Signature Theatre Presents A SECOND CHANCE 11/15-12/11

In a special limited engagement, Signature Theatre presents the world premiere musical A Second Chance, featuring a book, music, and lyrics by Ted Shen. Directed by Jonathan Butterell (Signature's Giant), A Second Chance fuses jazz and musical theater stylings, with musical direction by Zak Sandler. Broadway veterans Brian Sutherland (The Sound of Music, 1776) and Diane Sutherland (The Light in the Piazza, She Loves Me) will star in this two-character exploration on love, loss, and new adventures. A Second Chance will play in Signature's ARK Theatre from November 15 - December 11, 2011. Single tickets are available at $41 each.

"Ted Shen's first passion has always been music and that much is made very clear in this beautifully woven and intimate love story," said Eric Schaeffer, Signature's Artistic Director. "In this day and age when so many people are seeking a second chance in their own lives, I think this musical will speak volumes to those who are searching for a new beginning. I could not be more pleased to have its world premiere right here at Signature."

This one-act lyrical duet explores the first year's emotional journey between Dan and Jenna, who meet in mid-life, still trying to come to terms with their emotional pasts, while irresistibly drawn to finding a second chance at love and happiness. The creative team includes Robert Brill (scenic design), Susan Hilferty (costume design), Jennifer Schriever (lighting design), and Bruce Coughlin (orchestrations).

Shen stated, "I am very honored to have my first show produced by Signature Theatre. I deeply admire the singular commitment by Eric Schaeffer and his colleagues to supporting the development of new musical theater works. Through such programs as its American Musical Voices Project, Signature is providing national leadership in ensuring a vital future for American musical theater as an enduring art form."

A SECOND CHANCE was presented in concert by The Public Theater at Joe's Pub in New York in September 2010.

A SECOND CHANCE BIOS

Ted Shen (Book, Music & Lyrics) After a 30-year career at the investment bank, Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, where he had served as Chairman of the DLJ Capital Markets Group since 1984, Ted Shen retired in 1999 to refocus his attention on his non-profit board work in education and the arts, The Shen Family Foundation, and his own composing. Mr. Shen's present and past non-profit board affiliations include the Yale Corporation, the Yale University Art Gallery, Phillips Exeter Academy, The Packer Collegiate Institute, the Brooklyn Museum, the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy, and the Art Commission of the City of New York.
The Shen Family Foundation, of which Mr. Shen and his wife, Mary Jo Shen, are co-executive directors, provides funding support for: the commissioning programs at Signature Theatre and the New York Public Theater for new musical theater works by composers who write with exceptional originality; major productions of works by Stephen Sondheim; and the Shen Musical Theater Curriculum at Yale University.

A Second Chance marks Mr. Shen's debut as a musical theater writer. It was presented in concert version by the New York Public Theater at Joe's Pub in September 2010. During his college years at Yale, he studied music theory and played in a jazz band, and from 2001 to 2003 he studied songwriting with Ricky Ian Gordon.

Jonathan Butterell (Director) SIGNATURE: Giant; BROADWAY: Musical Staging & Choreography: The Light in the Piazza, Assassins, Nine (Revival, starring Antonio Banderas), Fiddler on the Roof (Revival, recreatEd Jerome Robbins' choreography). NEW YORK: Sondheim's Wise Guys (original workshop); Lincoln Center: A Man of No Importance; City Center: Public Sings! (50th Anniversary Celebration of The Public Theatre); Director: Whida Peru; Resurrection Tangle, Mosaic, (part of Inner Voices). ENGLAND: Donmar Warehouse: Nine, Company, Habeas Corpus, Into the Woods (Co-directed), How I Learned to Drive, The Maids, Electra; Royal Haymarket: Alone Together (devised and directed); West End: Sondheim's Passion; Associate Director: Royal National: Othello; RSC: Hamlet; Co-director: Royal Festival Hall: Peter Pan; Opera North: Sweeney Todd. TOKYO: Theatre Project Tokyo: Williams' Orpheus Descending; Strindberg's Creditors. FILM: Choreography: Finding Neverland (starring Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet); STAY (starring Ewan McGregor).
Brian Sutherland (Dan) SIGNATURE: And the Curtain Rises. BROADWAY: The Sound of Music, 1776, Victor/Victoria, Steel Pier, Cats, Dance a Little Closer, A Change in the Heir, 110 in the Shade (NYC Opera). TOURS: The Light in the Piazza, Disney's On the Record, Cabaret (w/Joel Grey), 42nd Street (European tour). DC AREA: Arena Stage: Guys and Dolls, Fords Theatre Shenandoah. REGIONAL: St. Louis Rep: Kiss Me, Kate; Fantasticks; Pittsburgh Public: Man of La Mancha; Guthrie Theatre: Pirates of Penzance; Coconut Grove Playhouse: Breaking Legs; Cincinnati Playhouse: She Loves Me; Indiana Rep: Enter the Guardsman. UPCOMING: Film: Burning Blue.
Diane Sutherland (Jenna) SIGNATURE: Sycamore Trees (Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Ensemble). BROADWAY: The Light in the Piazza, She Loves Me (Amalia-1994 Revival), 1776, Three Sisters, Song and Dance, Cats (original company), A Chorus Line. OFF-BROADWAY: Transport Group: First Ladies Suite, Requiem for William; The Waves. NATIONAL TOURS: The Light in the Piazza, Guys & Dolls (50th Anniversary Tour), Cabaret, Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables, (First National Tour) Cats (Helen Hayes Award). REGIONAL: A Civil War Christmas, Kiss Me Kate, Enter the Guardsman, Edwin Drood, Into the Woods, A Little Night Music, American Vaudeville. RECORDINGS: She Loves Me (1994), Guys & Dolls (50th Anniversary), Gershwin's Tell Me More, Man with a Load of Mischief (2004).

SIGNATURE'S 2011-12 SEASON TICKETS

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 presents three productions with limited engagements, including the world premieres of A Second Chance and Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South (currently playing through October 9th). Stephen Sondheim's first musical Saturday Night will be 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 www.signature-theatre.org. Student discount tickets are $30 for mainstage shows and $20 for limited engagements and must be purchased the week of the performance. For more information on the 2011-12 season, please visit www.signature-theatre.org.

ABOUT SIGNATURE

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.
DIRECTIONS

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.

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