Tag Archives: SpeakEasy Stage

Perhaps the title of Terry Byrne’s Boston Globe article sums up the SpeakEasy Stage latest production best, ‘Bootycandy’ a comedic scrapbook of growing up black and gay.

If you had not heard, the New England premiere of Bootycandy opened this weekend and runs through Saturday, April 9th. The play is described as a shockingly funny and saucy spin on race, sex, and sexuality, and it was inspired by the author’s own experiences growing up black and gay. I look forward to seeing this play later this week and hope that many of you will come out to support this local production, which speaks directly to the LGBT community. The best way to encourage more LGBT themed theater productions is to come and see them when they are produced.

Bootycandy Information and Tickets Here 

If you don’t want to go alone The Welcoming Committee is planning to attend en masse on Wednesday, March 30th. More information about TWC event is available here.

Based on actual events, Casa Valentina takes place in 1962 at a Catskills resort where a group of heterosexual men secretly gather to dress and behave like women. But when challenged to publicly reveal their female alter-egos in the pursuit of political acceptance, each must decide whether freedom is worth the risk of ruin.

Written by Harvey Fierstein (Kinky Boots, Hairspray), Casa Valentina is a provocative, hilarious, and touching new play about gender identity, self-acceptance, and the struggle to find the right pumps.

Casa Valentina opens this weekend and runs from October 24th – November 28th. You can read more about the production and purchase tickets from the SpeakEasy Stage Company’s website.  Note that The Welcoming Committee is hosting a takeover on Thursday, November 12th and tickets are discounted! Get them while they last here.

Casa Valentina

Many of Boston’s local theaters are rolling out new shows for you to enjoy this fall. You can see classics like My Fair Lady at The Lyric Stage and Arthur Miller’s Broken Glass at the NewRep Theater.  The A.R.T. and Centastage both have world premieres, and I’ll definitely be checking out Zeitgeist Stage Co. production of The Boys in the Band.  

Support local theater: reserve tickets to a play today

Waitress (Aug. 2 – Sept. 27): World Premiere musical presented by the American Repertory Theater in Harvard Square
My Fair Lady (Sept. 4 – Oct. 10): Presented by The Lyric Stage of Boston in the Back Bay
Broken Glass (Sept. 5 – Sept. 27): Presented by the NewRep Theater in Watertown
Academy Fight Song (Sept. 11 – Sept. 26): Presented by Centastage at the Calderwood Pavilion in the South End
The Boys in the Band (Sept. 11 – Oct. 3): Presented by the Zeitgeist Stage Company at the Black Box Theater in the South End
A Little Night Music (Sept. 11 – Oct. 11): Presented by the Huntington Theater in Fenway / Kenmore
Appropriate (Sept. 12 – Oct. 10): Presented by the SpeakEasy Stage at the Calderwood Pavilion in the South End
Guerilla Opera: Troubled Water (Sept. 18 – 25): Presented by the Boston Conservatory in Fenway / Kenmore
Ernest Shakleton Loves Me (Sept. 20 – Oct. 4): Presented by ArtsEmerson at the Paramount Theater in Downtown Crossing

SpeakEasy Stage Company’s latest play is Terry McNally’s 2014 Tony Nominee for best play, Mothers & Sons.  The 1oo minute perfomance is powerfully touching and may be my favorite play this season from a Boston theater company.

This play is going to speak directly to the LGBT community in a powerful way as the rapid fire dialog between Katharine Gerard and her late son’s partner, Cal, verbally spar as they walk down a painful memory lane.  What separates this play from many that address AIDS is that it takes place in present day in Cal’s Manhattan apartment.  While Katharine Gerard retains many of her prejudices about homosexuality, she is forced to face how life has changed as she meets Cal’s husband Will Ogden and their inquisitive son, Bud. The show is filled with hilarious quips most often delivered by Katharine Gerard (played by Nancy Carroll).  My favorite is when she insists, “Andre wasn’t gay when he came to New York,” Lines like this are interspersed through out the show lightening moments and offering surprising chuckles.

Mothers & Sons opened last week and runs through June 6, 2015 – closing one week prior to Boston Pride.  I’d strongly recommend making this a date night with your significant other or with a band of your friends.  The play is touching and will evoke emotions for those enough to remember the AIDS Crisis and insight into that struggle for those born after it.

Click Here For Show Information and Tickets