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Nominated as “Performer of the Decade” in BroadwayWorld’s Sarasota Regional Awards for his portrayal of Jim Fingal in The Lifespan Of A Fact at Asolo Rep, Derek went on to win (along with his co-stars) for “Ensemble of the Decade.”
Derek also played the role of Jim in the regional premiere of LOAF at Gloucester Stage Company. The Boston Globe said his “deftly modulated performance [let] us see, bit by bit, the stiff spine beneath Fingal’s skittish exterior.”
Shelley A. Sackett, of The Jewish Journal, wrote “Speedy, as Fingal, quietly controls the pace as his nerdy fact-finder eventually bares his teeth and shows his nettle. His ease and grace on stage is reminiscent of Matt Damon’s nuanced performance in The Talented Mr. Ripley.”
A few years prior, in his freshman year at Harvard, Derek was named one of Variety’s 110 Students to Watch "who represent the future of film, media and entertainment” along with playwrights Will Arbery and Ruby Rae Spiegel.
Also while at Harvard University, Derek was named a 2017 Artist Development Fellow through which he attended an 8-Week Acting Shakespeare Intensive at RADA in London.