Hagan Oliveras as a teen in How To Succeed in Business at Next Stop Broadway,” and now off-Broadway in “The Trouble With Dead Boyfriends.” {Photo by Sean Salamon}
By Sharon Aron Baron
Coral Springs’ very own Hagan Oliveras is set to make an impact in the Off-Broadway musical, The Trouble with Dead Boyfriends.
Performing as characters Silence Mather Theackery/Owen, Oliveras infuses the musical, a gory, feminist comedy about friendship and the risks of resurrecting the dead, with his signature brand of light-hearted silliness.
Having previously been involved in various plays by Annie Pulisipher and Stephen Eckert, including the earliest iteration of The Trouble With Dead Boyfriends, Oliveras views this latest opportunity as a satisfying full-circle moment.
“I believe right now; we are in a place as a society where we are engaging in intense nostalgic recall for pieces that have moved us in the past,” Oliveras shares.
He speaks on this musical’s intriguing contrast, reflecting our past and a vision for our future.
“This musical relishes in the joy these young adult stories once brought us but also turns a critical eye to how they might have negatively shaped us, offering the audience an opportunity to reassess what we actually want from ourselves versus what we thought we wanted, based on these stories.”
Born and raised in Broward County, Oliveras attended Millennium Middle School in Tamarac, where he made some somewhat eccentric wardrobe choices, including a full ninja costume.
It wasn’t until he joined the drama club at J.P. Taravella High School in a bid to get closer to a girl that he realized his fascination for costumes and acting.
A 2016 graduate, Oliveras first encountered “serious drama” thanks to teachers Lori Sessions and Daniel Bonnet.
Sessions’ productions, which Oliveras describes as “incredibly well structured,” laid the groundwork for his budding love for acting and storytelling. One particular production, Ragtime, stood out for him.
“High school shows have no business being that well-directed,” he said, commending Sessions’ ability to direct a production that involved over 100 cast and crew members.
Hagan Oliveras in “Hotel Paradise” during his senior year at J.P. Taravella. {Courtesy}
Apart from school, his connection to the Florida community was further deepened at the Coral Springs Center of the Arts, where he worked as a counselor at the theater summer camp, Next Stop Broadway. This experience brought him closer to other young theater enthusiasts, some of whom still constitute his core group of friends and collaborators in New York City.
Oliveras’ high school years were heavily laden with theater activities, but when he did manage to carve out some free time, he would often be found at Riverside Park, playing Magic the Gathering with friends, or Tate’s Gaming Satellite in Lauderhill. His parents still live in Coral Springs, and he visits them once a year.
The Trouble with Dead Boyfriends will be at The Player’s Theatre on 115 MacDougal St, New York, through July 16, 2023. Tickets are $42-62 and are now available online at ovationtix.com.
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