Document 6441323

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 10, 2014
Contact: James Gardiner, Publicist / Community Relations Manager
571-527-1833 // [email protected]
High-res downloadable photos may be found here:
www.signature-theatre.org/sundaypress
(Photo Credit: Brynn O’Malley as Dot in Signature Theatre’s Sunday in the Park with George.
Photo by Christopher Mueller)
SIGNATURE THEATRE
ANNOUNCES CASTING FOR
SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE
Signature’s 25th Anniversary Season Opener
Starring Claybourne Elder (Broadway’s Bonnie and Clyde)
& Brynn O’Malley (Broadway’s Honeymoon in Vegas)
AUGUST 15 – SEPTEMBER 21
TICKETS NOW ON SALE!
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Arlington, VA, July 10, 2014 – Signature Theatre is proud to announce the cast of Sunday in the
Park with George, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award®-winning musical, directed by Signature
Associate Artistic Director Matthew Gardiner (Signature’s Dreamgirls, The Threepenny Opera).
Running in the MAX Theatre August 15 – September 21, the Stephen Sondheim/James Lapine
classic is the first production of Signature Theatre’s 25th Anniversary.
“Sunday in the Park with George is the perfect start to our 25th anniversary season,” said Artistic
Director Eric Schaeffer. “In a season that will celebrate the many great artists we have
collaborated with over the years, Stephen Sondheim tops the list, with Signature having done 23
productions of his work. It will be wonderful to bring “La Grande Jatte” into the intimate 276 seat
MAX Theatre. It’s the first of many special events to celebrate our 25 years of groundbreaking
work and unique connection with Stephen Sondheim.”
The production will star Claybourne Elder (Broadway’s Bonnie and Clyde, The Public Theater’s
Road Show, and CW Network’s The Carrie Diaries) as Georges Seurat/George and Brynn
O’Malley (Broadway’s upcoming Honeymoon in Vegas, Annie, Wicked) as Dot/Marie.
“Sunday in the Park with George is about the need in all our lives for connection. To connect to
one’s surrounding, to the people, and to art,” says director Matthew Gardiner. “Through the lens
of George Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, the musical explores the
disorder of life and the mediums we use in an attempt to understand it all. It’s about the search
for balance and harmony. Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s masterpiece left a significant
mark on my life as an artist from a very young age, and I feel extremely lucky to give life to their
words and music with an incredible group of actors and designers in this new production at
Signature Theatre.”
Elder and O’Malley are joined in the cast by Evan Casey (Franz/Lee; Signature’s Company), Susan
Derry (Celeste #1/Photographer; Signature’s Sunset Boulevard), Erin Driscoll (Celeste #2/Elaine;
Signature’s The Threepenny Opera), Maria Egler (Nurse/Harriet/Mrs; Signature and Ford’s Hello
Dolly!), Mitchell Hébert (Jules/Bob; Signature’s Gypsy), Valerie Leonard (Yvonne/Naomi;
Broadway’s An Ideal Husband, Signature’s Fox on the Fairway), Joseph Mace (Louis/Billy; Summer
Lyric Theatre’s Les Misérables), Gregory Maheu (Soldier/Alex; Signature’s Sweeney Todd), Dan
Manning (Mr/Charles; Signature’s Beaches), Donna Migliaccio (Old Lady/Blair; Broadway’s
Ragtime, Signature’s Beaches), Angela Miller (Frieda/Betty; Olney’s How to Succeed…), Paul
Scanlan (Boatman/Dennis; Signature’s The Threepenny Opera), and introducing 11-year-old Sadie
Rose Herman (Louise) and 9-year-old Lucy Alexa Herman (Bather/Ensemble).
The creative team includes Musical Direction by Jon Kalbfleisch; Scenic Design by Dan Conway;
Costume Design by Frank Labovitz; Lighting Design by Jen Schriever; Sound Design by Lane
Elms; Video Design by Robbie Hayes; Wig Design by Samantha Birchett-Hunter; and
Production Stage Manager Kerry Epstein.
Written by the team behind Into the Woods and Passion, the show is inspired by the famous
1884 pointillist painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" by Georges
Seurat. Sunday in the Park with George brings art to vibrant life in Sondheim’s stunning
masterpiece, which features the songs “Finishing the Hat,” “Move On,” “Children and Art” and
“Putting it Together.”
The musical opened on Broadway in 1984, where it received two Tony Awards® for Best Scenic
Design and Best Lighting Design. The Pulitzer Prize for Drama followed in 1985, making Sunday
in the Park with George one of only eight musicals to ever win the prize. The show has also
received the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Musical, numerous Drama
Desk Awards, and the 1991 Olivier Award for Best Musical.
