Tag Archives: SpeakEasy Stage

It is opening night for SpeakEasy Stage Company’s production of Small Mouth Sounds, which runs through February 2, 2019. Small Mouth Sounds was a 2015-2016 Off Broadway hit that had two sold out, extended runs in New York City and is now being produced by the SpeakEasy Stage where you can see it at the Calderwood Pavilion in the South End.

The show includes a cast of seven and runs for one hour and forty minutes without intermission. It takes place in the overwhelming quiet of the woods. Six runaways from city life embark on a silent retreat, and as these strangers confront internal demons both profound and absurd, their vows of silence collide with the achingly human need to connect. Filled with awkward and insightful humor, the play captures the unique eloquence of a silent retreat and asks how we address life’s biggest questions when words fail us.

Find time to make plans with friends and see this production. Not only will an evening out for dinner (or drinks) and a show be a great way to pass an evening but it will also support a local theater company that is worthy of your patronage.

Small Mouth Sounds – Tickets and Show Information

Many of Boston’s local theater companies seasons will be concluding in the next few weeks so I wanted to encourage you to get tickets to one or more of the following local productions. Boston’s local theater scene continues to mature and get better but this doesn’t happen in a vacuum and local support is crucial.

If you’ve not been to a show from a local production company this season, make it a point to show your support and get tickets to one or more of these shows.

Zeitgeist Stage present, Love! Valour! Compassion! Tickets remain available for most shows. Sergio and I will be going to see this on Saturday night – maybe we will see you there. Tickets remain available for Saturday’s show but if you can’t make it, hurry up because this show closes on Saturday, May 19th.

Central Square Theater present, The Women Who Mapped The Stars, is about five women in the late 1800s who worked at Harvard College Observatory and made discoveries that changed the way astronomers saw the universe. This show closes next weekend so don’t delay in getting tickets.

The Huntington Theatre present, Top Girls Originally written in the early 1980s, the show still resonates and continues to draw rave reviews so check this out before it closes next weekend.

The NewRep Theatre present, Two Jews Walk Into A War  This Vaudeville-inspired play is about the last two Jews in Afghanistan who are on a mission to save Judaism in Kabul by rebuilding their synagogue and keeping the faith alive, but only if they don’t kill each other first closes next weekend.

The Gold Dust Orphans present, Brokelahomo! Ryan Landry and his Gold Dust Orphans treat all of Boston with their raucous musical set in Brokelahomo. Sergio and I saw this show and loved it. If you miss it in Boston, Ryan Landry will be bringing this to Provincetown this summer.

SpeakEasy Stage present, ALLEGIANCE is inspired by the true childhood experience of George Takei (Mr. Sulu on “Star Trek). It tells the story of the Kimura family, whose lives are upended when they and 120,000 other Japanese-Americans were forced to leave their homes following the events at Pearl Harbor. ALLEGIANCE  follows the family as they fight between duty and defiance, custom and change, family bonds and forbidden loves.

Lyric Stage Company present The Wiz Opening May 18th this much loved musical will run through June 24th at their theater in the Back Bay.

The A.R.T. presents, Jagged Little Pill This world premiere and original story was inspired by the themes and emotions laid bare in Alanis Morissette’s 1995, Grammy Award-winning album. Sergio and I will be seeing this show on the 17th. Although this show runs through July 15th – hurry up before this show completely sells out.

Sam Tanabe plays Sammy Kimura in SpeakEasy Stage Company’s production of ALLEGIANCE

On Friday, May 4th The SpeakEasy Stage Company will open with their fifth and final production of their 2017 / 2018 season, ALLEGIANCE.

Inspired by the true childhood experience of TV/film actor and social media icon George Takei (Mr. Sulu on Star Trek), ALLEGIANCE tells the story of the Kimura family, whose lives are upended when they and 120,000 other Japanese-Americans were forced to leave their homes following the events at Pearl Harbor.

