Stephanie Hsu, Bill Irwin & More to Star in EURYDICE at Signature's 2023 Gala

Signature Theatre has announced the all-star cast of its reading of Signature Spotlight Resident Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice, directed by Les Waters, for the annual Signature Gala. Supporting Signature Theatre's expansive productions and its groundbreaking playwright residency model, the gala takes place April 24 at the Pershing Square Signature Center. Tables and tickets are on sale here.

Stephanie Hsu, already accomplished on Broadway (magnetizing audiences in productions including Be More Chill and SpongeBob Squarepants the Musical), became one of the "breakout stars of 2022" with her performance in Daniels' Everything Everywhere All at Once, which earned her an Academy Award nomination. Hsu, who also gives acclaimed performances in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Poker Face, and will star in the anticipated Disney+ series American Born Chinese and Adele Lim's upcoming comedy film Joy Ride, plays Eurydice in this one-night-only benefit reading.

Hsu is joined by some of the Contemporary Stage's most vital presences. Tony winning performer Bill Irwin (Endgame, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Rachel Getting Married), a playwright-in- residence at Signature in 2003-04, plays Eurydice's Father. Two-time Tony nominee Tom Sturridge, celebrated for his leading performance in Netflix's The Sandman and, on Broadway, Sea Wall/A Life, 1984, and Orphans, plays Orpheus. Legendary playwright and character actor Wallace Shawn (My Dinner with Andre, The Princess Bride, Clueless, Toy Story), whose plays include The Designated Mourner and Aunt Dan and Lemon, plays A Nasty Interesting Man/The Lord of the Underworld.

Additional casting will be announced at a later date.

Sarah Ruhl began her Signature Spotlight Residency this year with Signature's Kate Whoriskey-directed world premiere of Letters from Max, a ritual, which recently concluded its extended run with glowing critical acclaim. When Eurydice made its Off-Broadway premiere in 2007, Charles Isherwood in The New York Times wrote that the "hallucinatory imagery and emotional allure" of the "weird and wonderful" play left him "stagger[ing] out of the theater" in a "state of sad-happy disorientation."

Signature's 2023 Gala will also honor Board President Douglas E. Chittenden with the Margot Adams Signature Award.

Gala Schedule & Information

The Signature Gala takes place at The Pershing Square Signature Center at Jim Houghton Way, 480 W 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

The evening will begin with cocktails at 5:30pm, followed by the reading of Eurydice and an awards presentation at 6:30pm. Dinner and dancing begin at 8:30pm.

Dress code - Festive Attire.

Gala Co-Chairs are Bloomberg Philanthropies; Doug & Kathy Chittenden; Nina B. Matis & Alan Gosule; Pablo Salame; Edward Skyler, Citi.

The Benefit Committee includes Dr. Brenda Aiken Thompson, Bernard L. Dikman, C.P.A., Paige Evans, David Klafter & Nancy Kestenbaum, Phil & Merritt Konort, Lori Kramer & Stephen Fraidin, Allen T. Lamb, Gina Leonetti, Chris & Tim Little, Lori A. Martin & Christopher L. Eisgruber, Timothy J. McClimon, Dominique Morrisseau, Lila Neugebauer, Nancy Northup & Jim Johnson, Edward Norton & Shauna Robertson, Laura Pels, Michael & Betty Rauch, Donna Walker-Kuhne, Susan Weiner & Chris Aidun.

About Sarah Ruhl (Playwright)

Sarah Ruhl is a playwright, essayist and poet. Her plays include In the Next Room, or the vibrator play, The Clean House, Passion Play, Dead Man's Cell Phone, Melancholy Play; For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday, The Oldest Boy, Stage Kiss, Dear Elizabeth, Eurydice, Orlando, Late: a cowboy song, and a translation of Three Sisters. She has been a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and a Tony award nominee. Her plays have been produced on and off-Broadway, around the country, and internationally where they have been translated into over fifteen languages. Recent: Becky Nurse of Salem premiered at Lincoln Center, 2022; Letters from Max, a ritual, premiered at Signature Theatre, 2023.

About Les Waters (Director)

Les Waters is a multi Obie Award winning and Tony nominated director, whose productions have been seen on Broadway (Dana H., In the Next Room, or the vibrator play), off-Broadway, and regionally. Les' work includes productions at Playwrights Horizons, Signature Theatre Company, The Public Theater, Second Stage Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club, Connelly Theater, Clubbed Thumb, Soho Rep, National Asian American Theatre Company, and Brooklyn Academy of Music, and regionally at theatres such as Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Arena Stage, Huntington Theatre Company, Mark Taper Forum, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Goodman Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, American Conservatory Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, and American Repertory Theater. Les was Artistic Director of Actors Theatre of Louisville from 2012-2018. From 2003-2011, he served as Associate Artistic Director at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. He is both the subject and co-author of The Theatre of Les Waters: More Like the Weather, edited by Scott T. Cummings, published by Routledge, in April 2022.

