SpeakEasy Staff

Paul Daigneault, Producing Artistic Director
Paul is the Founder and Producing Artistic Director for SpeakEasy Stage Company. Since 1992, Paul has produced over 100 Boston Premieres for SpeakEasy. SpeakEasy directing highlights include: Nine; Body Awareness; The Great American Trailer Park Musical; [title of show]; The Savannah Disputation; Jerry Springer – The Opera; The New Century; Some Men; Zanna, Don’t!; Parade (2008 Elliot Norton Award – Outstanding Director Midsize Company); The Mystery of Edwin Drood; Almost, Maine; Caroline, or Change; Take Me Out; Company; Elegies: A Song Cycle; A Man of No Importance; Bat Boy: The Musical (2003 Elliot Norton Award – Outstanding Director, Small Company); Passion; A New Brain; Violet; Merrily We Roll Along; Songs for a New World; Floyd Collins; Jeffrey; and Love! Valour! Compassion! Regional credits: Grand Hotel and Nine (The Boston Conservatory and Cincinnati Conservatory of Music); Rent, Sunday in the Park with George, City of Angels and Wonderful Town (The Boston Conservatory); and Into the Woods, Urinetown and Blue Window (Boston College). His work at The Boston Conservatory includes teaching Junior Musical Theater and the Senior Directing Emphasis. In 2007, Paul was honored with the Boston College Arts Council’s Alumni Award for Distinguished Achievement. This season Paul is back at Boston College serving as the 2011-2012 Rev. J. Donald Monan, S.J., Professor in Theatre Arts.

Paul Melone, Production Manager & General Manager
Paul is a graduate of the Boston University's Theatre Dept. Directing credits include: Adding Machine: A Musical (2010 Elliot Norton Award - Best Director), The Little Dog Laughed; Fat Pig, The Moonlight Room, Our Lady of 121st Street andThe Shape of Things for SpeakEasy Stage; Curse of the Starving Class for Apollinaire Theatre Company; and Things Beyond Our Control at Brandeis University. At SpeakEasy, Paul has managed over sixty plays, musicals, concerts, cabarets and special events. He is also Production Director for A Christmas Celtic Sojourn, an annual holiday music event for WGBH radio, and serves on the board of StageSource, the Greater Boston Theatre Alliance.

Jim Torres, Director of Marketing, Press, and Public Relations
Jim is proud to have come up through the ranks at SpeakEasy, rising from volunteer to be the first official half-time (thank you Most Fabulous Story) and then first official full-time (thank you Bat Boy) company employee. Prior to SpeakEasy, Jim held a myriad of jobs, including stints as an admissions officer for Harvard College, a television producer for the ill-fated Christian Science Monitor Channel, a reporter for an insurance trade newspaper, and a property manager for a local realty company, all of which were in their own way, just different forms of live theatre.

Julie A. Otis, Director of Development, Education and Outreach
Julie is delighted to have been working in the Boston theatre community for over 15 years. Prior to SpeakEasy Stage Company, she worked with ArtsBoston, Boston Theatre Works, Broadway Across America--Boston, Boston Lyric Opera, and the American Repertory Theater. She graduated from Tufts University with a BA in Philosophy and Drama and has a Masters of Science in Arts Administration from Boston University. She is thrilled to be a part of SpeakEasy's team and to share their love of creating breathtaking moments of intimacy and expression for artists and audiences alike.

Walt McGough, Administrative Assistant
Walt holds an MFA in Playwriting from Boston University, and his plays have been read or produced locally by Boston Playwrights Theatre, Fresh Ink Theatre, Gloucester Stage and the Performance Lab. Before coming to Boston, he lived in Chicago, where he is a founding ensemble member of Sideshow Theatre Company and worked as Company Manager at Chicago Dramatists.

Dawn Schall, Company Manager
Dawn is happy to be wearing a new hat as SpeakEasy's Company Manger. She has worked with SpeakEasy since 2004 as their Production Stage Manager on such award-winning productions as: Reckless, The Savannah Disputation, Jerry Springer - The Opera, The New Century, The Light in the Piazza, Some Men, History Boys, Bubbly Black Girl, The Women, Five by Tenn and The Last Sunday in June. Dawn is a member of SpeakEasy's Board of Directors. She has been a member of Actor's Equity for ten years and serves on Boston's Equity Liaison Committee.

Jackie Howe, Development and Education Associate
Jackie is excited to be starting her second season with SpeakEasy Stage. She first started working in the office in July 2011 as a Development and Special Events Intern. She has a Master of Science in Arts Administration from Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts and Elementary Education from Boston College. Prior to SpeakEasy, she was a fifth grade teacher for four years, where she integrated the performing arts into the classroom regularly. She loves to be a part of the Boston theater community as a local actress, as well.