Our Mission

The mission of The Lyric Stage Company of Boston is to produce quality theatrical productions of varying genres and styles which are entertaining, challenging, and provocative, which reach a wide variety of audiences through reasonable ticket prices and outreach programs, and to support and nurture the talents of Boston-area theatre artists through employment, training, and development opportunities.

Our History

The Lyric Stage Company of Boston was founded in 1974 by Polly Hogan and Ron Ritchell. During their tenure they guided The Lyric through many periods of growth. Starting humbly near Copley Square, The Lyric moved to a 100-seat theatre over a hardware store on Charles Street in 1979. The Company produced the works of Shaw, Coward, O'Casey, and Pinter, along with other neglected works by renowned playwrights and the occasional Boston premiere.

In 1990, after an enormously successful capital campaign, The Lyric Stage Company moved into its current home in the YWCA building on Clarendon Street. The first season in the new theatre opened with a production of Cole, a review of the music of Cole Porter, to rave reviews for both the production and the new space.

In the 1990s The Lyric Stage Company struggled in its place in the Boston theatre community. The tastes of the Boston theatre audience had changed and The Lyric had not changed with them. In 1997 The Lyric won the prestigious Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Production for David Mamet's Speed-The Plow, directed by Spiro Veloudos, then a freelance director and Artistic Director of the Publick Theatre in Allston/Brighton. Based on the strength of his production and with the confidence of the Board of Directors, Mr. Veloudos was appointed Artistic Director upon the departure of the founders.

In his first season as Artistic Director, Mr. Veloudos quickly transformed The Lyric Stage Company into a contemporary and more vibrant company, focused on the Boston area theatre community. His vision hit just the right chord with Boston audiences, and the theatre's highly successful productions of Lost in Yonkers, Assassins, and Never the Sinner earned Mr. Veloudos his second Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Director.

Since Mr. Veloudos' appointment, The Lyric Stage Company has continued to support and nurture Boston-area theatre artists. In the spring of 2001 The Lyric produced The Curse of the Bambino, written by Boston-based playwright David Kruh and composer Steven Bergman. The Curse of the Bambino was The Lyric's most successful show to date and provided an opportunity to encourage Boston area playwrights. The Lyric Stage Company continues its commitment to emerging and established Boston theatre artists by producing plays by the most talented playwrights, actors, directors, and designers that Boston has to offer.

The dedication to Mr. Veloudos' vision has paid off with a consistent rise in subscriptions, 18 Elliot Norton and 42 Independent Reviewers of New England Awards (IRNE) in the last ten seasons, and a reputation as the place to see quality, contemporary live theatre in Boston.

Under the stewardship of Mr. Veloudos The Lyric Stage Company of Boston has emerged as an award-winning, intimate mid-size theatre in Boston's Copley Square.