Symphony in the Glen and Independent Shakespeare Co. to Present SIGNIFYING NOTHING, Today

SYMPHONY IN THE GLEN (SIG) and INDEPENDENT SHAKESPEARE CO. (ISC) are collaborating for a third year to present an evening performance, SIGNIFYING NOTHING! led by SIG Music Director, Arthur B. Rubinstein, on the closing weekend of THE GRIFFITH PARK FREE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL.

SIGNIFYING NOTHING! will delight audiences with symphony music, Shakespeare and Commedia dell'Arte. The program will begin with Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, interspersed with Shakespeare performances by ISC founders, Melissa Chalsma and David Melville. During the second half, Commedia characters will invade the Old Zoo for Mozart's raucous pantomime, Pantalone and Columbine.

SIG Music Director, Arthur B. Rubinstein says, "Shakespeare's imagery is so infused with allusions of nature that pairing his sonnets with Vivaldi's The Four Seasons is a deserving fit. Mozart's little-known Pantalone & Columbine came about as request from the City of Vienna for him to create a 'pantomime' for the city's 1783 'Karneval' season. Mozart's only stipulation was that he, himself, play the role of Harlequin for the presentation. (There exists a letter to his father, Leopold, where he asks his father to send his Harlequin costume to Vienna.) It's a pleasure to bring Pantalone & Columbine to life with Commedia dell'Arte artist Virginia Scott and ISC players."

Rubinstein adds, "Symphony In The Glen (SIG) feels a special kinship with Independent Shakespeare (ISC): they do for The Bard what we do for classical music. It's such a pleasure to work with a company of actors who understand the joys of bringing classical works to people of all ages and kinds, while making it so terrifically accessible. It's always gratifying to share in the enthusiasm ISC has bred in their fervent audience. When we work together, our two audiences get double the pleasure of lying on a blanket, gazing at the stars while immortal words and music wash away their cares."

Comments Independent Shakespeare Co. Artistic Director Melissa Chalsma, "Working with Symphony In The Glen is such a wonderful thing for ISC! It's amazing to have the chance to collaborate with a conductor and musicians of such talent, and to have the opportunity to expose our audience to an incredible evening of free, classical music. It adds extraordinary value to our summer season."

IF YOU GO:

Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival 2015

Signifying Nothing! Symphony in the Glen with Independent Shakespeare Co.

Saturday, September 5 at 7pm

Old Zoo, Griffith Park

Free to the public

For further information, visit www.iscla.org or www.symphonyintheglen.org

SYMPHONY IN THE GLEN was founded in 1993 by Emmy-Award winning film and television composer Arthur B. Rubinstein. Symphony In The Glen (SIG) is a Los Feliz/Griffith Park based arts organization committed to creating a vibrant sense of community through free outdoor classical music concerts for people of all ages, especially families and children. Since 1994, the professional orchestra, led by Maestro Rubinstein, has performed innovative concerts in Griffith Park at the historic Old Zoo Picnic Area, including a 1998 performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Other landmark performances include the gala "Cosmic Conjunction" concert on the front lawn of Griffith Observatory (2009)-at which Leonard Nimoy narrated Rubinstein's own composition "Observations"-and "Fantastic Creatures" at the Los Angeles Zoo (2001). In 2007, in the aftermath of the Griffith Park fire, SIG performed Beethoven's "Eroica" Symphony as a tribute to LA's firefighters, police and Park Rangers for their heroic efforts in fighting an 800-acre fire. Now in its fifth year, SIG's popular "EEK! at The Greek," in partnership with Nederlander-Greek, summons goblins, ghouls and all things ghostly to the Greek Theatre for an annual family-friendly Halloween Fest. "Signifying Nothing!" marks SIG's third collaboration with Independent Shakespeare Co. at the Old Zoo.

INDEPENDENT SHAKESPEARE CO. (ISC) was founded in 1998. We have been producing accessible, imaginative performances of classical plays since that time. We are the 2015 recipients of the LA Drama Critics Circle's highest honor, the Margaret Harford Award for sustained excellence in theater. Our first performances were located on the Lower East Side of New York City. The stripped down production style of our early productions enabled us to travel easily and we quickly found ourselves touring Europe, ending with an invitation to perform our production of Macbeth for four weeks at The King's Head Theatre in London. In 2001 we relocated to Los Angeles and -- with the support of the Department of Recreation and Parks and the Department of Cultural Affairs -- founded Free Shakespeare in Barnsdall Park, in 2004. Because of audience demand, in 2010 we moved to the significantly larger venue at the Old Zoo and re-christened the summer season the Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival. The growth in attendance is extraordinary: our first season played to fewer than 1,000 people; by 2014 over 45,500 people came to Griffith Park for 40 nights of free classical theater productions. In 2012, we expanded our offerings with our indoor performance space, Independent Co. Studio where we present original work, re-imagined stagings of classics, readings and classes.

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