Signature Theatre Announces Their Upcoming Free Events Including Brown Bag With Jim Kronzer, and A Screening Of SHOW BOAT

Brown Bag Thursday with Jim Kronzer THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3
1:00 - 2:00PM

Mead Lobby
Signature Theatre
4200 Campbell Avenue
Arlington, VA 22206

James Kronzer graduated from Catholic University with a BFA in acting! But before he took to the "boards," he left for London. He returned to Washington in 1986 with a Certificate in Scenic Art from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. And DC-area theater hasn't been the same since!

Jim received his first Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Set Design in 1989, followed by seven additional Helen Hayes Awards and a slew of nominations. His set designs have been seen on the local stages of The Kennedy Center, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Studio Theatre, Round House Theatre, Olney Theatre, Metro Stage, Imagination Stage, Theatre J, and Folger Theatre. He has designed for national tours and for regional theaters in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Utah, California, Wisconsin, Nevada, and New York. In 2004, he designed the set for the Off-Broadway production of Kathie Lee Gifford's Under the Bridge directed by Eric Schaeffer.

Jim's Signature career began in 1998 when he designed the premiere of Paulette Laufer's Taking My Life in Your Hands, again under the direction of Eric Schaeffer. Over the last ten years, sixteen James Kronzer sets have been seen at Signature. And this year, in Signature 20th Anniversary Season, Jim is designing the sets for Show Boat and Sweeney Todd.

Set in the Mead Lobby, the December 3rd Brown Bag Thursday features the Signature work and memories of James Kronzer: Set Designer Extraordinaire. He'll have some slides of his work and some inside information on the world of set design. You won't want to miss this opportunity to talk with Jim. Bring your lunch and enjoy the slide show and conversation.

This community event is free to the public. No reservations or tickets are required.

Page To Stage: Viewing MGM's Show Boat
MONDAY, DECEMBER 7
7:00 - 8:50 PM

Arlington Public Library, Shirlington Branch
4200 Campbell Avenue
Arlington, VA 22206

By 1951, just two decades after it premiered on Broadway, three film versions of Show Boat had already been produced. A part-talkie Show Boat produced by Universal Studios was released in 1929. This adaptation was relatively faithful to the famed Broadway musical and retains the interracial subplot so crucial to both Ferber's novel and the stage show. However, the head of Universal had been dissatisfied with the 1929 film, and had long wanted to make an all-sound version. Universal's 1936 remake of Show Boat featured many of the original Broadway cast, most notably Paul Robeson for whom Kern and Hammerstein originally wrote "Ol' Man River." The most significant change in the 1936 film was the reunion of Magnolia and Ravenal at the theater where their daughter stars in her first Broadway show. All other versions reunite them back on the show boat.

MGM's 1951 film was a lavish technical production. It was the most financially successful of all the Show Boat films and is still one of MGM's most popular musicals. Directed by George Sidney, the film features Ava Gardner as Julie, Howard Keel as Ravenal, and Kathryn Grayson as Magnolia with Joe E. Brown, Marge and Gower Champion, William Warfield, Agnes Moorehead, and Leif Erickson. The plot adheres closely to the Broadway original and features all of the songs from the 1927 production. However, aspects of the original stage version dealing with racial inequality and the issue of miscegenation were "sanitized" and deemphasized.

Those who have seen Signature's production of Show Boat can experience Hollywood's "milder" version of the show, and those who haven't seen the Signature version yet will have an edgier version of Show Boat awaiting them at the theater. So bring your popcorn and join us for Monday Night at the Movies.

And the best part: it's free. No reservations required. There is a seat waiting for you! 

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