First Trailer Released for Speech & Debate

The first trailer for the upcoming film adaptation of Stephen Karam’s 2008 play, Speech & Debate, was released earlier this month. And boy, is it a doozy of a trailer.

Let’s start with the basics:

1. Hamilton. Yes, that Hamilton. How can a movie about theatre geeks in 2016 not reference Hamilton?
2. Lin-Manuel Miranda. The man known for being the creator and star of Hamilton, and overall having way too much talent for one person. In this movie, he’s a genie. I’ll leave it at that.
3. Darren Criss. There goes my poor little fangirl heart. Mere seconds of Criss as himself sent my heart pitter-pattering.
4. The music. Obviously, a movie about theatre geeks will have great musical theatre nods, but also MIKA?
5. Speech and Debate. This might be pretty obvious from the title, but I’m still overjoyed to see that a play, and now a movie, about the club that ruled my high school social life is experiencing success. I got a little tingle of pride when I knew what “DI” meant before the characters did.
6. Austin P. McKenzie. I absolutely fell in love with Deaf West Theatre’s 2015 Spring Awakening revival, and I’m so excited to see more from their Melchior!

I’ve always known the play was great, but I also always worry that when adapting a live play for film, something of its spirit will get lost. Not in this case. The fresh-faced and talented cast looks endearing and spirited, the trailer is jam-packed with fun, and it’s bringing attention to my favorite high school extracurricular activity. I will be first in line when the movie is released on April 7.

If you’re desperate for more information about the movie, you can also check out their recent BroadwayCon panel here.

Are you excited for Speech & Debate? Are you worried about how the play will transfer to film? Let us know!