Cast & Creative Team Announced For World Premiere Of Dave Malloy's THREE HOUSES

Signature Theatre (Paige Evans, Artistic Director; Timothy J. McClimon, Executive Director) has announced the cast and creative team for its production of Three Houses, a world premiere musical from Signature Premiere Resident Dave Malloy (Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet of 1812), directed and choreographed by Annie Tippe, who helmed Signature's acclaimed world premiere of Malloy's Octet in 2019.

Susan is in Latvia. Sadie is in New Mexico. Beckett is in Ireland. All three are alone; all three are haunted by their grandparents; all three hear the Big Bad Wolf scratching at the door. Three Houses is a post-pandemic open mic night parable about magic, madness, and the end of the world.

Performing the world premiere will be J.D. Mollison (Octet and Iphigenia 2.0 at Signature) as Beckett, Mia Pak (Suffs, Your Own Personal Exegesis) as Sadie, Margo Seibert (Octet, Rocky on Broadway) as Susan, Henry Stram (The Illusion at Signature, Network on Broadway) as Grandfather, Scott Stangland (Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 and Shucked on Broadway) as Wolf, and Ching Valdes-Aran (Home, Felix Starro) as Grandmother.

The Three Houses creative team includes Or Matias (Music Direction & Music Supervision), dots (Scenic Design), Haydee Zelideth (Costume Design), Christopher Bowser (Lighting Design), Nick Kourtides (Sound Design), and James Ortiz (Puppet Design and Direction).

Malloy and Tippe's previous collaboration at Signature, the chamber choir musical Octet, explored the lives of eight internet addicts, immersed in an endless sea of information and phantasmal connection. In a Critic's Pick review for The New York Times, Ben Brantley called it “sublime” and wrote that it was likely “the most original and topical musical of the year." Sara Holdren of Vulture wrote, "Octet is that rare and thrilling thing: a new musical that really does feel new.” The production won OBIE, Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, and Outer Critics Circle Awards.

Signature's 2024 season begins on January 30 with Sunset Baby, Signature Premiere Resident, Tony Award nominee, and MacArthur Fellow Dominique Morisseau's “smart and bracing” play that “covers vast acres of social and political ground” (The New York Times). This new production re-teams director Steve H. Broadnax III both with Morisseau (he directed the world and NY premieres of Blood at the Root) and with Signature (where he staged the world premiere production of Katori Hall's Pulitzer Prize-winning The Hot Wing King). Spotlight Resident Sarah Ruhl's Orlando, based on the Virginia Woolf novel, starts previews on April 2. Recently-appointed Rattlestick Theatre Artistic Director Will Davis directs, with Taylor Mac playing the era-hopping, gender-shifting protagonist.

Dave Malloy is a composer/writer/performer/orchestrator. He has written music for fifteen musicals, including Moby-Dick, a four-part musical reckoning with Melville's classic novel; Octet, a chamber choir musical about internet addiction; Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, an electropop opera based on a slice of Tolstoy's War & Peace (12 Tony nominations, including Best Musical, Score, Book, and Orchestrations); Ghost Quartet, a song cycle about love, death, and whiskey; Preludes, a musical fantasia set in the hypnotized mind of Sergei Rachmaninoff; Little Bunny Foo Foo, a forest entertainment for small people; Three Pianos, a drunken romp through Schubert's “Winterreise”; Black Wizard/Blue Wizard, an escapist RPG fantasy; Beowulf—A Thousand Years of Baggage, an anti-academia rock opera; Beardo, a reinterpretation of the Rasputin myth; Sandwich, a musical about killing animals; and Clown Bible, Genesis to Revelation told through clowns. Other notable shows include All Hands, The Sewers, and (The 99-cent) Miss Saigon. He has won three Obie Awards, a Smithsonian Ingenuity Award, a Drama Desk Award, a Lortel Award, a Theater World Award, the Richard Rodgers Award, an ASCAP New Horizons Award, and a Jonathan Larson Grant; has been a MacDowell fellow and Composer-in-Residence at Ars Nova; and is a Residency 5 Writer at the Signature Theatre. Upcoming: The Witches at The National Theatre in London, November 2023.  He lives in New York. 

