SPEAKEASY STAGE COMPANY TO BE HONORED
WITH 2008 STAGESOURCE THEATRE HERO AWARD
Award to Be Presented at the Elliot Norton Awards on Monday, May 12
The StageSource Board of Directors has named SpeakEasy Stage Company as the recipient of the 2008 StageSource Theatre Hero Award. The Theatre Hero Award is being presented to SpeakEasy for its dedication to nurturing and supporting Boston area theatre artists and for its leadership and inspiration to the theatre community of Greater Boston.
SpeakEasy Stage Company was cited in its nomination for the theatre’s support and nurturing of emerging and established theatres artists including actors, directors and designers from the Boston area. Also mentioned was SpeakEasy’s residency in the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts and its recent growth from the smaller Plaza Theatre to the larger Roberts Studio for the past 16 seasons and to the Wimberly Theatre with their January 2008 production of “The Little Dog Laughed”. This growth has assisted Boston’s newest theatre venue in becoming a vibrant and important destination for theatre in the Boston theatre community, and in turn, the expansion of SpeakEasy as a mid-sized theatre company has strengthened Boston’s theatre scene.
“SpeakEasy Stage has received many honors during its seventeen year history, but none compare to being named the 2008 Stage Source Theater Hero,” replies SpeakEasy Founding Artistic Director Paul Daigneault when informed of the selection. “I am extremely proud that my fellow theater artists consider SpeakEasy to be a nurturing and stimulating place where they are supported and encouraged to do their best work. And I am equally proud that SpeakEasy is being recognized for its part in helping to establish a theater community where local artists can develop and thrive.”
In learning of the honor to be bestowed upon SpeakEasy, many actors, directors and designers expressed their praise:
Gail Buckley, costume designer who has worked on fifteen productions at SpeakEasy since 2000: “SpeakEasy has helped change the Greater Boston theatre landscape by establishing an important theatre in Boston that has a supportive, nurturing environment for freelance designers and technicians. When you work there, it is like you are going home.”
Maureen Keiller, actor in productions at SpeakEasy Stage including “The Little Dog Laughed”, “The Women”, “Almost Maine”, and “Wild Party”: “SpeakEasy treats everyone with respect, is very open to creative collaboration, and is such a great, nurturing company. They are a wonderful, creative, amazing organization. They took a big chance with me, not thinking about me in one particular way. I can’t tell you how much that meant to me. I feel like I’m home when I’m there.”
Kerry Dowling, actor in over fifteen productions and special events and one of the founding artists of SpeakEasy Stage: “I hear people from the community talk about the company, and they all say the same thing: It’s a great home. More to the point, the culture of the organization as established and furthered by Paul Daigneault, Paul Melone [General Manager], Jim Torres [Director of Marketing] and the whole staff is to really encourage the best in everybody -- to enjoyment, to artistic success, to commercial success, to be as good as you can be. And never at the expense of people. And this is further represented by their creating a collaborative environment, a culture continued with the other directors they bring in and through co-productions with other theatres.”
Biography of SpeakEasy Stage Company
SpeakEasy Stage Company is a nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1992 by Producing Artistic Director Paul Daigneault and a small core of Boston theater artists. Their vision was to present innovative theater as an alternative to the downtown large venues, serving as a community-oriented company whose quality is competitive with the larger theaters, but whose prices are more affordable. These individuals also sought to make SpeakEasy a place where local theater artists could develop and practice their skills, thus helping to ensure a rich and vibrant Boston Theater community. The company also adds to Boston’s cultural life by bringing to Boston plays and musicals which might not otherwise be seen in the city, shows such as “Bat Boy: the Musical”, “Caroline, or Change”, and “Take Me Out.” SpeakEasy is also proud to be a Resident Theater Company at the Boston Center for the Arts (BCA), one of six theater companies in Boston chosen to call the BCA its home, and the only one chosen to perform all its work in the new state-of-the art Stanford Calderwood Pavilion.
Selection
Nominees were put forth by over 20 individuals from the Greater Boston theatre community for the 2008 Theatre Hero Award. The recipient is determined by the StageSource Board of Directors, currently comprised of 27 leaders of the theatre community representing theatre artists, audiences and producing organizations. The award is presented each year to “an exceptional member of the Greater Boston theatre community who has demonstrated a history of service and commitment to the community through leadership, support, inspiration, innovation and promotion of the art of theatre throughout the region.”
“In many ways, the growth and success of SpeakEasy is a reflection of the impact StageSource has been able to have on expanding the theatre community. SpeakEasy Stage Company started out as a small organization seventeen years ago and with nurturing and support has become one of the most visible and accomplished theatre companies in the region,” notes StageSource Board chair David Colfer. “By recognizing SpeakEasy Stage, the entire theatre community can feel both acknowledged and encouraged to strive towards artistic achievement and long term sustainability.”
Presentation
Presentation of the award will take place on Monday, May 12, 2008 at the Elliot Norton Awards at Sanders Theatre in Cambridge. Past Theatre Hero Award recipients have included Jack Welch, former Managing Director of Baker’s Plays (2000), Kate Snodgrass, Artistic Director of Boston Playwrights’ Theatre (2001), Wheelock Family Theatre (2002), Spiro Veloudos, Producing Artistic Director, Lyric Stage Company of Boston (2003), Jacqui Parker, Artistic Director, Our Place Theatre Project (2004), Scott Edmiston, director and long-time StageSource board member (2005), Susan Gassett, co-founder and Artistic Director of City Stage (2006), and James Spruill, co-founder of New African Company and longtime Associate Professor of Boston University (2007). Information about the Elliot Norton Awards can be found at http://stagesource.org/elliotnortonawards.cfm . Tickets for the Elliot Norton Awards may be purchased at the Harvard Box Office by calling 617.496.2222 or visit www.boxoffice.harvard.edu.
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updated 4/30/08