Signature Theatre Offers 'Page to Stage' & Cast Discussion 5/3 & 5/6

During the first week in May, Signature Theatre offers two free events to the public.  On Monday, May 3 from 7 to 8 pm, Michael Baron, Signature Theatre's Associate Director, will give a "Page to Stage" talk at Arlington Public Library's Shirlington Branch.  On Thursday, May 6 from 1 - 2 pm, [title of show] director Matthew Gardiner and cast members Erin Driscoll, James Gardiner, Sam Ludwig and Jenna Sokolowski, will talk about their show in a "Brown Bag Thursday" Q&A at Signature.

On May 3, Michael Baron, Signature Theatre's Associate Director will talk about his work as casting director for the company, one of his many responsibilities.  Michael finds the talent that will enable each director to cast his or her show for the upcoming season. It's not an easy task when one considers that 80% of a director's job is successful IF he casts the right actors in the right roles. He has to make sure that each director sees actors who fit the roles and also work well together on stage. To achieve this task, Michael spends much of his time at productions to see actors in action, reviewing actor resumes, and listening to directors talk about what qualities they are seeking for each character in the show.  Attendees of the "Page to Stage" event will get insight into what Michael looks for when he sees an actor.

On May 6, Matthew Gardiner will lead his cast in a candid discussion about their version of the musical [title of show] at Signature. Erin Driscoll (who played Johanna in Sweeney Todd) appears with her real-life fiancé James Gardiner, brother of director Matthew.  Joining Matthew, Erin, and James in [title of show] are Signature regulars Sam Ludwig (also in the cast of Sweeney with Erin) and Jenna Sokolowski (who was last seen at Signature in Urinetown for which she and Erin both received Helen Hayes Awards).

[title of show] is a musical about two nobodies who decide to write a completely original musical starring themselves and their friends, Susan and Heidi.  Jeff Bowen, composer and lyricist, and Hunter Bell, book writer, chronicle their real-life struggle to complete the show in three and half weeks in order to enter the New York Musical Theatre Festival.

Their musical was indeed first seen at the New York Musical Theatre Festival in 2004 and began an off-Broadway run in 2006. In 2008, it previewed at Broadway's Lyceum Theatre and ran for 102 performances. The writer-stars as well as the director all won Obie Awards, and Bell was nominated for a Tony Award®. [title of show] has since become a post-modern work-in-progress, with updates and changes to each new production reflecting the circumstances that the individual casts have experienced.

ABOUT SIGNATURE
Signature Theatre is a non-profit professional theater company 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 26 world premiere productions and is renowned for combining Broadway-quality productions with intimate playing spaces.  In addition to the finest talent from the DC metropolitan area and New York, Signature has been a home to such theater luminaries as John Kander and Fred Ebb, CameRon Mackintosh, Terrence McNally, and the company's signature composer, Stephen Sondheim.  Since its founding in 1989, Signature has been nominated for 276 Helen Hayes Awards for excellence in the professional theater and has been honored with 70 Helen Hayes Awards, including Outstanding Musical in 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2005, 2006, 2008, and 2009, and Outstanding Play in 1999.

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 just nine minutes from downtown Washington, DC in Arlington's Shirlington Village.  The new theater complex 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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