A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE Comes To SpeakEasy Stage This Month

SpeakEasy Stage Company will present the award-winning musical A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE, featuring a book by Terrence McNally, music by Stephen Flaherty, and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens.  

A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE will be directed by SpeakEasy Founder and Artistic Director, Paul Daigneault; it will be his final production before stepping down as the company's leader in June 2025.  “I chose A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE as my final show at SpeakEasy, in part for its celebration of theatre as community, and also for the opportunity to make art one more time with some of my good friends and cherished colleagues.  The play also resonates with my own life, my interest in plays that center LGBTQIA+ stories, and my great admiration for Terrence McNally, who has been the most produced playwright at SpeakEasy over the past three decades.”  

Set in 1960s Dublin, A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE tells the story of Alfie Byrne, a bus conductor who has two joys in life: the poetry of Oscar Wilde and staging amateur productions with his local theatre troupe, the St. Imelda Players. But when church officials try to shut down his plans for a production of Wilde's Salome, Alfie must confront the forces of bigotry – and his own shame – over “the love that dare not speak its name.” This production marks the New England Premiere of the recently reimagined version of this beloved show, as presented by Classic Stage Company in New York, and includes the use of onstage musicians.  

Elliot Norton Award-winners Eddie Shields and Aimee Doherty head an all-star Boston cast that includes Kerry A. Dowling, Jennifer Ellis, Meagan Lewis-Michelson, Will McGarrahan, Billy Meleady, Keith Robinson, Rebekah Rae Robles, Sam Simahk, and Kathy St. George. (Full cast and bios on SpeakEasy's A Man of No Importance Page.)

Other members of the creative team are music director Paul S. Katz and choreographer Ilyse Robbins. The design team includes Jennifer McFarland Lord (scenic design); Rachel Padula-Shufelt (costumes); Karen Perlow (lighting); Alexander Gage Baker (sound), and Emme Shaw (props). Paulina Martz is the Intimacy Coordinator and Greg Maraio is the Fight Choreographer. Brian Robillard is Production Stage Manager.  Jolie Frazer-Madge is the Assistant Stage Manager. 

A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE runs for five weeks, from Feb. 21 – Mar. 22, 2025, in the Roberts Studio Theatre in the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, in Boston's South End.

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