“Little Dog Laughed”
In New England Premiere from SpeakEasy

As its first production of the new year, SpeakEasy Stage will present the New England premiere of Douglas Carter Beane’s hit Broadway comedy, “The Little Dog Laughed.” Performances are January 18 - February 16. For this production, SpeakEasy will move for the first time from its usual home in the Roberts Studio Theatre at the Calderwood Pavilion into the larger Virginia Wimberly Theatre.

A send-up of all things Hollywood, “The Little Dog Laughed” chronicles what happens when an up-and-coming young movie star with a “slight recurring case of homosexuality” gets emotionally entangled with a sexy young callboy and his slacker girlfriend.

Working hard to keep the closet door shut is the actor’s tightly wound agent, a master manipulator who will stop at nothing to protect her investment in the young star’s career.

SpeakEasy General Manager Paul Melone will direct the production. His previous SpeakEasy directing credits include the New England premieres of “Fat Pig,” "The Moonlight Room,” “Our Lady of 121st Street,” and “The Shape of Things.”

A 2007 Tony nominee for Best Play, “The Little Dog Laughed” is the creation of Douglas Carter Beane, who up until recently was best known as the author of the hit Off-Broadway play “As Bees in Honey Drown” and the popular movie “To Wong Fu, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar.” This past summer, however, Mr. Beane scored a surprise hit with his stage adaptation of the film musical “Xanadu,” for which he wrote the book. Beane received a Tony nomination as well a GLAAD Media Award for “The Little Dog Laughed.” He is currently at work on both a play, “Don’t Follow Me, I’m Lost, Too,” and the musical adaptation of “The Bandwagon,” which opens in March at San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre. He is also developing a television series for producer Lorne Michaels.

Boston actress Maureen Keiller (“The Women,” “Almost, Maine”) will appear as the agent Diane, the role that earned Julie White (who starred in “Bad Dates” at the Huntington) a Tony Award last June. Also in the cast are Robert Serrell as rising movie star Mitchell Green, Jonathan Orsini as the young hustler Alex and Angie Jepson as Alex’s girlfriend Ellen.

“The Little Dog Laughed” originally opened Off-Broadway at the Second Stage Theatre in January of 2006 with a cast that included Julie White as the agent, Neal Huff (“Take Me Out”) as the movie star, Johnny Galecki (from TV’s “Roseanne”) as the hustler, and Zoe Lister-Jones as Ellen.

White and Galecki remained with the play when it transferred to Broadway, opening in November of 2006 at the Cort Theatre where it ran for 112 performances. East Bridgewater native Tom Everett Scott (“That Thing You Do,” “ER”) took over the role of Mitchell for the Broadway run. Boston native Ari Graynor (“Brooklyn Boy”) assumed the role of Ellen, but was later replaced by Ms. Lister-Jones during the Broadway run.

For tickets and information, stop by the box office, call 617-933-8600 or visit www.SpeakEasyStage.com.

(Note that the play contains nudity and adult situations, and is intended for mature audiences.)

-- OnStage Boston

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