Currently Performing In…
I am so happy to be back at the Lyric Stage Company of Boston, playing the role of Aldolpho in The Drowsy Chaperone!
A comfortable chair with an old record crackling away is the perfect cure for the “blues” for a charming but lonely “Man in Chair”, our guide into the world of the show-within-a-show, The Drowsy Chaperone. His favorite cast album from the Jazz Age comes to fizzy life complete with a self-admiring showgirl, her gin-soaked chaperone, a saucy Latin lover, a bumbling best man, a clueless soon-to-be groom, and a cornucopia of characters from a befuddled producer, to a dippy hostess and gangsters posing as pastry chefs. This bubbly love letter to musical theater sparkles with one show-stopper after another, mix-ups, mayhem, and a wedding (or two)
Our production opened on April 5th, 2024 and runs until May 12th. The Drowsy Chaperone is directed and choreographed by Larry Sousa, with music direction by Matthew Stern.
Critics and audience members are loving our show!
“It’s not clear who is having a better time at “The Drowsy Chaperone,” the audience or the cast. Let’s call it a draw.”
“This is easily one of the most clever, most energetic and most enjoyable musicals presented this entire season.”
“There is no shortage of talent on this stage and the superb stagecraft (Seth Bodie, costumes; John Malinowski, lighting; Alex Berg, sound) will give Boston audiences all the thrill of a Broadway musical, but up close and at a reasonable price.”
Previous Projects
I’m happy to be back working with the fine folks at Moonbox Productions in their beautiful production of The Manic Monologues. This is my third Moonbox mainstage collaboration.
”The Manic Monologues brings to life incredible stories — stories that will challenge and inform your ideas about what it means to be touched by a mental health condition. These true, lived experiences come from diverse and resilient people living across the world. These brave individuals have things to say about struggle and pain, but also triumph and joy. They are moving. They are human. And they are not ashamed.”
The main website of The Manic Monologues project describes it as follows:
“The Manic Monologues is a play showcasing true stories of mental illness to disrupt stigma. It has [been} shown in-person to thousands of people across four continents, and has been featured by The Washington Post, NPR, Psychology Today, NYT, Broadway World, and many more.”
Our production will have a two week run at the beautiful and newly renovated Arrow Street Arts center, in the heart of Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
One of my favorite parts of working in this show has been witnessing what the “Turning the Tide” initiative has accomplished in terms of accessibility in the theatre. “Turning the Tide”, is a Moonbox company initiative, started in 2018, aimed at significantly improving theatrical opportunities for actors, technicians and managers living with Disabilities in the Boston area. In our case, the most visible effect of the initiative is that our second weekend of performances will be fully fully ASL interpreted by an amazing shadow cast of ASL fluent actors.
Directed by Brad Reinking.
Assistant Director: Mary Elizabeth Peters.
“Turning the Tide” Director: Kara Crumrine.
Director of Artistic ASL: Ryan WOrden
I’m really excited to make my Apollinaire Theatre Company debut with Lunch Bunch, by Sarah Einspanier.
Amidst the distinct fear/feeling that things are falling apart/going to shit more than usual, 7 public defenders seek meaning, belonging, and some semblance of order via their frenzied quest for the perfect Lunch (Bunch).
I will be playing the role of Jacob. The show is directed by Danielle Fauteux Jacques.
The 2019 production of Lunch Bunch was a New York Times and Time Out critic’s pick . The New Yorker wrote about it as follows:
"In Sarah Einspanier’s tart, heartsick comedy “Lunch Bunch”, a group of public defenders [… ] distract themselves from their punishing family-court caseloads with a weekly gourmet-vegetarian lunch-sharing plan (barbecued jackfruit sandwiches, salads with turmeric, seasonal vegetables, always lovingly described). Their work is full of defeat and other people’s loss, so small pleasures assume ridiculous levels of import...this [is a] snack-size, hour-long show, but you digest it over the next several days, as you remember the real-life details—families torn apart, the advocates’ emotional burnout, the grinding judicial system—served as side dishes alongside the absurd main course."
For tickets and more information click here.
This spring I will be making my debut with The Lyric Stage Company of Boston, in their production of Sister Act!
After witnessing a murder, free spirited, disco diva Deloris Van Cartier finds herself in protective custody at a convent. At odds with a rigid Mother Superior, and a strict lifestyle, Deloris finds divine intervention bringing the choir from dour to dazzling with her signature style. While Deloris is busy raising the roof, her cover is blown and her new-found sisterhood rallies around her with a lot of love (and maybe a few sequins) in a tribute to the power of friendship.
I will be playing the role of Pablo, and also understudying the roles of Curtis Jackson and Eddie Souther. The show is directed by Leigh Barrett, with music direction by David F. Coleman and choreography by Dan Sullivan.
For tickets and more information click here.
This fall I’ve had the pleasure and honor of working with Moonbox Productions again, bringing to life Harvey Fierstein’s beautiful play Torch Song.
Hilarious and heart wrenching, Torch Song follows Arnold Beckoff on his odyssey to find happiness in New York. All he wants is a husband, a child and a pair of bunny slippers that fit, but a visit from his overbearing mother reminds him that he needs one thing more: respect. Join Arnold on this all-too-human journey about the families we’re born into, the families we choose, and the battles to bring them all home.
I play the role of Ed Reiss, “a charming man who seems perfect for Arnold but happens to be a bisexual who feels pressured to find a woman to settle down with”, as described by Terry Byrne of the Boston Globe. Ed has been one of the more complex and fulfilling characters I’ve had the privilege of developing.
Torch Song is directed by Allison Olivia Choat, and features the amazing talents of Elliot Norton Award nominee Peter Mill as Arnold Beckoff, Elliot Norton Award winner Bobbie Steinbach as Ma, Janis Greim Hudson as Laurel, Jack Manning as Alan and Jack Mullen as David.
The Boston Globe had this to say about our production:
[…] the beauty of Moonbox Productions’ staging of Harvey Fierstein’s “Torch Song” lies in this ensemble’s ability to lean into the fragile humanity of these characters, fully embracing their flaws and vulnerability as much as their sexuality.
For more information click here.
“Do what you love. Know your own bone; gnaw it, bury it, unearth it, and gnaw it still.”
~ Henry David Thoreau