Signature Theatre Presents 'THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED' 1/13

Signature Theatre presents the Washington premiere of the Tony®-nominated comedy The Little Dog Laughed, an outrageous satire of Hollywood ambition, truth, and illusion in America's celebrity-obsessed culture. Three-time Helen Hayes Award-winner Holly Twyford portrays the brash, fast-talking agent Diane, whose client Mitchell (Matthew Montelongo) has a chance to make it big if he only stays in the closet. When Mitchell starts to fall for a charmingly sweet male escort (Ivan Quintanilla) with a needy girlfriend (Casie Platt), Diane's plans may unravel. But nothing derails this über-agent in her pursuit of power and money as she skillfully and hilariously manipulates all within her reach. Written by Douglas Carter Beane, it's Hollywood at its juiciest.

The Little Dog Laughed runs in Signature's intimate 110-seat ARK Theatre from January 13 to March 8, 2009.

The creative team includes director Michael Baron, set designer Lee Savage, costume designer Guy Lee Bailey, lighting designer Mark Lanks, and sound designer Matt Rowe.

According to Michael Baron, "I chose to direct The Little Dog Laughed as the perfect hot, new comedy to get us through the frigid winter months. This production has many things to look forward to including a hysterical plot that builds to a knock-out ending, an ensemble of fantastically funny and sexy actors led by the stellar Holly Twyford and hunky Matthew Montelongo, a wardrobe to make anyone wish the recession was over, celebrity gossip to make us feel good about ourselves, and an inside look at something just as repressed as gays in the military - gays in Hollywood! It's a comedy where everybody ‘wins' if they play the game right. The question is...Are you willing to compromise who you are just to ‘win' the Hollywood prize? And I have my guess as to which celebrity the play is based on. Who is yours?"

Tickets, ranging in price from $44 - $71, are available by calling Ticketmaster at (703) 573-7328 or visiting www.signature-theatre.org. The production includes mature themes, nudity, and explicit sexual content and is not recommended for children. Show times are Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:30 pm, Thursday and Friday at 8:00 pm, Saturday at 2:00 pm and 8:00 pm, and Sunday at 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm. There is no performance on Inauguration Day, Tuesday, January 20. The press opening performance is Sunday, January 18 at 7:00 pm.

Matthew Montelongo BROADWAY: Roundabout Theatre: The Ritz (dir. Joe Mantello). OFF-BROADWAY: Vineyard Theatre/New Georges: God's Ear; Rattlestick Theatre: Five Flights; Roundabout Theatre: Arms and the Man and The Mineola Twins (dir. Roger Rees, Joe Mantello, respectively); Public Theatre/NYSF: Tartuffe (dir. Mark Brokaw). REGIONAL: Westport Country Playhouse: Of Mice and Men (dir. Mark Lamos); Woolly Mammoth: Vigils (Helen Hayes nomination, Best Ensemble); TheatreWorks/Hartford Stage/St. Louis Rep.: Take Me Out; ALLIANCE THEATRE: Elliot: A Soldier's Fugue; Folger: The Game of Love and Chance; Hangar Theatre: Rough Magic; Studio Theatre: Black Milk, Far Away, Far East; Delaware Theatre Co.: The Glass Menagerie; Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey: Richard II; Capital Repertory Theatre: The Sweepers; Old Globe: Beyond Therapy; others. TV: "Guiding Light," "All My Children," "One Life to Live."

Casie Platt (Ellen) SIGNATURE: The Lieutenant of Inishmore, The Sex Habits of American Women. LOCAL: Catalyst Theater: Crumble...(Lay Me Down, Justin Timberlake), We Are Not These Hands; Woolly Mammoth: Current Nobody; Rorschach Theatre: Dream Sailors; African Continuum Theatre Company: The Gingham Dog; The Inkwell Festival: OK; Imagination Stage: Junie B. Jones and A Little Monkey Business, Bunnicula; Bouncing Ball Theatrical Productions/Capital Fringe Festival: Cautionary Tales for Adults and The Many Adventures of Trixie Tickles, Lunch; Theatre Alliance: You Are Here; Didactic Theatre: The Glory of Living; Maryland Shakespeare Festival: Much Ado About Nothing. EDUCATION: Catholic University of America, MFA.