This show is an uplifting testament to the power of the human spirit. It follows the Kimura family as they fight between duty and defiance, custom and change, family bonds and forbidden loves. Be sure to check out this show. You’ll find it difficult to take your eyes off of the very handsome actor Sam Tanabe who you can also follow on Twitter at, @tanablems.

ALLEGIANCE
May 4 – June 2
Get Your Tickets Here

Book by Marc Acito, Jay Kuo & Lorenzo Thione
Music & Lyric by Jay Kuo | Directed by Paul Daigneault

Shakespeare in Love || Photo by Nile Hawver / Nile Scott Shots

Set in the larger and more comfortable Wimberly Theater at the Calderwood Pavilion, SpeakEasy uses the stage brilliantly to recreate a 16th Century theater in London that effectively transitions from playhouse to bar to bedroom with the same ease as the co-leads who portray their parts. Lead roles are played by the handsome Netwon native George Olesky and the beautiful Jennifer Ellis who I loved in SpeakEasy’s spring 2017 production of The Bridges of Madison County.

Shakespeare in Love || Photo by Nile Hawver / Nile Scott Shots

The play is rife with witty lines that reference Shakespeare plays and funny scenarios; like in the beginning of the play depicting the Bard as suffering from writer’s bloc and incapable of writing even a sonnet until he unwittingly meets his Juliet. One needn’t be a fan of Shakespeare to appreciate the humor anymore than one needed to know it to enjoy the movie, but it certainly did make me laugh hearing famous lines turned on their head like using one of Lady MacBeth’s most guilt-ridden lines as a humorous punch line for a dog.

Tickets to see Shakespeare In Love are reasonably priced with tickets starting at $25.00. Performances run Wednesday thru Sunday until February 10th.

Buy Tickets Here

Sound like a great show but don’t live in Boston? The SpeakEasy Stage joins fourteen other theater companies in the United States, that have productions of this comedy in their 2017 / 2018 season, making Shakespeare In Love the most produced show in the country so check your local theater companies – who knows? Perhaps a production of this comedy is taking place nearby.

The reviews are in for The SpeakEasy Stage production of the Tony nominated play Hand To God, and everyone (including me) loves it, but don’t take my word for it, The Boston Globe describes the show as “Good Nasty Fun!” and WBUR says it is “Flat-out hilarious”.

Described as “Sesame Street meets The Exorcist” by the New Yorker, the play tells the story of an awkward Texas teen named Jason, who spends afternoons practicing for the Christian Puppet Ministry run by his widowed mother. When Jason’s puppet, Tyrone, takes on a shocking and dangerously irreverent personality things take a much darker turn. This is unlike any play I can recall seeing with shocking scenes that will leave you laughing out loud one minute and the next recoiling. Hand puppets have never been so devilishly entertaining.

Get tickets to see Hand To God while they last. The two hour show with one intermission opened earlier this month and runs through Saturday, Febraury 4th at the Calderwood Pavilion in the South End.

Dario Ladani Sanchez and Eliott Purcell in SpeakEasy Stage’s production of HAND TO GOD. Photo by Glenn Perry Photography

Click here to purchase tickets to see Hand to God

Joshua Harmon’s comedy of modern love SIGNIFICANT OTHER will be opening on Broadway in early 2017, but you can catch the show this September when it makes its Boston Premiere at SpeakEasy Stage. Single tickets will go on sale next week on Thursday, July 21 and you can save $15 using the code SPK15. Read more about the play, cast and how to get your tickets here.

About Significant Other: From Joshua Harmon, author of the hit play Bad Jews, comes a sharply observed new comedy about of the challenges of finding love and letting go. Jordan Berman and BFFs Kiki, Lauren, and Vanessa have been inseparable up until now; but as singles nights become bachelorette parties, Jordan starts to worry about his own prospects, and embarks on a series of romantic misadventures on a quest to find Mr. Right.