(Cover Photo: The CAST of the musical  "SWEPT AWAY" by John Logan and The Avett Brothers now playing at SpeakEasy Stage Company in Boston, MA. until May 23, 2026. Photo credit: Nile Scott Studios)

By Kevin T. Baldwin

METRMAG Reviewer

# 774-242-6724  

“No, brother, sacrificing yourself for your family, for those you hold close, that’s what love is.” 

                                                 - (“Big Brother”) /  John Logan

SpeakEasy Stage Company

 Presents the Musical 

"SWEPT AWAY"

Book by John Logan

Music by The Avett Brothers

Directed by Jeremy Johnson 

Music Director/Conductor Paul S. Katz 

Choreographer Ilyse Robbins+     

Cast Includes: Christopher Chew* as “Captain,” Max Connor* as “Little Brother,” Peter Dimaggio* as “Mate,” Bishop Levesque* as “Big Brother,” Ezra Quinlan as “Aerialist/Ensemble.” 

Ensemble: Wyatt Anton*, Carson Hollingsworth*, Elliot Lazar*, Kevin Patrick Martin*, Nicholas Papayoanou*, Anthony Pires, Jr.* 

Additional Creative Team:

Assistant Director/Dramaturg – Shira Helena Gitlin; Assistant Lighting Designer – Sawyer Grabow; Aerial Choreography – Ezra Quinlan; Additional Aerial Choreography – Ellen Waylonis Esh Circus Arts; Stage Management Intern – Maya Murray; Primary Audio Describer – Cori Couture; Secondary Audio Describer – Andrea Doane; Scenery Construction – Wooden Kiwi Productions (Waltham, MA.); Technical Director – Jeffrey Petersen; Circus Rigger – Becky Brown; Master Electrician – Valerie Zhao; Props Supervisor – Andrew Reynolds; Wardrobe Supervisor – Taylor Needleman; Sound Engineer/A1 – Kaelen Anderson; Production Engineer/A2 – Mary White; Rail Op./Fly – Charlie Berry; Stitcher – Sydney Hovasse; Electrics Load-In Crew – Molly Beall, Benjamin Browder, Gabriel Karr, David Kolifrath, Ben Gmyrek, Vir Gupta, Sofia Maravillas, Bia Walker; Scenic Load-In Crew – Eliott Purcell; Moving Lights programmer – Li Downey.

* Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States

Performances:

April 24, 2026 through May 23, 2026 

(Contact Box Office for Exact Times)  

Roberts Studio Theatre, Calderwood / BCA, 527 Tremont Street, Boston, MA. 02116 

TICKETS:

Contact the Box Office # 617-933-8600 or visit  www.speakeasystage.com 

BUY TICKETS

COVID 19 PROTOCOLS

Contact Venue for Most Updated COVID-19 Safety Protocols and Information.

(Warning: The following review contains spoilers)

SpeakEasy Stage Company concludes its latest season with the dynamic and moving musical "SWEPT AWAY" now in port in Boston. 

Technically considered a “jukebox musical,” the story of "SWEPT AWAY" follows a captain and three of his crew who all become stranded in a lifeboat while sailing off the coast of New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1888. 

The 90-minute musical saga of "SWEPT AWAY" features a book by John Logan and is inspired by an actual 1884 shipwreck which also inspired The Avett Brothers' album “Mignonette.”  

Most of the SpeakEasy show’s score (with the noted exception of "Lord Lay Your Hand on My Shoulder") contains songs previously written and recorded for that album by The Avett Brothers. 

After a delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, "SWEPT AWAY" finally began previews and debuted on Broadway in November, 2024. 

However, the musical struggled during a very competitive season and incurred bad reviews, closing just a month later after only 20 previews and 48 performances. 

The production would ultimately receive just a single Tony Award nomination for Best Scenic Design of a Musical. 

However, if one watches the fine SpeakEasy Stage Company staging by director Jeremy Logan with choreography by Ilyse Robbins incorporating some visually stunning aerial acrobatics, one just might wonder why "SWEPT AWAY" was swept under the rug. 

(Photo: Peter Dimaggio as “Mate” in a moment from the musical  "SWEPT AWAY" by John Logan and The Avett Brothers now playing at SpeakEasy Stage Company in Boston, MA. until May 23, 2026. Photo credit: Nile Scott Studios)

"SWEPT AWAY" contains powerful themes of guilt versus sin and survival versus mortality, focusing on the unimaginable choices made, forced upon those just trying to survive one more day against overwhelming odds.  

Logan has interspersed a clever through line for the story using the terrific songs by The Avett Brothers’ catalog, while establishing strong emotional ties between the four main characters we observe in the piece. 

As "SWEPT AWAY" begins, before we set sail on the ill-fated voyage of this early 1900s ship, we observe the character simply known as Mate (Peter Dimaggio), who is at "The Charnel House," dying of tuberculosis. 

Mate is utterly tormented by memories of his crewmates who died after catastrophe sunk their ship many years before.

Dimaggio carries the lion's share of the SpeakEasy production's story, giving us an exceptional unrestrained portrait of Mate who, as he nears his final moments, we can see how he is emotionally scarred.