About Stephanie Hsu (Eurydice)

Stephanie Hsu can be seen in the A24 Oscar winning and BAFTA nominated film Everything Everywhere All At Once from the directing team Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert). Stephanie stars in the dual role 'Joy/Jobu.' The story follows the mother/daughter relationship through a multiverse with infinite versions of their lives also starring Michelle Yeoh, Key Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis. The film debuted at SXSW and released in theaters April 2022 to rave reviews. The film has reached box office records for an indie arthouse film crossing the $100 million mark in global ticket sales, the first A24 film to hit that benchmark. Stephanie earned individual Oscar and SAG Award nominations in the category of Best Supporting Actress. She won the Best Breakthrough Performance at the 2023 Film Independent Spirit Awards and has been honored at the Hamptons Film Festival as their Breakthrough Artist honoree, the Middleburg Film Festival as their Rising Star honoree, the Newport Film Festival as one of Variety's 10 Actors to Watch, the San Francisco Film Festival with The George Gund III Award for Breakthrough Performance and at the Santa Barbara Film Festival as one of their Virtuosos honorees. The film won a Gotham Award and Critics' Choice Award for Best Feature, a SAG Award for Cast in a Motion Picture and has been recognized as AFI's Movie of the Year. The film was nominated for 10 Academy Awards winning Best Film, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Film Editing and was also nominated for 10 BAFTA Awards. Stephanie is also part of the cast of Amazon's Emmy-winning hit show, "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," as 'Mei,' the provocative love-interest to 'Joel Maisel.' The cast won a SAG Award in 2020 for Best Ensemble in a Comedy Series. Next, Stephanie will star in a lead role in Adele Lim's "Joy Ride" alongside Ashley Park, Sherry Cola and Sabrina Wu. The film, produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's company, Point Grey, follows the epic journey of four Asian-American women traveling through Asia in search of one of their birth mothers. Their experience becomes one of bonding, belonging and debauchery that reveals the universal truth of what it means to know and love who you are. The film debuted at SXSW in March and will be released in theaters on July 7, 2023. Additionally, Stephanie guest starred in the Peacock anthology series "Poker Face," created by Rian Johnson and starring Natasha Lyonne and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Stephanie is also set to guest star in the Disney+ Series "American Born Chinese" alongside Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan. The series is written, and executive produced by Kelvin Yu. Most recently, Stephanie wrapped production on Universal's "The Fall Guy." The film is directed by David Leitch and also stars Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Stephanie originated the role of 'Christine Canigula' in the audience favorite Broadway sensation, "Be More Chill." For this performance Stephanie received a Lucille Lortel Award nomination and a Drama Desk Award Nomination. She has performed all over NYC from downtown to uptown making her Broadway debut as 'Karen The Computer' in "SpongeBob Squarepants The Musical." Her past television and film credits include a recurring role on "The Path," "Awkwafina is Nora from Queens," "Femme," "Set It Up," "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" and "Girl Code."

About Bill Irwin (Eurydice's Father)

Bill Irwin is an actor, director, writer, and clown. His original works include: The Regard of Flight; Largely New York; Fool Moon; Old Hats; The Happiness Lecture; and others. Theater credits include: The Iceman Cometh, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, The Goat, Waiting for Godot, Endgame, and On Beckett, an evening of passages from Samuel Beckett's work. Television appearances include: The Dropout, Legion, Confirmation, This Is Us, CSI, SVU, and Mr. Noodle in Elmo's World. Film credits include Spoiler Alert, Rachel Getting Married, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, Eight Men Out, and Interstellar. His work has been honored with Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Barrymore, and Helen Hayes Awards. He is also a recipient of Guggenheim, Fulbright, MacArthur and National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships.

About Tom Sturridge (Orpheus)

Tom Sturridge can currently be seen starring as the lead role in the highly anticipated Netflix series The Sandman, which debuted at #1 on Netflix and is based on Neil Gaiman's widely acclaimed comic book series. Tom can be seen also in the HBO series Irma Vep, written and directed by Olivier Assayas, starring Alicia Vikander, which is currently at 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. Prior to that, Tom could be seen in his sold-out runs of Sea Wall/A Life opposite Jake Gyllenhaal on both Broadway and at The Public Theatre which garnered rave reviews. His previous run on Broadway was in the stage adaptation of 1984, George Orwell's dystopian novel produced by Scott Rudin and Sonia Friedman. Tom played Winston Smith alongside Olivia Wilde and Reed Birney. Tom also starred in Velvet Buzzsaw alongside Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, John Malkovich, and Toni Collette, directed by Dan Gilroy. Tom was nominated for the Olivier Award for his outstanding performance in American Buffalo on the West End in London opposite John Goodman and Damian Lewis. He was previously nominated for a Tony for his role in Orphans on Broadway, opposite Ben Foster and Alec Baldwin.

Other notable performances include playing Allen Ginsberg in Walter Salles' On the Road opposite Kristen Stewart, starring opposite Carey Mulligan in Thomas Vinterberg's Far from the Madding Crowd, Song to Song directed by Terrance Malick, Mary Shelley opposite Elle Fanning, Journey's End with Paul Bettany and Sam Claflin, Remainder directed by Omar Fast, and Pirate Radio opposite Phillip Seymour Hoffman. In television, Tom starred in the acclaimed and award-winning BBC series The Hollow Crown, playing Henry VI opposite Benedict Cumberbatch.

About Wallace Shawn (A Nasty Interesting Man/The Lord of the Underworld)

Wallace Shawn is an actor, Obie Award-winning playwright, and essayist. Select plays include The Designated Mourner, The Fever, Aunt Dan and Lemon, Marie and Bruce, Grasses of a Thousand Colors, and Evening at the Talk House. Translations include The Mandrake of Machiavelli, The Threepenny Opera by Brecht, A Master Builder. Selected film performances: My Dinner with Andre (which Shawn co-wrote), The Princess Bride, Vanya on 42nd Street, the Toy Story films, Clueless, The Haunted Mansion, The Incredibles, A Master Builder. Select television: Gossip Girl, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Search Party, The Good Fight, Mozart in the Jungle, She's Gotta Have It, The Good Wife, The L Word.