Lovely Hoffman and Sam Yin to be Honored at SpeakEasy's 2017 Spring Gala

SpeakEasy Stage Company will honor artist and educator Lovely Hoffman and Boston philanthropist Samuel Yin for their sustained and passionate support of the arts at its 2017 Spring Gala, to be held Saturday, April 8, from 6-9PM at the Hyatt Regency, Boston.

Ms. Hoffman and Mr. Yin will each receive the company's Mayor Thomas M. Menino Memorial Award for Inspired Support of the Arts in Boston. The award was established by SpeakEasy Stage in 2015 to honor the late mayor's legacy and commitment to the arts in Boston.

Ms. Hoffman is a passionate teacher and multi-talented performer. For over ten years, she has taught middle school social studies by day, while simultaneously pursuing an active career as an actor, singer, and songwriter. As an educator, Ms. Hoffman believes in educating the "whole child" and has made it a priority to consistently organize social justice and arts initiatives for her students, while also ensuring that students have access to the arts. As an artist, Ms. Hoffman has won numerous awards for her music and acting talents, including a 2015 IRNE Award for her portrayal of 'Celie' in SpeakEasy's production of The Color Purple.

Sam Yin's strong interest in the arts is reflected in his dedicated service to the community, extending to the visual arts, performing arts, architecture, and design. Mr. Yin has served as chair and vice-chair of the board of trustees of Massachusetts College of Art and Design, chaired the Boston Cultural Council, and served on the boards of both the Boston Center for the Arts and SpeakEasy Stage. In his work life, Mr. Yin served as the Director and Vice-President of Scientific Affairs of Stryker Biotech, which develops products that use proteins to repair bones.

"SpeakEasy Stage is thrilled to honor both Lovely Hoffman and Sam Yin as true friends of both the arts and Boston artists," said SpeakEasy Stage Company Founder and Producing Artistic Director Paul Daigneault in announcing the awards.

"Throughout their many years of service, both Lovely and Sam have advocated for and demonstrated the power of the arts to change lives and build healthy, vibrant communities," Daigneault added. "Thus, we are excited to honor them both with the company's own Mayor Thomas M. Menino Memorial Award, given annually for Inspired Support of the Arts in Boston."

Tickets to SpeakEasy Stage Company's 2017 Spring Gala, which includes the award ceremony, are now on sale. Tickets are $250 and include a cocktail reception, open bar, seated dinner, silent auction, and live performances by some of Boston's top musical theater performers.

For more information about the gala, the public can call SpeakEasy Stage Development Operations and Special Events Manager Alex Lonati at 617-482-3279 or visit www.SpeakEasyStage.com/gala .

About Lovely Hoffman

Lovely Hoffman is a multi-talented performer and educator with strong Boston ties.

Since graduating from Boston College, where she studied Communications, Political Science, and Music, Ms. Hoffman has taught middle school social studies. As an educator, Ms. Hoffman believes in educating the "whole child" and has made it a priority to consistently organize social justice and arts initiatives for her students. Ms. Hoffman has led and organized school trips to Senegal, Uganda, and Ghana because she believes it is important that children of color have a strong sense of self. And she works to ensure that students have access to the arts. For the past several seasons, Ms. Hoffman has brought over 175 students, many of whom had never attended a theatrical performance, to see a SpeakEasy show as part of the company's Student Matinee Series.

In addition to her commitment to education, Ms. Hoffman has also pursued her passion as an artist and has performed throughout New England in various artistic capacities. As a theatre artist, some of Lovely's favorite roles include Gary Coleman in Avenue Q (Ocean State Theatre), Crystal in Little Shop of Horrors (New Repertory Theatre) and her favorite role of all time, Celie, in SpeakEasy Stage's production of The Color Purple, for which she won an IRNE award for Best Actress in a Musical. Lovely is also a singer songwriter and has received national acclaim at film festivals and media outlets across the country for her songs, "Black Lives Matter" and "My Black is Beautiful." Lovely's mantra, "Creativity takes Courage," inspires her to write music and embrace art that encompasses the wide spectrum of the human experience, from love to pain to hope and justice.

About Samuel Yin

Sam Yin's interest in the arts is reflected in his service to the community, extending to the visual arts, performing arts, architecture, and design. Sam has served as chair and vice-chair of the board of trustees of Massachusetts College of Art and Design, the nation's oldest independent public college of the arts. He chaired the Boston Cultural Council, part of the Massachusetts Cultural Council program that awards cultural grants at the local level. For him, the BCC experience of working with dedicated creative people from all parts of the city was a distinct pleasure. He served as a board member for both the Boston Center for the Arts and SpeakEasy Stage Company, the latter of which was his first board position and an experience he remembers fondly. In the 1980s, the mayor's office appointed him as one of several residents tasked with helping develop the master plan for the South End along with the Boston Redevelopment Authority. In that position, he authored urban design sections of the report.

