Robbie Schaefer's New Musical 'LIGHT YEARS' to Host Album Launch Party at D.C.'s Signature Theatre

Acclaimed folk-rock band Eddie from Ohio's Robbie Schaefer will host an album launch and signing party in Signature's Mead Lobby on Monday, December 11 at 7PM for the new album, Sounds Like Home - Songs from The Musical Light Years.

Robbie will perform songs from and discuss his world premiere musical Light Years, a deeply personal tale of immigration and his cherished bond with his father.

Enriched with beautiful folk-rock music, inventive lyrics and Robbie's disarming sense of humor, Sounds Like Home - Songs from The Musical Light Years will become a new favorite for folk and musical theater fans. Light Years will have its world premiere in Signature's MAX Theatre February 6 - March 4, 2018.

CDs will be available for sale and Robbie will be available to sign the CDs at the December 11 event. Ali's Bar will also be open for drink service at this special event. The launch event is free, no reservations required.

IF YOU GO:

Sounds Like Home: Songs from the Musical Light Years Album Release and Launch Party

Monday, December 11 at 7PM

At Signature Theatre, Mead Lobby, 4200 Campbell Ave, Arlington, VA

FREE, No Reservations Required

Info: SigTheatre.org or (703) 820-9771

Light Years, with book, music & lyrics by Robbie Schaefer, will run February 1 - April 17, 2018 in the MAX Theatre, directed by Eric Schaeffer.

Acclaimed folk/rock/indie band Eddie From Ohio's Robbie Schaefer crafts a touching and funny world premiere musical portrait featuring Bobby Smith. A master storyteller, Robbie journeys from his childhood in India to the joys and struggles of growing up, pursuing his passion and raising a family. Entwined throughout is his cherished relationship with his father-and his father's haunted past. Enriched with beautiful folk-rock music, inventive lyrics and Robbie's disarming humor, Light Years is a deeply personal tale of immigration, musical gifts and the steadfast bond between father and son.

Robbie Schaefer is a musician, storyteller, and playwright devoted to art as activism. He is the guitarist and songwriter for the indie folk band Eddie From Ohio (150,000 CD's sold and winners of 7 Washington Area Music Awards), and has released several solo albums, including his most recent, 2017?s Sounds Like Home: Songs >From the Musical, Light Years.

He is also the founder of OneVoice, an international non-profit devoted to uniting and empowering youth through music and the creative arts. The organization has on-going projects in Tanzania, Nicaragua, India, and Pikpa refugee camp in Lesvos, Greece.

Robbie served as on-air host and Music Director at Sirius XM Satellite Radio's Kids Place Live from 2007-2012, and in 2012 and 2016 presented TEDx Youth talks in Boulogne-Billancourt (Paris), France.

His music has been licensed by Samsung, and he has created commissioned works for the American Red Cross, Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, and the world premiere of Arlene Hutton's Gulf View Drive at the Actor's Co-op in Los Angeles, CA.

His first work for musical theater, Light Years, premieres at Signature Theatre in February 2018.

Born out of a deep desire to serve the world through his art and inextricably linked to his own creative and spiritual exploration, Robbie's work continues in service of his core mission as an artist: to cultivate and illuminate the creative spark that is the essence of every human being. Also, he really loves olives. Like, a lot.

Recipient of the 2009 Regional Theatre Tony Award, Signature Theatre is a non-profit professional theater company in Arlington, Virginia dedicated to producing contemporary musicals and plays, reinventing classic musicals, and developing new work. Under the leadership of co-founder and Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer and Managing Director Maggie Boland, Signature has presented 44 world premiere productions and is renowned for combining Broadway-quality productions with intimate playing spaces.

In addition to hosting the finest talent from the DC metropolitan area and New York, Signature has been home to such luminaries as Chita Rivera, Sheryl Crow, Barry Levinson, Debra Monk, Boyd Gaines, James Lapine, George Hearn, Hunter Foster, Emily Skinner, Kathleen Marshall, Ann Reinking, Marc Kudisch, Judy Kuhn, John Kander and Fred Ebb, Cameron Mackintosh, Terrence McNally, and the company's signature composer, Stephen Sondheim. Since its founding in 1989, Signature has won 97 Helen Hayes Awards for excellence in the Washington, DC region's professional theater and has been honored with 386 nominations.

Pictured: Bobby Smith and Tyler Quentin Smallwood. Photo by Christopher Mueller. Cover design by Jessica Aimone.