TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS
Nia Vardalos, Cheryl Strayed
June 11 to June 27, Summer 2021
Tiny Beautiful Things
by Nia Vardalos, based on the book by Cheryl Strayed
Co-Conceived by Marshall Heyman, Thomas Kail, & Nia Vardalos
Directed by Lyndsay Allyn Cox
A celebration of the simple beauty of being human, this funny and deeply touching exploration of resilience is based on Cheryl Strayed’s (Wild) journey as the beloved anonymous advice columnist for “Dear Sugar.” Over the years, thousands of people turned to Sugar for words of wisdom, compassion, and hope. At first unsure of herself, Sugar finds a way to weave her own life experiences together with the deep yearning and heartrending questions from her readers. Brilliantly adapted for the stage by Nia Vardalos, the Academy Award-nominated writer of My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
Tiny Beautiful Things, directed by Lyndsay Allyn Cox, will run June 11 through June 27. Performances are outdoors Wednesday through Saturday at 7:30 pm and Saturday and Sunday at 3:30 pm at Windhover Center for the Performing Arts, 257R Granite St, Rockport, MA.

Show Approx Run Time
85 minutes
Lyndsay Allyn Cox is a Boston based professional actor and director. Notable Directing Credits: Splash Hatch on the E Going Down (Nora Theatre Company/Central Square Theatre); Boston in Ten (Fresh Ink Theatre); The Beebo Brinker Chronicles (Footlight Club 7A Series); 99% Stone (The Theater Offensive); John and Jen (University of Florida). Lyndsay has also directed for several new play festivals and staged readings during the course of her 14 years in Boston. Prior to landing in Boston, Lyndsay taught theatre at Olympic High School in Charlotte, NC. Notable Acting Credits: Our Daughters, Like Pillars (Huntington Stage Company); Bright Half Life (Actors’ Shakespeare Project); Three Musketeers (Greater Boston Stage) Caroline, or Change (Moonbox Productions); Winter People (Boston Playwrights’ Theatre); Men On Boats (SpeakEasy); Barbecue (Lyric Stage); By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (Lyric Stage); and The Overwhelming (Company One). TV and film credits include: Consumed (dir. Sloane Turner). Lyndsay is a member of the Actors’ Equity Association. She is a certified yoga instructor, avid SoulCycle rider and is certified in single sword stage combat. LyndsayAllynCox.com
Celeste Oliva* (Sugar) is making her Gloucester Stage debut. She has appeared on many other stages around New England including the Huntington Theater, Merrimack Repertory Theater, The Lyric Stage, The Nora Theater, SpeakEasyStage and in the long running Shear Madness as Barbara DeMarco. A role she later reprised for the off-Broadway production. Celeste has won awards for her roles in Ch’Inglish, Grounded, Small Mouth Sounds, and Arcadia. Recently she guest starred in CBS’ Bull, appeared opposite Rosamund Pike in I Care A Lot, and in the haunting Sam Raimi thriller The Unholy. Look for her in the upcoming Adam McKay film Don’t Look Up with Jennifer Lawrence, her first horror film Black Friday with Ivana Baquero (Pan’s Labyrinth), the soon to be released Mattson Tomlin SciFi film Mother/Android with Chloe Grace Moretz and on LifeTime TV’s forthcoming Switched Before Birth. Celeste is a proud member of Actors Equity and the Screen Actors Guild. You can find her previous credits on IMDb. You can follow her on instagram @actingcelested
Kelly Chick (Letter Writer #2) is a New York based actor and a graduate of the BFA Acting program at Emerson College. Favorite credits include The Good Person of Setzuan (Fort Point Theatre Channel), The Edge of Peace (Central Square Theatre), and the world premieres of Three (Boston Public Works), Dark Room (Bridge Rep Theatre), and Parlor Tricks (Fresh Fruit Festival). Most recently (pre-pandemic!), Kelly was seen in Bright Half Life (Actors’ Shakespeare Project).