In his work life, Sam served as the director and vice-president of scientific affairs of Stryker Biotech, which develops products that use proteins to repair bones. His work has been published in leading scientific and medical journals. He graduated from Columbia and MIT with degrees in biophysics and biochemistry.

Sam also enjoys the arts in New York. One accomplishment that speaks to his love of the urban streetscape is that he has walked all blocks of Manhattan, from the Battery-where New Amsterdam first took root and the history of New York City began-all the way up to 102nd Street on the Upper East Side and 120th Street on the Upper West Side.

About the Mayor Thomas M. Menino Memorial Award

The Mayor Thomas M. Menino Memorial Award for Inspired Support of the Arts in Boston was established by SpeakEasy Stage in 2015 to honor the late mayor's legacy and commitment to the arts in Boston. Presented posthumously to Mayor Menino and accepted by wife Angela Menino at the company's 2015 gala, SpeakEasy Stage decided to further mark his achievement by establishing this award in his honor and presenting it annually to those who share his spirit and commitment to the arts.

About SpeakEasy Stage Company

SpeakEasy Stage Company stages Boston premiers and champions local talent. We connect Boston audiences and artists by producing relevant, intimate, and surprising theatre. We lead a courageous, compassionate, and open-hearted theatre community that reflects the vibrant energy and diversity of our city. We value collaboration, excellence, responsibility, respect, inclusion, and joy.

A Boston-based nonprofit professional theater company, SpeakEasy Stage Company is the Pavilion Resident Theater for the Boston Center for the Arts and currently produces 27-30 weeks of new plays and musicals each season at the Nancy and Ed Roberts Studio Theater.

As a mission-driven organization, we exist to connect Boston audiences and artists by producing relevant, intimate, and surprising theatre.

• We are passionate about staging Boston premieres and championing local talent.

• We lead a courageous, compassionate and open-hearted theatre community, which develops local talent and reflects the vibrancy and diversity of our city.

• We value collaboration, responsibility, courage, respect, inclusion, joy, and excellence.

Founded in 1992, the company has emerged as a leader in Greater Boston's theatre community and a cornerstone of the arts and culture scene in Boston's South End neighborhood.

SpeakEasy hosts artist forums to engage our audiences in dialogue about the important issues in our productions. Through dialogue with playwrights, directors, actors, and designers, we continue to expand the role of theater as a catalyst for conversation and for the advancement of equality, compassion, and community building

About Paul Daigneault

Paul Daigneault is the Producing Artistic Director and founder of SpeakEasy Stage Company. He received his BA in English and Theatre from Boston College in 1987. He subsequently studied directing with Bob Moss, founder of Off-Broadway's Playwrights Horizons. While in New York City, Paul worked as the Education Coordinator and Assistant Production Manager at Second Stage Theatre. It was Second Stage's intimate setting that inspired Paul's vision for SpeakEasy.

In 1992, Paul returned to Boston and founded SpeakEasy Stage Company to fill the need for fresh and innovative programming in Boston's theatre community and to provide greater opportunities for Boston-area artists. He set out to demand the best from Boston artists while at the same time creating a positive work atmosphere where artists felt safe enough to put forth their best. The fulfillment of this vision is apparent in the number of artists who consistently return to SpeakEasy. Paul's vision includes the belief that the best theatre comes from relationships and communication. He seeks to nurture Boston directors, designers, and actors by giving them the opportunity to work directly with the playwrights and composers of SpeakEasy's mainstage shows.

This season, Paul directed SpeakEasy's productions of Significant Other and The Scottsboro Boys. His directing highlights from the past five seasons at SpeakEasy include: Dogfight; Violet (2016); Big Fish; Mothers & Sons; The Color Purple; In the Heights; Next to Normal; Xanadu; Nine; Body Awareness; The Great American Trailer Park Musical; [title of show]; and The Savannah Disputation. Paul's work at The Boston Conservatory at Berklee includes teaching Junior Musical Theater and the Senior Directing Emphasis. In 2014, Paul was honored with the Elliot Norton Prize for Sustained Excellence. In 2007, Paul was honored with the Boston College Arts Council's Alumni Award for Distinguished Achievement, and in 2001-2012, served as the Rev. J. Donald Monan, S.J., Professor in Theatre Arts at Boston College.

Outside the theatre, Paul serves on the Board of the ICU Patient & Family Advisory Council at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

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