Valerie Stephens
Valerie Stephens a native Bostonian has both national and international performance and production credits. She is an award winning, performing artist with a passion for history. Valerie has received a 2019 Bro. Thomas Fellowship, 2019 Bridge Award in Arts, 2018 Boston City Council Resolution for creating the annual event PRINCESS DAY: Celebrating Little Girls of Color and her commitment to Nina Simone’s legacy,
2017 New England Foundation for the Arts Creative City, the 2016 Get Konnected! Boston Legends & Pioneers Award, the 2011 NAACP Image Award, the 2007 Urban Music Award in Blues and was a nominee for the 2011 Urban Music Award in Jazz as well as Citations of Appreciation from the Cities of Boston, New Bedford and Springfield.
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Dwayne P. Mitchell, is a Boston based actor and artist. His stage credits include: Choir Boy (SpeakEasy Stage), Fences (The Umbrella Stage Company), Ragtime (Wheelock Family Theatre), La Cage Aux Folles (Reagle Music Theatre), The Frogs, Metamorphoses, and Good Kids (Boston Conservatory at Berklee). Screen credits include: Reed Between the Lines (BET), Reconstruction: America After The Civil War (PBS), and My Parents, My Sister, and Me (NBC). He received a Bachelor of Arts in Music, from the historically black institution, Fisk University; and is a graduate of the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, where he earned a Master of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre. Dwayne continues to use his platform to advocate for diversity, inclusion, and bridging opportunity gaps for black artists and artists of color in the performing arts.
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Jackson Jirard* (Company) (he/him)is a New Orleans born and Pennsylvania raised, now Bostonian artist and educator. He received his B.A. in Psychology from Stanford University, his M.Ed. in Human Development & Psychology from Harvard Graduate School of Education, and has been researching power, responsibility, and emotional well-being in artistic spaces for many years. He’s danced professionally with Ballet Austin in Texas, Sacramento Ballet in California, and Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre. He’s also choreographed for New Repertory Theatre and Columbia Pictures, and performed for several other local companies. Having grown up in Massachusetts, Jackson continues to excitedly re-familiarize himself with the New England scene as Associate Director of Rehearsal for Life’s Urban Improv. He’s also super grateful to Front Porch & Central Square Theater for keeping the dream of Ain’t Misbehavin’ alive!
*Member of Actor’s Equity Association
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Lovely Hoffman* (Company & Dramaturg) (she/her) is an Award-winning singer, songwriter, and theater artist. In 2015, Lovely received an IRNE Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role as Celie in the New England premiere of the The Color Purple at Speakeasy Stage Co. In 2017, she released her single, “My Black Is Beautiful,” a song about self-love, which went viral and reached #45 on the Adult Contemporary radio charts. Lovely has been featured on CNN and BET, and in Teen Vogue and Essence magazines. In 2019, Lovely Hoffman performed background vocals for Mariah Carey’s, “All I Want for Christmas” concert in Boston at the Wang Theatre. Theatre credits include: The Huntington Theatre, Boston Lyric Opera, Reagle Music Theatre, New Repertory Theatre, Lyric Stage Co. of Boston, Greater Boston Stage Co., Moonbox Productions, and The Umbrella Stage Co. TV Commercials: Lysol “What It Takes to Protect,” NFL “We Ready.” Lovely is a graduate of Boston College and a proud member of the Actors’ Equity Association. LovelyHoffman.com.
*Member of Actor’s Equity Association
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