasy debut! Credits include The Wizard of Oz (The Muny) and The Night Falls (Project Springboard), as well as many concerts and readings in NYC. A graduate of The Boston Conservatory with a BFA in Musical Theater, Eleri also studied songwriting at Berklee College of Music, and is pleased to be releasing an EP of her original songs this year. Visit her website here.