Nael Nacer* (Letter Writer #1) was previously seen at Gloucester Stage Company in True West, Bank Job, and The Flick (IRNE Award). Other credits include: The Merchant of Venice, Macbeth, Equivocation (Actors’ Shakespeare Project); Romeo and Juliet, A Doll’s House, Bedroom Farce (IRNE Award), Come Back, Little Sheba, Awake and Sing!, The Seagull and Our Town (IRNE Award, Huntington Theatre); The Return (Israeli Stage, Elliot Norton Award); ChekhovOS, The Seagull (Arlekin Players); Small Mouth Sounds, A Future Perfect, Tribes (SpeakEasy Stage); Calendar Girls (Greater Boston Stage Company); Constellations (Central Square Theatre); Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play, Intimate Apparel (Elliot Norton Award, Lyric Stage), 45 Plays for 45 Presidents, It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play (Merrimack Rep); A Number, Lungs, The Kite Runner (New Repertory Theatre); Rhinoceros (Boston Playwrights’ Theatre), and Shear Madness (Charles Playhouse). Nael is a resident acting company member with Actors’ Shakespeare Project and a monologue coach with My College Audition.
Adrian Peguero (Letter Writer #3) (he/him/his) is incredibly excited and humbled to be making his Gloucester Stage debut. Adrian studied BFA Theatre Performance at Salem State University. Previous credits include: Boston in 10 (Fresh Ink Theatre) Dream Boston (Huntington Theatre Company). and Wolf Play (Company One Theatre)
Nia Vardalos, Adaptor & Co-Creator
Nia is a Canadian-born actor, writer, and director for both film and stage. She wrote and starred in the hit film My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and its sequel, which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay, a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and an Independent Spirit and People’s Choice Award. Stage credits include Jennie in Theatre20’s Company, directed by Gary Griffin, and writer and actor for twelve of The Second City’s revues (Jeff Award winner). Additional writing and acting film credits include Connie and Carla and I Hate Valentine’s Day. Film and television acting credits include My Life in Ruins; For a Good Time, Call …; Graves; The Catch; Jane the Virgin; and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. She is the author of Instant Mom.
Cheryl Strayed, Author
Cheryl Strayed is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling memoir Wild, the New York Times bestsellers Tiny Beautiful Things and Brave Enough, and the novel Torch. Wild was chosen by Oprah Winfrey as her first selection for Oprah’s Book Club 2.0 and adapted into an Oscar-nominated film starring Reese Witherspoon. Tiny Beautiful Things was adapted for the stage by Nia Vardalos in a play directed by Thomas Kail that has been produced in theaters around the world. Strayed’s essays have been published in The Best American Essays, the New York Times, the Washington Post Magazine, Vogue, Salon, and elsewhere. She’s has hosted two hits podcasts for the New York Times—Sugar Calling and Dear Sugars, which she co-hosted with Steve Almond. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her family.
Marshall Heyman, Co-Creator
Marshall is an editor and writer living in New York City. He writes the daily “Heard and Scene” social column for Wall Street Journal. Over the years, he has contributed to such publications as The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Glamour, InStyle, W, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, New York, Slate, and many others. He has also written for television.
Thomas Kail, Co-Creator
Thomas directed the Off-Broadway and Broadway productions of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights and Hamilton, for which he received the 2018 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical. Other Broadway credits include Lombardi and Magic/Bird. Off-Broadway credits include Faust, The Wiz, Broke-ology, When I Come to Die, Family Furniture, and The Tutors. He co-created and directed the world premiere of Tiny Beautiful Things, adapted by and starring Nia Vardalos, and directed the world premiere of Dry Powder, starring Hank Azaria, Claire Danes, John Krasinski, and Sanjit De Silva at The Public Theater. In addition to numerous awards, he was the recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors Award in 2018.
