VIDEO: Signature's Claybourne Elder and Steffanie Leigh Perform 'Happiness'

Natascia Diaz, Claybourne Elder and Steffanie Leigh are set to star in Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's musical Passion. This new production will be directed by Signature Theatre's Associate Artistic Director Matthew Gardiner.Passion runs August 14 - September 23, 2018 in Signature Theatre's MAX Theatre.

"Passion hasn't been seen in Washington for over 15 years," said Signature Theatre Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer. "There's no better way to start our 29th season than with this glorious musical and this wonderful creative team and company."

"I can't think of a greater gift than to bring Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Passion to the stage," said director Matthew Gardiner. "To dig deep into a piece of theater I've long admired, with actors like Natascia Diaz, Claybourne Elder and Steffanie Leigh, a remarkable design team and the full orchestration led by Jon Kalbfleisch, it is an embarrassment of riches."

When Passion first opened on Broadway in 1994, it was heralded as "the most thrilling piece of theater on Broadway" by The New York Post. Set in 1860s Italy, Passion ignites a fiery love triangle when Giorgio, a handsome army captain, is transferred to a remote military outpost and into the blinding infatuation of Fosca, the ailing cousin of his superior. Fosca's fervent longing draws him in as it threatens to upend his career in an exhilarating tangle of obsession, desire, madness, and above all, passion.

Diaz, Elder and Leigh are joined in the cast by Will Gartshore (Signature's A Little Night Music) as Colonel Ricci, Rayanne Gonzales (Olney Theatre Center's In the Heights) as Mother, Gregory Maheu (Signature's Sunday in the Park with George) as Ludovic/Lombardi, Ian McEuen (Washington Nation Opera's Madame Butterfly) as Lieutenant Torasso, Christopher Mueller (Signature's Titanic) as Augenti, Katie Mariko Murray (Signature's West Side Story) as Mistress, Lawrence Redmond (Signature's Titanic) as Lieutenant Barri, Bobby Smith (Signature's Light Years) as Major Rizzoli/Fosca's Father, and John Leslie Wolfe (Signature's Titanic) as Dr. Tambourri.

The creative team includes Musical Direction by Jon Kalbfleisch (Signature's Crazy for You), Scenic Design by Lee Savage (Signature's La Cage Aux Folles), Lighting Design by Colin K Bills (Signature's Girlfriend), Costume Design by Robert Perdziola (Signature's A Little Night Music), Sound Design by Ryan Hickey (Signature's The Scottsboro Boys), Wig Design by Anne Nesmith (Signature's A Little Night Music), Production Stage Manager Kerry Epstein, Assistant Stage Manager Taryn Friend, Production Assistant Joey Blakely.

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