Alumni Feature: John Drea
John Drea, Class of 2020, makes his Broadway debut.
Loyola University Chicago Theatre alum, John Drea (Class of 2020) is heading to Broadway starring alongside Laurie Metcalf, Micah Stock, and Meghan Gerachis in Samuel D. Hunter's Little Bear Ridge Road this fall.
During his time as a Theatre Major at Loyola, Drea was very involved in the Theatre Program. He starred in many main stage shows, including Cabaret (2018), Much Ado About Nothing (2019), and Fun Home (2020).
After graduating in 2020, Drea went on to work at the Goodman Theatre, the Griffin Theatre, Grippo Stage Company, Midsummer Flight, Kokandy Productions, and more. He is a two-time Jeff nominee for his work in Solaris at the Griffin Theatre and Chagall in School at the Grippo Stage Company. And he will soon be able to add Broadway to his list of accolades; this is not only Drea’s Broadway debut, but it is also director Samuel D. Hunter’s Broadway debut! Drea calls Hunter “one of our finest living playwrights,” and he is “thrilled that more people will get to discover his work for the first time.”
John Drea in Cabaret (2018), Loyola University Chicago, Photo by: Joe Mazza
Synopsis of the play: Set on the remote edge of a small Idaho town, Little Bear Ridge Road centers on a razor-tongued aunt and her long-estranged nephew who find themselves suddenly back in each other’s lives—two lonely souls with a crumbling house to sell and a tangled history to unravel. Bitingly funny and quietly explosive, Little Bear Ridge Road lays bare our messy, human need to reach across voids for one another, even when it shakes us to the bone. (Playbill.com)
Drea said performing in Little Bear Ridge Road at Steppenwolf was “a lightening-in-a-bottle production” for him, and he felt spoiled “to get to perform in a well-made play with so many legends on and off stage.” Although this made him nervous at first, he “ultimately found a team full of fellow Midwesterners who all shared a sense of humor and a dedicated work ethic,” which has given him “a stronger sense of confidence in (him)self and in (his) place in the theatre.”
Laurie Metcalf (left), John Dre (middle), and Micah Stock (right) in Little Bear Ridge Road at Steppenwolf Theatre, Photo by: Michael Brosilow
In Little Bear Ridge Road, he plays the character James, who “is an incredulously patient and forgiving person (with some big blind spots).” Drea says that, because of these qualities, he is continuously learning from James.
Drea has come a long way since Loyola, and he is looking forward to what Broadway will hold for him and for the play as a whole: “a year later, it’s an exciting feeling to know the show will have another life in New York City, and it’s equally exciting to see how it changes and grows for different audiences.”
Little Bear Ridge Road opens at the Booth Theatre on October 30, 2025.
John Drea, Class of 2020, makes his Broadway debut.
Loyola University Chicago Theatre alum, John Drea (Class of 2020) is heading to Broadway starring alongside Laurie Metcalf, Micah Stock, and Meghan Gerachis in Samuel D. Hunter's Little Bear Ridge Road this fall.
During his time as a Theatre Major at Loyola, Drea was very involved in the Theatre Program. He starred in many main stage shows, including Cabaret (2018), Much Ado About Nothing (2019), and Fun Home (2020).
After graduating in 2020, Drea went on to work at the Goodman Theatre, the Griffin Theatre, Grippo Stage Company, Midsummer Flight, Kokandy Productions, and more. He is a two-time Jeff nominee for his work in Solaris at the Griffin Theatre and Chagall in School at the Grippo Stage Company. And he will soon be able to add Broadway to his list of accolades; this is not only Drea’s Broadway debut, but it is also director Samuel D. Hunter’s Broadway debut! Drea calls Hunter “one of our finest living playwrights,” and he is “thrilled that more people will get to discover his work for the first time.”
John Drea in Cabaret (2018), Loyola University Chicago, Photo by: Joe Mazza
Synopsis of the play: Set on the remote edge of a small Idaho town, Little Bear Ridge Road centers on a razor-tongued aunt and her long-estranged nephew who find themselves suddenly back in each other’s lives—two lonely souls with a crumbling house to sell and a tangled history to unravel. Bitingly funny and quietly explosive, Little Bear Ridge Road lays bare our messy, human need to reach across voids for one another, even when it shakes us to the bone. (Playbill.com)
Drea said performing in Little Bear Ridge Road at Steppenwolf was “a lightening-in-a-bottle production” for him, and he felt spoiled “to get to perform in a well-made play with so many legends on and off stage.” Although this made him nervous at first, he “ultimately found a team full of fellow Midwesterners who all shared a sense of humor and a dedicated work ethic,” which has given him “a stronger sense of confidence in (him)self and in (his) place in the theatre.”
Laurie Metcalf (left), John Dre (middle), and Micah Stock (right) in Little Bear Ridge Road at Steppenwolf Theatre, Photo by: Michael Brosilow
In Little Bear Ridge Road, he plays the character James, who “is an incredulously patient and forgiving person (with some big blind spots).” Drea says that, because of these qualities, he is continuously learning from James.
Drea has come a long way since Loyola, and he is looking forward to what Broadway will hold for him and for the play as a whole: “a year later, it’s an exciting feeling to know the show will have another life in New York City, and it’s equally exciting to see how it changes and grows for different audiences.”
Little Bear Ridge Road opens at the Booth Theatre on October 30, 2025.