Continuing Our Commitment
The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey has always been about more than a performance. Throughout this engagement, guests will have the opportunity to make direct donations to The Trevor Project and The Future Perfect Project, and merchandise benefiting these organizations will also be available for purchase. Every contribution helps support their vital work with LGBTQ+ young people and their communities.
Celeste Lecesne (he/they) is an award-winning playwright, actor, and activist whose work has transformed both the American theatre and the lives of LGBTQIA+ youth. An Off-Broadway veteran, Lecesne first garnered national acclaim with the solo show Word of Mouth, directed by Eve Ensler, which won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show. A character from that piece inspired the 1995 short film Trevor, written by Lecesne, which won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.
On the night Trevor premiered on HBO, Lecesne co-founded The Trevor Project, now the leading national organization providing 24/7 crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQIA+ young people. Lecesne later co-founded The Future Perfect Project, empowering LGBTQIA+ youth to share their stories through performance and creative expression.
Celeste’s acclaimed solo play, The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey — adapted from his novel — premiered at Dixon Place in 2015 before moving to the Off-Broadway Westside Theatre for a celebrated run, directed by Tony Speciale with music by Duncan Sheik. Praised by The New York Times as a “superlative solo show,” the production went on to Los Angeles and regional theatres nationwide.
Through storytelling that is both luminous and unflinching, Lecesne continues to use the stage as a space for compassion, visibility, and radical hope.
Director – Tony SpecialeTony Speciale (he/him) is a theatre director, deviser, producer, and educator whose work centers on queer storytelling and ensemble-driven creation. He conceived, co-authored, and directed the Off-Broadway premiere of Unnatural Acts at Classic Stage Company (Drama Desk and GLAAD Media Award nominations). Directing credits include The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey (Off-Broadway and national tour); Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and Perestroika (St. Louis Repertory Theatre); Harmony by Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman (Alliance Theatre, Ahmanson Theatre); Romeo and Juliet (Actors Theatre of Louisville); and A Midsummer Night’s Dream featuring Bebe Neuwirth, Christina Ricci, Steven Skybell, and Taylor Mac (Classic Stage Company). Tony has developed new work at The Goodman Theatre’s New Stages Festival, Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor, the Sundance Theatre Lab at MASS MoCA, the Contemporary American Theatre Festival, and The Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival. Tony spent four seasons as Associate Artistic Director of Classic Stage Company, is the former Artistic Director of Abingdon Theatre Company, and holds an MFA in Directing from Columbia University. He currently serves as Assistant Professor of Theatre and Cohead of Performance at SUNY New Paltz. Upcoming work: Monsters of the American Cinema at Bridge Street Theatre in Catskill, NY (May 28-June 27) www.tonyspeciale.com