Annie Tippe is a director and creator of new work, music theater and film. With frequent collaborator Dave Malloy, she directed the world premieres and subsequent productions of Octet and Ghost Quartet. For Octet, she won the Lortel Award for Best Direction and was named an SDC Callaway Award Finalist. Recent: Molly Beach Murphy + Jeanna Phillip's COWBOY BOB (Alley Theatre), Britta Johnson's Life After (Goodman Theatre; Jeff Award Nominee), Julia May Jonas' Your Own Personal Exegesis (Lincoln Center), Leslye Headland's Cult of Love (IAMA), Bess Wohl's Continuity (Goodman Theatre), Tony Meneses' The Hombres (Two River), and James + Jerome's INK (co-directed w. Rachel Chavkin) and The Conversationalists (Bushwick Starr). Her film “HELP ME MARY'' won Best Narrative Short at the Lower East Side Film Festival. Former Ars Nova Director-in-Residence, Drama League Directing Fellow, Williamstown Directing Corps. UPCOMING: Selina Fillinger's POTUS at Berkeley Rep.

Meet The Cast

J.D. Mollison (Beckett, He/Him). J.D. is super excited to be returning to Signature with Three Houses after appearing here in Octet and Chuck Mee's Iphigenia 2.0 at Signature. Other past productions include Malvolio (Classical Theater of Harlem), X or Betty Shabazz Vs. The Nation (The Acting Company), black odyssey (CalShakes), Billy Strayhorn: Something to Live For (PPT), Moby Dick (A.R.T.), Venice (Public Theater), A Civil War Christmas (NYTW), Les Miserables (Broadway Revival), The Box (The Foundry),  A Winter's Tale (Public Works DTC), Jelly's Last Jam (Alliance Theatre). TV/Film: "Godfather of Harlem", The Snare, “Shameless,” “Madam Secretary,” "SVU",  “Shades of Blue,” Training: CMU.

Mia Pak (Sadie, She/Her) is an actor, singer, and songwriter based in Brooklyn, New York. Recent credits include Suffs (The Public Theater), In the Green (Lincoln Center Theater), and Your Own Personal Exegesis (Lincoln Center Theater). Her first solo album will be coming out in Spring 2024 under the name miamiamia.

Margo Seibert (Susan, She/Her) won a Drama Desk Award for her performance in Signature Theatre's production of Dave Malloy's Octet. Broadway credits include Adrian in Rocky (Drama League Award nomination), and Jane in In Transit Off-Broadway: Unknown Soldier, The Thanksgiving Play, Tamar of the River (Drama Desk Award nomination), The Undeniable Sound of Right Now. Select regional credits: Always, Patsy Cline, Doll's House Part 2, Ever After, Last Five Years. TV: “FBI: International,” “Instinct,” “The Good Cop,' “Elementary,” “Boardwalk Empire.” 

Scott Stangland (Wolf, He/Him) is a New York-based actor and musician. Broadway: Shucked (Tank); Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 (Pierre); Once (Eamon). Off-Broadway: Cyrano (New Group Theater), The Butcher Boy (Irish Repertory Theater). Regional: Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 (A.R.T.); The Wheel (Steppenwolf Theatre). Select TV: FBI, FBI: Most Wanted (CBS); The Blacklist (FOX); The Deuce, Vinyl (HBO); Wu Tang: An American Saga (Hulu); New Amsterdam (NBC); Jessica Jones (Netflix); Select Film: Contagion and End of the Tour. Scott received his MFA from The Theatre Conservatory at Roosevelt University. Scott also plays in the band Youth in a Roman Field.