(Photo: Bishop Levesque as “Big Brother” in a moment from the musical  "SWEPT AWAY" by John Logan and The Avett Brothers now playing at SpeakEasy Stage Company in Boston, MA. until May 23, 2026. Photo credit: Nile Scott Studios)

As the song "Go to Sleep" begins, the spirits of three men pivotal to the story appear and encourage Mate to convey their story to us, the audience, but to absolutely make sure to tell us how it really happened…to tell the complete and unvarnished truth. 

Flashing back to the year 1888, Mate introduces us to his whaling crew, all serving under the Captain (Christopher Chew). 

Chew offers a perceptive look at the veteran world-weary Captain who ponders the remainder of his days as he sees no future in the whaling trade which is dying, as he describes expressively in the song "May It Last." 

Mate introduces a new crewmember known simply as Little Brother (Max Connor) who has joined the ship to live life beyond the confines of his farm and family, also leaving behind a girl he one day hopes to marry but not before first seeking out adventure. 

(Photo: Max Connor as “Little Brother” with Bishop Levesque as “Big Brother” in a scene from the musical  "SWEPT AWAY" by John Logan and The Avett Brothers now playing at SpeakEasy Stage Company in Boston, MA. until May 23, 2026. Photo credit: Nile Scott Studios)

Arriving nearly at the same moment in effort to bring Little Brother back home is Big Brother (Bishop Levesque) who tries to remind Little Brother of his responsibility to his girl, their family and farm. 

Unfortunately for Big Brother, he also becomes a member of the crew once the ship sets sail and is stranded on the ship as well. 

Levesque is superb, leaning heavily into the moral and religious aspects of Big Brother, who tries to get Little Brother to help him rally the crew together in prayer using the song "Lord Lay Your Hand on My Shoulder." 

However, countering the above effort using the rousing number "Ain't No Man" is Dimaggio as the far less pious Mate. 

Big Brother is deeply concerned by the influence the “pagan” Mate has over Little Brother but stands by his sibling with an uncompromising steadfast loyalty. 

Later in the "SWEPT AWAY" tale, Connor and Levesque each have chances to showcase their fine vocal prowess in the emotionally charged tunes "No Hard Feelings" and "Through My Prayers" sung along with equally impressive Chew.   

Once the ship is struck by a storm, moments later we find both Brothers stranded in a lifeboat with Mate and the Captain and no food or water. 

Now, there are a number of moments you’ll see coming way ahead of the catastrophic events take place, but we are forewarned of these long before they happen and the story isn’t really about the event itself but how these four survivors dealt with the events.

(Photo: Christopher Chew as “Captain,” Peter Dimaggio as “Mate,” Bishop Levesque as “Big Brother” and Max Connor as “Little Brother” in a pivotal moment from the musical  "SWEPT AWAY" by John Logan and The Avett Brothers now playing at SpeakEasy Stage Company in Boston, MA. until May 23, 2026. Photo credit: Nile Scott Studios)

The score is extremely well executed by the four leads supported by the dynamic ensemble which includes Ezra Quinlan performing arduous stunts as an “Aerialist.” 

The above is just one example of the fine staging by Jeremy Logan and the proficient and prolific choreography used by Ilyse Robbins to help punctuate many pivotal moments within the "SWEPT AWAY" story. 

An additional musical high point was the tune "Hard Worker" performed by Mate and the SpeakEasy Stage Company Ensemble. 

It is not difficult to see just why the original Broadway production was not able to find its “sea legs" when it premiered in as much that what is witnessed is painfully predictable with moments we have seen before, either on stage or more likely on screen (think Hitchcock’s “Lifeboat”). 

That does not mean this musical will not ultimately find its audience – it just may take some time. 

However, as long as the story is told in as fine a fashion as it is told in Boston by the cast and creative team at SpeakEasy Stage, then the future of "SWEPT AWAY" may ultimately find some fair winds and following seas (or at least “sees”). 

(Photo: The CAST of the musical  "SWEPT AWAY" by John Logan and The Avett Brothers now playing at SpeakEasy Stage Company in Boston, MA. until May 23, 2026. Photo credit: Nile Scott Studios)

Make sure to hoist anchor and set sail to see the John Logan/Avett Brothers musical  "SWEPT AWAY" which is already underway at at SpeakEasy Stage Company in Boston until May 23^rd, 2026.

For tickets and more information, contact the SpeakEasy Box Office at # 617-933-8600 or visit www.speakeasystage.com 

BUY TICKETS

Approximately one hour, 30 minutes with no intermission. 

Kevin T. Baldwin is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA)

@MetrmagReviews 

@Theatre_Critics 

ABOUT THE SHOW

In the musical "SWEPT AWAY" - 

A storm. 

A shipwreck. 

Four survivors. 

As they fight to stay alive, these New Bedford whalers must confront who they are, what they’ve done, and whether forgiveness is possible. 

Featuring a book by John Logan and music from The Avett Brothers, "SWEPT AWAY" is a gripping, heart-rending new musical about brotherhood, morality, and the cost of survival. “A thrilling suspensful ride.” – BroadwayWorld

ABOUT SPEAKEASY STAGE COMPANY

SPEAKEASY STAGE COMPANY is a non-profit theatre company located in the South End of Boston and is led by award-winning Producing Artistic Director Paul Daigneault. SPEAKEASY STAGE COMPANY was named the Pavilion Resident Theater for the Boston Center for the Arts in 2007 and produces 28 weeks of new plays and musicals each season at the Nancy and Ed Roberts Studio Theater in the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts.

speakeasystage.com