Elizabeth Cahill (sound design)is a Boston based sound designer, composer, and artist returning to Gloucester Stage after designing Hamlet in 2019. Elizabeth has sound designed for The Lyric Stage, Actors’ Shakespeare Project, New Rep, SpeakEasy Stage, The A.R.T. Institute, New England Conservatory, Hasty Pudding Theatricals at Harvard University, Fresh Ink Theatre, Bridge Rep, Central Square Theatre, Greater Boston Stage Company, Brownbox Theatre Project, Baldwin Wallace University, Moonbox Productions, Emerson Stage, and more. A/V Supervisor for operas with New England Conservatory, Boston Early Music Festival, and Boston University. Elizabeth serves as the Sound Area Head and Resident Sound Designer for Emerson Stage at Emerson College. elizabethsound.com
Lauren Corcuera (props design) as a theatre artist working in the Boston area, Lauren has held various positions from wardrobe, to scenic painting, among others, but most often can be found in the world of props. Lauren is currently the assistant prop director at Emerson College. She is thrilled to be joining Gloucester Stage once again this summer. Past GSC credits include the Agitators, Barefoot in the Park, and Ben Butler. Other select prop credits include Noire Hamlet (CentAstage), Circle Mirror Transformation (Braindeis University), Little Shop of Horrors, the Cake, the Treasurer (Lyric Stage Company), Stupid F***ing Bird (Emerson Stage), and keyp-ing (New Rep).
Chelsea Kerl (costume design) is a Boston based freelance artist; she received her MFA in Costume Design from Boston University and earned degrees in both Theatre and English from the University of Maryland. Select recent productions include- Gloucester Stage Company: Native Gardens, Ben Butler, Madame Defarge, To Kill a Mockingbird; Wheelock Family Theatre at BU: Willy Wonka, James and the Giant Peach; SpeakEasy Stage Company/Front Porch Arts Collective: Pass Over; Company One/American Repertory Theatre: Greater Good; Actors’ Shakespeare Project/Lyric Stage Company of Boston: Twelfth Night; Brandeis University: The Tempest, Big Love; and New Repertory Theatre: Straight White Men. Chelsea is also the costume shop manager, resident costume designer, and costume design professor at Wellesley College and Wellesley Repertory Theatre, and she often works in the costume shop of the American Repertory Theatre. More of her work can be seen at www.chelseakerl.com.
Kristin Loeffler (set design) most recent Set Design credits include: The Treasurer at Lyric Stage Co. of Boston, Thumbelina, A Little Musical, with Harvard/A.R.T., No Victors, No Vanquished with Punctuate4 Productions at The Harvard Club, and Photograph 51 with The Nora Theatre Co. Ms. Loeffler has designed sets and costumes for theaters in Boston and beyond including SpeakEasy Stage, New Rep, Greater Boston Stage Co., Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, A.R.T. Institute, Centastage, The Theatre Offensive, Barrington Stage Co., Sugan Theatre, Boston College, Wellesley College, Brandeis University, University of Rochester, Pittsburgh Playhouse, American Living Room@HERE, NYC, and New Georges, NYC. She received an IRNE Award for her design of Moby Dick at the New Rep and has taught design and painting to students of all ages. Education: M.F.A. Set Design, Carnegie Mellon University; B.A. English and Art, Stanford University.
Kat C. Zhou (light design) is a lighting designer for theatre, opera, and dance, and she is delighted to be making her Gloucester Stage debut. Theatre credits: WOLF PLAY (Company ONE), MARIE & ROSETTA (Greater Boston Stage Company), and THE BOOK CLUB PLAY (Boston Playwrights’ Theatre). Opera credits: THE RAKE’S PROGRESS (BU Opera Institute), the RUN AMOC! FESTIVAL (American Modern Opera Company), THE CUNNING LITTLE VIXEN (BU Opera Institute/Glimmerglass), and THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO (Harvard College Opera). Formerly, she served as the artist-in-residence at the Signet Society (2018-2020), and was the president/managing director of the Harvard-Radcliffe Gilbert & Sullivan Players (2013-2017). She holds an MFA in lighting design from Boston University and an AB in mathematics from Harvard College. More info: katzhoudesign.com
Picnic Box Dinners from Willow Rest
Order dinner ahead using the links below. Dinners are available Wednesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday @7:30pm performances only. Dinner will be delivered to Windhover and ready for pickup at the Concessions Bar by 6:30pm each night (Be sure to select the correct performance night when you checkout!). Thank you to Willow Rest for this partnership!

TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com