Henry Stram (Grandfather, He/Him). Signature: The Illusion.  Broadway:  Network, Junk, The Elephant Man, Inherit The Wind, The Crucible, Titanic.  Recent Off-Broadway:  The Beautiful Lady (La MaMa); The Headlands (LCT3); Judgment Day and The Hairy Ape (Park Avenue Armory); Posterity (Atlantic); Fly By Night (Playwrights Horizons); The Cradle Will Rock (Encores Off Center). Film: Ben Is Back, The Greatest Showman, Cradle Will Rock, Angelica, Irrational Man, The Grey Zone, Illuminata.  TV:  “The Blacklist,” “The Good Fight,” “The Gilded Age,” “Smash,” “Law And Order.” Stram is a graduate of Juilliard and the recipient of an OBIE Award for Sustained Excellence.

Ching Valdes-Aran (Grandmother, She/Her) is an award-winning theater artist who resides in NYC. Signature Theatre debut. Selected Roles: Aying (OBIE Award, Flipzoids, Ma-Yi Theatre), Imelda Marcos (Lucille Lortel nomination, Dogeaters, Public Theater), Lady Macbeth, Lady Capulet, Duke Senior  (NYSF Shakespeare on Broadway, Belasco Theatre), Mother Courage (Ma-Yi Theatre), Medea (Medea, Pan Asian Repertory), Bernarda Alba (The House of Bernarda Alba, NAATCO), Clytemnestra (Iphigenia in Aulis, Yale Rep), Athena (Iphigenia in Taurus, La MaMa & Greek Int'l Festival), Empress Tzushi (Empress of China, Cincinnati Playhouse), and Philoktetes (Shatterhand Company, Berliner Fiespiele).  Most recently she played Mom in the all-Asian cast of Sam Shepard's True West at People's Light. Other Awards:  2021 Ruthie Award, Fox Foundation Fellowship, Asian Cultural Council Fellowship, New Dramatists' Charles Bowden Award,  Ma-Yi Award for Artistic Excellence,  MAP grantee (Foundry), U.S. Congressional Award for Arts & Culture, others. Selected film and TV:  Missing Link (Golden Globe, 6 Oscar nominations), From What Is Before (Mula sa Kung Ano ang Noon) (winner of five awards at the Locarno Film Festival ), Across the Universe, “Sex & The City,” “The Blacklist,”  others. Valdes-Aran most recently appeared in Geoff Sobelle's Home, which premiered at BAM in 2017 and continues to tour through 2024.

Meet the Creative Team

Or Matias (Music Direction & Music Supervision, He/Him) is an Obie award-winning music supervisor, composer, and orchestrator based in NYC. Most recently, Or was the music supervisor and arranger for Grey House on Broadway. Last season, Or was the music supervisor and co-orchestrator of Love Around the Block, the immersive theatrical extravaganza commissioned by Hermès to celebrate the launch of their new Madison Avenue flagship store. As music director he has worked extensively with Josh Groban, The Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Duncan Sheik, Phillipa Soo, Dave Malloy, Rachel Chavkin, and countless others. Or was the music director and conductor for the hit Broadway musical Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812. Other select music director and music supervisor credits include: Octet at the Signature Theater & Berkeley Rep (NYT Critic's Pick; Special Citation Obie Award), for which he also co-produced the cast album (released by Nonesuch Records and Warner Music Group); First Daughter Suite at The Public Theater (NYT Critic's Pick); Preludes at Lincoln Center Theater, in which he also co-starred as Sergei Rachmaninoff (Lortel Award nomination; NYT Critic's Pick); and Moby Dick at A.R.T. (Elliot Norton Award nomination). Upcoming projects include Noir by Duncan Sheik, The Black Clown by Davone Tines, My Joy is Heavy by The Bengsons, and BLACK SWAN by Dave Malloy. Or's original musical The Wave received its world premiere at the prestigious Landestheater Linz in 2020, and won top prizes at the 'Germany Tony Awards', including "Best Musical," "Best Score," and "Best Book." Or is on faculty at Manhattan School of Music. He holds a BM from The Juilliard School, an MFA from NYU, and is a sponsored Yamaha Artist.

