Signature Theatre to Feature SATURDAY NIGHT Concert, 10/29-30

For its 22nd season, Signature Theatre is celebrating their signature composer Stephen Sondheim by presenting his very first musical, Saturday Night (1953) as a concert event for four performances only on Saturday, October 29th (2pm and 8pm) and Sunday, October 30th (2pm and 7pm). This rarely performed hidden gem from America's foremost musical theater composer features a book by Julius and Philip Epstein, with music and lyrics - unperformed in full until 1997 - by Sondheim. This special limited engagement will be directed by Signature's Associate Artistic Director Matthew Gardiner (Side by Side by Sondheim, The Hollow) and the Music Director is Jon Kalbfleisch. Limited seating is still available, with single ticket prices at $41 each. Saturday Night will play in Signature's MAX Theatre.

The cast is led by Broadway's Geoff Packard (Candide at the Goodman Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, and Huntington Theatre Company), and a bevy of DC's leading talent including Eleasha Gamble, Susan Derry, Sam Ludwig, Evan Casey, Tracy Lynn Olivera, Bayla Whitten, William Diggle, Danny Yoerges, Buzz Mauro, Alan DeMont Wiggins, William Beech, and Mike Barry.

"With such an exciting season at Signature filled with so many world premieres, it seemed fitting to present a Sondheim work that is so rarely performed" said Eric Schaeffer, Signature's Artistic Director. "We are excited to bring this early Sondheim musical to a DC audience."

The year is 1929 - on the eve of the stock market crash. A group of middle-class Brooklyn bachelors despair over their dateless Saturdays nights. One of them, Gene, works in a menial position at a Wall Street brokerage, but has dreams of living the exciting Manhattan social life. While his friends remain content with life as is, Gene concocts a "get-rick-quick" scheme that ultimately backfires and may land him in jail. The musical features seldom performed treasures, including "Saturday Night," "So Many People," and "What More Do I Need?"

Signature Theatre's 2011-2012 line-up features the Tony Award®-winning shows Hairspray and God of Carnage and the Washington DC premiere of the cult classic musical Xanadu. The season also features an unprecedented five world premiere works, including The Hollow, The Boy Detective Fails (both now playing in repertory), Brother Russia, and Really Really. In addition to the mainstage shows, Signature is presenting the world premiere of A Second Chance in a special limited engagement (beginning performances on November 15th). Stephen Sondheim's Saturday Night is a special concert event that will play for four performances only.

Single tickets are now available by calling Ticketmaster at (703) 573-SEAT. Discount subscription packages (starting at 3 shows) are available by calling the Signature Box Office at (703) 820-9771 or visiting our website. Student discount tickets are $30 for mainstage shows and $20 for limited engagements and must be purchased the week of the performance. Signature is also offering "$22 for 2sdays," for $22 tickets to the first two public Tuesday performances of each run. For more information on the 2011-12 season, please visit www.signature-theatre.org.

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 35 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 theatre luminaries as Chita Rivera, George Hearn, Hunter Foster, Emily Skinner, 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 72 Helen Hayes Awards for excellence in the Washington, DC region's professional theater and has been honored with 293 nominations.

Signature is partially supported by a grant from the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts and by a gift from Arlington County through the Arlington Commission for the Arts and the Cultural Affairs Division of the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Resources.

Signature Theatre 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 http://signature-theatre.org/map.htm.