Ivan Quintanilla (Alex) OFF-BROADWAY: Rattlestick Theater: Acts of Mercy; 59E59: Fernando and the Killer Queen, Higher Up; Fringe NYC: The Silent Concerto; The Triad: Kids in America. REGIONAL: ALLIANCE THEATRE: Elliot, A Soldier's Fugue; Huntington Theatre: Sonia Flew; Stamford Theatre Works: Spinning Into Butter; St. Michael's Playhouse: Deathtrap; Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma: Chicago; Paper Mill Playhouse: Pippin; Stage West: Skylight; MacOwan Theatre: As You Like It. TV: "Law & Order," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent;" "All My Children;" "Walker, Texas Ranger." EDUCATION: Southern Methodist University, BFA, Theatre; London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

Holly Twyford (Diane) SIGNATURE: Twentieth Century. LOCAL: Arena Stage: Long Day's Journey into Night, The Plough and the Stars, The Matchmaker, The Miser, Arcadia, On the Jump, An American Daughter; Arden Theatre: Private Lives, Candida; Folger: Romeo and Juliet (Helen Hayes Award), Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, As You Like It, Othello, Twelfth Night, Melissa Arctic, All's Well That Ends Well, The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Helen Hayes Award); Round House: The Sisterhood, Living Out; Studio Theatre: The Steward of Christendom, Desk Set, Betty's Summer Vacation, Shape of Things (Helen Hayes Award), Far Away, Black Milk, The Internationalist, The Road to Mecca; Theatre J: Life in Refusal, There Are No Strangers; Woolly Mammoth: Goodnight, Desdemona (Good Morning, Juliet), Stop Kiss, Recent Tragic Events.

Michael Baron (Director) SIGNATURE: December Divas; The Lost Songs of Broadway: Vol. I and 2; Songs for a New World (Signature at the Music Center at Strathmore); Ricky, Joe, and Michael John; The Sex Habits of American Women; Sizzlin' Summer Nights Concert Series OFF-BROADWAY: Nice Jewish Girls Gone Bad. NEW YORK: La Mama: The Whore of Sheridan Square (wrote and directed, published in anthology Plays and Playwrights 2006), Modern Living; Ars Nova: Miss Richfield's High Hair, High Hopes, Hygiene. REGIONAL: Lincoln Theatre: Julia Nixon: Live in Concert; Goodspeed Musicals: Meet John Doe; Adventure Theatre: Stuart Little; Trinity Repertory: The School for Scandal, A Christmas Carol; Perishable Theatre: Lamarck; SpeakEasy Stage: Hot Star; Nebraska; Ensemble Studio Theatre: Give Me Space. TEACHING: American University, Brown University, Holy Cross College, and Rhode Island College. OTHER: NEA/TCG Career Development Program For Directors; Theatre grant panelist for the Mead Theatre Lab 2006-09, National Endowment for the Arts 2005, and the Massachusetts Council on the Arts 2003. TRAINING: Wake Forest University, BA, Theatre Arts; Trinity Repertory Conservatory, MFA, Directing. UPCOMING: Washington Savoyards: The Music Man.

ABOUT SIGNATURE

Under the leadership of co-founder and Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer and Managing Director Maggie Boland, Signature is a non-profit professional theater company dedicated to producing contemporary musicals and plays, reinventing classic musicals, and developing new work. To date, Signature has presented over 25 world premiere productions and is renowned for combining Broadway-quality productions with intimate playing spaces. In addition to the finest talent from the DC metropolitan area and New York, Signature has been a home to such theater luminaries as John Kander and Fred Ebb, Cameron Mackintosh, Terrence McNally, and the company's signature, Stephen Sondheim. Signature has been nominated for 234 Helen Hayes Awards for excellence in the professional theater and has been honored with 59 Helen Hayes Awards, including Outstanding Musical in 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2005, and 2006, and Outstanding Play in 1999.

Directions
Signature Theatre is just 12 minutes from downtown Washington, DC in Arlington's Shirlington Village. The new theater complex is located at 4200 Campbell Avenue (22206) off I-395 at the Shirlington exit. After the exit, blue Signature signs mark the way to the Theatre. Free parking is available in two adjacent public garages. Please note that Campbell Avenue is a new street and some GPS online mapping systems do not yet recognize Signature Theatre's address. For directions visit www.signature-theatre.org.

Contact Information
Ticketmaster (703) 573-SEAT (7328)