dots (Scenic Design) is a multi-disciplinary design collective creating environments for theater, film, commercials, and immersive experiences. Hailing from Colombia, South Africa, and Japan, we are Santiago Orjuela-Laverde, Andrew Moerdyk, and Kimie Nishikawa. As collaborators, we believe that the whole is greater than the sum of its individual parts. Recent credits: Appropriate (Broadway: Second Stage), Ulysses (Elevator Repair Service), Infinite Life (Atlantic Theater co; National Theatre), Madame Butterfly (Cincinnati Opera), The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window (Broadway : James Earl Jones Theater; BAM), Dark Disabled Stories (The Public Theater), Public Obscenities (Soho Rep, NAATCO, Drama Desk nomination), Kate Berlant is KATE (Connelly Theater), You Will Get Sick (Roundabout Theater, Lucille Lortel nomination). 

Haydee Zelideth (Costume Design, She/Her) is a Chicana artist and costume designer. Clothes carry on public conversations with others and share stories about who we are, who we are not, and who we wish to be. They are a means of exploring how image can open up perceptions of race, class, socioeconomic status, and more - all of which is what most interests her. She grew up on both sides of the Mexican border and these experiences inform her point of view and how she approaches her work, giving depth, dimension and color to the specificities of someone's life. 

Christopher Bowser (Lighting Design, He/Him) is a production and event designer based in Brooklyn and upstate NY. His lighting was previously seen at Signature on Dave Malloy's Octet directed by Annie Tippe in 2019; Also, lighting design for Cowboy Bob (Alley Theatre), production design for Salty Brine's Living Record Collection (Joe's Pub, Soho Theater London), Constellations (Geva Theatre), Heather Christian's Animal Wisdom (Woolly Mammoth) and Ghost Quartet (Bushwick Starr, tour). 

Nick Kourtides (Sound Design, He/Him) designs for musical theatre and creates sound environments for devised ensemble works. He is the global sound designer for Magic Mike Live in Las Vegas, London, Berlin, and Australia. Off-Broadway: Oratorio for Living Things (Ars Nova), Blacklight (Greenwich House), The Lucky Ones (Ars Nova), Object Lesson (NYTW, BAM), Elephant Room (St. Ann's), Carson McCullers Talks About Love (Rattlestick), and Jomama Jones: Radiate (Soho Rep). Regional: Actors Theatre of Louisville, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Cleveland Playhouse, New York Stage and Film, McCarter, the Geffen, Center Theatre Group, the Folger, Studio Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre, Arena Stage, Milwaukee Rep, the Wilma, the Arden, PTC, Prince Music Theater, and La Jolla Playhouse. With Pig Iron Theatre Company: A Period of Animate Existence, Cankerblossom, Isabella, Chekhov Lizardbrain, and Mission to Mercury. Nick has taught Sound Design for Live Performance at Drexel University and Swarthmore College. He has received an OBIE, Lucille Lortel, Bessie, and Barrymore Awards. 

James Ortiz's (Puppet Design and Direction, He/Him) recent creation of Milky White for the Broadway revival of Into the Woods and the Dinosaurs for Lincoln Center's Tony-nominated The Skin of Our Teeth have become fan favorites. Recently: Disney's Hercules. Previous credits include The Kennedy Center, Paper Mill Playhouse, The Public Theater, Carnegie Melon University, Dallas Theatre Center, Shakespeare Theatre of DC, Ars Nova, and New World Stages. 2022 Drama Desk winner for The Skin of our Teeth. 2016 OBIE winner for The Woodsman. American Theatre magazine “Six Theatre Workers you Should Know” in 2020.

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