Cast and Creative Team Set for World Premiere of PRIVATE JONES at Signature Theatre

Signature Theatre has revealed the cast and creative team for the world premiere musical Private Jones, written and directed by Marshall Pailet (Who’s Your Baghdaddy, or how i started the iraq war and Triassic Parq). Telling the story of a deaf Welsh sniper in World War I, the creative team for Private Jones includes Music Director Myrna Conn (Broadway’s Pretty Women, National Tour of Come From Away), Choreographer Misha Shields (Off-Broadway’s Who’s Your Baghdaddy, Atlantic Theatre Company’s Wonderland), and Director of Artistic Sign Language Alexandria Wailes (Broadway’s Children of a Lesser God, Apple TV’s CODA). Performances run February 6 – March 10, 2024 in Signature’s MAX Theatre. Tickets start at $40 and are available at SigTheatre.org.

“Signature has always prided itself on its commitment to producing new works written by bold new voices in the American musical theater,” said Artistic Director Matthew Gardiner. “I am proud that our landmark 61st world premiere production will be Private Jones, a daring new musical that tells an important story about friendship, community and the cost of war from the unique perspective of a deaf protagonist, with a company led by the singular talent of writer and director Marshall Pailet. I am excited to bring this exhilarating world premiere musical adventure to Signature audiences come February.”

“I knew I wanted to write a WW1 trench warfare epic that explores how we value each other and what happens to the mind and spirit when it’s asked to commit violence,” said Writer and Director Marshall Pailet. “I wanted to find a story where content and form could be perfectly entangled, where the staging and writing felt of one unbreakable whole. When I stumbled on the inspiration for Private Jones, my brain exploded: what would a war scene feel like if you can't hear the bullets? How could we use music, sound foley and ensemble storytelling to illustrate a deaf sniper’s experience from his perspective? Ultimately what we want to explore is how we do and don’t empathize with people we don’t understand, which feels critical in a world like ours that’s become increasingly hostile. My hope is that everyone in the audience, hearing and deaf, empathizes with Private Jones – his dreams are ours, his shame is ours, and so too his triumph over cynicism and dehumanization.”

“If you are someone who loves musicals as much as I do, you're always hoping to find your next favorite show,” said Director of Artistic Development Anika Chapin. “The first time I encountered Private Jones - only a few days after Marshall Pailet had started writing it - I knew I was in the presence of something special. The story seemed to pour through Marshall; he saw Gomer Jones, a lonely Welsh boy who has lost his hearing and hides it to become a soldier, so clearly. And he saw just as clearly a uniquely theatrical show using techniques both old and new to bring us inside Gomer's world. The musical Marshall created is bold and innovative, hilarious and heartbreaking, dark and deeply human. It asks big questions and introduces you to characters you'll miss when you leave the theater. After seeing Private Jones, I hope Signature audiences, like me, feel they have found their new favorite.”

Private Jones is a gripping, inspiring and unexpectedly funny world premiere musical adventure about a deaf Welsh sniper in World War I. After losing his hearing, Gomer Jones is left behind when the rest of the young men enlist. However, when fresh recruits are needed, he fakes his way into a battalion alongside a group of colorful, misfit trainees. Once the “bastards,” as they call themselves, reach the front, Jones becomes a celebrated sniper, but getting everything he thought he wanted might mean losing himself in the process. With rousing songs and an innovative soundscape, and featuring a cast of hearing, Deaf and hard-of-hearing actors, Private Jones is an exhilarating musical experience unlike anything else. 

The cast of Private Jones includes Leanne Antonio (Broadway’s The Lion King, La Jolla’s Lempicka) as Gwenolyn/Evans, Deimoni Brewington (Signature’s Passing Strange, Theater Alliance’s Blood at the Root) as Bailey, David Aron Damane (Broadway’s Big River, Transport Group’s The Unsinkable Molly Brown) as Father/Drill Sergeant, Dickie Hearts (The Public’s Dark Disabled Stories, Netflix’s Tales of the City) as Henry, Johnny Link (Netflix’s My Life With the Walter Boys, Apple TV’s Dear Edward) as Gomer Jones, Jake Loewenthal (Signature’s Ragtime, Into the Woods) as Redvers, Vincent Michael (Signature’s Into the Woods, RENT) as Edmund, and Erin Weaver (Signature’s Into the Woods, Company) as King. The ensemble of Private Jones is rounded out by Alex De Bard (Signature’s Passing Strange, Into the Woods), Amelia Hensley (Broadway’s Spring Awakening, Olney Theatre Center’s The Music Man), George Psomas (Broadway’s Fiddler on the Roof, South Pacific), and Emily Steinhardt (International Tour of A Chorus Line, Goodspeed's Private Jones [workshop]). Ariel Friendly (Signature’s Ragtime), Nicholas Hohrman (Gallaudet University's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead), Stephen Russell Murray (Signature’s Which Way to the Stage), and Hank von Kolnitz (Signature’s Sweeney Todd) are swings. 

The creative team for Private Jones includes Scenic Design by Christopher and Justin Swader (Primary Stages’ Dig, York Theatre Company’s Midnight at the Never Get), Costume Design by Phương Nguyễn (Bedlam’s The Good John Proctor, Ma-Yi’s Once Upon a Korean Time), Lighting Design by Jen Schriever (Broadway’s A Strange Loop, Death of a Salesman), Sound Design by Eric Norris (Signature’s Ragtime, The Bridges of Madison County), Video Design by Patrick W. Lord (Lincoln Center’s Where Words Once Were, Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Hamlet), Wig Design by Anne Nesmith (Signature’s Ragtime, Sweeney Todd), and with Puppets by Nicholas Mahon (Off-Broadway’s Little Shop of Horrors, National Tour of The Wizard of Oz). Catherine Flye is the Dialect Coach, Ryan O’Connell is the Orchestrator, and Mason Frasher is the Copyist and Keyboard Programmer. Casting is by Jorge Acevedo. New York Casting is by JZ Casting. Kerry Epstein is the Production Stage Manager, Lauren Pekel is the Assistant Stage Manager, Sara Gehl is the Production Assistant, Ashley Mapley-Brittle is the Associate Director, Marika Countouris is the Associate Music Director, Daniel Powers is the Assistant Choreographer, Ari Goldbloom-Helzner is the Music Assistant, Noah Hull is the Assistant Scenic Designer, Alexa Cassandra Duimstra is the Assistant Costume Designer, Elijah Thomas is the Assistant Lighting Designer, Phoenix Sweeney is the Assistant Sound Designer, Clara Ashe-Moore is the Associate Video Designer, and Julian Kelley is the Assistant Video Designers. First Chair is the Interpretation Partner.

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