She Believed She Could: Maria Wirries Is Skyrocketing to Stardom

Eight times a week at the Palace Theater, Maria Wirries takes the stage as Star, the guarded half-vampire girl caught between humanity and immortality in The Lost Boys. Early in the show, LJ Benet’s Michael calls Star a “bolt of lightning,” and that description could absolutely apply to Wirries, too: an actor, singer, and writer whose joy and creativity overflow in every word.

Born and raised in Florida, musical theatre wasn’t always the plan for Wirries.

“I started singing before I could even remember. I was just always obsessed with making sound!” she recalls. Childhood performances at local events like fairs and rodeos turned into formal voice lessons, where she added more classical training and musical theatre to her repertoire. When she attended theatre camp as a tween (performing High School Musical 2, no less!), she caught “the bug.”

“I was always kind of this loner kid, in some ways. Even though I was outgoing, I was really marching to the beat of my own drum,” she reflects. But in theatre, she found her people and with it, a possible path for the future.

Wirries credits their longtime voice teacher with jumpstarting the philosophy they still live by as an artist today — and the versatility that has taken them from singing Sondheim soprano roles in Old Friends to the gritty rock of The Lost Boys and everything in between.

“He really wanted me to feel like there were no boxes, so we trained in everything possible because he didn’t want me to feel limited — as much as someone in the groups that I belong to would anyway. As a Black woman, as a queer person, it could be hard to move through this space and not be immediately placed in these traditional boxes. But I’m grateful that’s the training I received, because I feel really open to what comes. I want to do everything!”

Wirries’s endeavors aren’t limited to performing, either. She’s a longtime singer-songwriter, a veteran of the famed BMI workshop, and the writer of multiple musicals. It’s something she pursues with the same passion that drives much of her onstage work: carving out space for herself and for others who aren’t interested in being hemmed in by old-school labels.

“I wrote a musical [a couple of] years ago, and it was because I didn’t see myself in any country shows. So I’m going to write myself into what my life was!” Although she’s been writing her own songs for many years, she recalls making the jump into musical theatre writing after Christian Thompson, an old classmate, heard a song on her EP that aligned perfectly with a musical project.

Despite feeling intimidated without a formal music theory background, they took on the challenge. Since then, they’ve written two musicals with Thompson, as well as writing with Veronica Leahy — a Broadway pit musician and former BMI classmate — and a solo work.

“It’s inspired me so much as an actor, because so many times you feel like you’re a piece of the puzzle, but as a writer, you get to make what the puzzle is! So it was really exciting for me to get to be on both sides, and it just gives me even more reverence for the people who are out there creating things. It really is the hardest, most vulnerable process!”

As a writer, Wirries finds herself drawn to stories about “complex people who might not fit, and finding how they do.” One of her shows, a Scottish-tinged fairytale, focuses on mixed-race siblings and their struggle with identity; another uses EDM sounds to explore the idea of love itself being monetized. Her solo project, the horror musical Bloody Mary, is especially near and dear to her heart, as a “love story to where I come from, which was a place that felt like it was very hard to be in.”

That complexity (and the music) is part of what drew her to her Lost Boys role, although, she admits, she didn’t initially go for it, concerned that her self-admitted “bubbly” persona would be at odds with the “hardened rockstar” vibe of Star. She singles out director Michael Arden (with whom she worked on a reading for Once on This Island) for giving her the space to open up and show the more punk-rock side of her talents.

“I heard ‘War’ for the first time as part of my audition packet, and I was literally floored,” they recall. “I just couldn’t believe this is a song that exists, and I said to [my husband], ‘I cannot imagine what a gift it would be to sing this song every night!’ And the fact that then it actually happened? It just blows my mind every single day.”

Over time, Wirries’s understanding of the show – and her character – has evolved, enriching her approach to the performance.

“When you first encounter [Star], she’s really walled-off and hardened to the world, and I think initially you want to lean into that. But then, the journey was finding her vulnerability and her softness. Why did she build those walls? And when you get to that part, and you’re connecting with other people, like LJ [Benet] or Ali [Louis Bourzgui], or the other Lost Boys, you find so much under there. I think it forces you to go inward and be vulnerable and be open to people. Getting to find more of Star's joy and her fun, it's just been amazing.”

“War” remains a favorite, but Wirries also cites “Now, Forever,” the tender duet she shares with Benet, as a highlight of her work on The Lost Boys.

“It’s such a satisfying experience to act it every night, discovering that electricity and that newness every single time and finding ways to surprise each other. The show is going at a thousand percent, and then there’s this moment where we’re completely still on this billboard, bumping into each other, or our feet crossing, with all these tiny details that give you that feeling — how it feels like there’s electricity, and that’s something we get to craft every night.”

If there are two through-lines powering Wirries’s success, it’s a willingness to be vulnerable and an emphasis on the power of community – sometimes, both at once.

“It’s about being yourself and focused, and then also allowing yourself to open up to people and getting to the heart of it… Collaboration is going to be vulnerable,” Wirries reflects. “I’ve met so many great people who I think are just going to revolutionize this field, and I’m so excited to see that happen. Doing demos is one of my favorite things to do, because I get to hear what people are working on and be like, ‘Oh my god, I can’t believe you thought of that!’”

“It’s a tricky career,” she continues. “It’s a beautiful art form and craft, and a meaningful and beautiful and deep career if you can make it for yourself. But it is a job, and you have to continue to find why you love it, alongside the fact that you’re doing taxes and marketing yourself and networking. You have to keep searching for that spark. Continue finding that light in what you do, and continue to live your life… It’s about finding stability and balance in your actual life so that your career can flourish on its own and not be everything. Get out and enjoy life!”

Lightning Round

What’s on your playlist right now? “I’ve been listening to Phoebe Bridgers because of her recent album with the song 'Lost Boys,' and that song has just been on repeat! That album is so beautiful for right now; it just feels very late-summer, early-fall, life is changing.”

Pre-show must-have: “A dirty chai! I needed that extra kick but it’s not too much caffeine, and it feels like fall.”

Favorite thing about Star: “I love that she is, despite all that’s happening, she’s eternally hopeful, and I think it’s really beautiful that she’s able to continue to find faith and hope and an ability to keep trying.”

Which TLB character would you want to play other than your own? “It probably would be the Sax Guy! It’s an iconic role, and Cameron Loyal is holding it down!”