Signature’s production kicks off the theatre’s 25th anniversary season, which will feature numerous
special events throughout the year in addition to seven fully produced shows, all in celebration of
the artists and collaborators that have called Signature home over the course of 25 years.
Signature’s production of Sunday in the Park with George also marks the 30th anniversary of the
show itself.
SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE
Book by James Lapine
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Directed by Matthew Gardiner
Seven weeks only!
Performances run August 5, 2014 through September 21, 2014
Sponsored by the HRH Foundation. Additional support provided by Jeffrey Thurston and Charlie
Berardesco.
Further 2014/2015 season funding supported by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the
National Endowment for the Arts.
Sign up now for priority ticket offers at www.signature-theatre.org
CAST BIOS
Claybourne Elder (Georges Seurat/George) BROADWAY/NEW YORK: Bonnie and Clyde (Buck,
also cast recording), Stephen Sondheim's Road Show (Hollis, premier cast, also recording),
Tennessee Williams’s One Arm (Ollie, Drama Desk nomination Outstanding Actor in a
Play, directed by Moisés Kaufman), Venice (Michael-Victor, also recording), Two by Two (Japheph,
with Jason Alexander); Sondheim 80th Birthday Celebration (City Center), A Chorus Line in
Concert (Don, Delacorte). REGIONAL: McCarter Theater: Take Flight (Lindbergh); Kansas City Rep:
Pippin (Pippin), Into the Woods (Wolf/Cinderella's Prince). DEVELOPMENTAL WORKSHOPS:
Vineyard Theatre: Pterodactyls (Tommy); Center Theatre Group: Post Office; The Public Theatre:
Giant; Yale Repertory Theatre: Mortality Play; Lincoln Center: Sounds Like Love. TV/Film: The
Carrie Diaries (Pete O'Malley). UPCOMING: Allegro (Joseph, John Doyle revival).
Brynn O’Malley (Dot/Marie) BROADWAY: ANNIE (revival), Wicked, Sunday In The Park With George
(revival), Hairspray, Beauty And The Beast. DC AREA: Arena Stage: She Loves Me (Helen Hayes
nomination). REGIONAL: Las Vegas: Avenue Q; Paper Mill Playhouse: Honeymoon In Vegas, Boeing-
Boeing, Oklahoma!, Meet Me In St. Louis, Baby; Baltimore Center Stage: Arsenic And Old Lace;
Kansas City Rep: Into The Woods. TV: Smash, A Gifted Man, Royal Pains, The Big C. EDUCATION:
University of Michigan, BFA Musical Theatre. UPCOMING: Broadway: Honeymoon In Vegas.
Evan Casey (Franz/Lee) SIGNATURE: Company, Really Really, The Hollow, The Boy Detective
Fails, Urinetown, Ten Unknowns, Allegro. NEW YORK: NYMF: River's End, York Theatre: NEO 8
Concert. DC AREA: Kennedy Center: Orphie and the Book of Heroes, Elephant and Piggie, Snow
White, Rose Red (and Fred); Ford’s Theatre: Little Shop of Horrors, Meet John Doe, Shenandoah;
Olney Theatre: Avenue Q, 39 Steps, Camelot, Fiddler on the Roof, Lend Me a Tenor; Studio
Theatre 2ndstage: TempOdyssey, Dog Sees God; Shakespeare Theatre, Round House Theatre, Rep
Stage, Theater of the First Amendment, among others. REGIONAL: North Carolina Theatre,
Everyman Theatre, New London Barn Playhouse. FILM: Of Dice and Men, Treasure Hunt, Flanking
The Sentinel. TV/WEB: Missing Person’s Unit, Stage Fright, Thurston. OTHER: Capitol Steps.
EDUCATION: Catholic University, London Dramatic Academy. TEACHING: Signature Theatre,
National Conservatory of Dramatic Art, Adventure Theatre-MTC.
Susan Derry (Celeste #1/Photographer) SIGNATURE: Sunday in the Park (Celeste), Sunset
Boulevard (Betty Schaeffer), Saturday Night (Helen), Sondheim Award Gala, I Capture the Castle
(21/24 workshop), Show Boat. BROADWAY: Wonderful Town (Eileen, Ensemble); City Center
Encores!: 11 appearances, 2 cast albums. INTERNATIONAL: Phantom of the Opera (Christine) in
Hamburg, Germany. KENNEDY CENTER: Ragtime (Kathleen), Bernstein's Mass (Street Chorus
Soloist), Mame, Camelot, My Fair Lady. REGIONAL: Othello (Desdemona), My Fair Lady (Eliza),
Crimes of the Heart (Meg), The Importance of Being Earnest (Gwendolen), I Do! I Do! (Agnes),
Brigadoon (Fiona), West Side Story (Maria), Company (Susan), Regina (Alexandra), The Merchant
of Venice (Jessica). CONCERT: New York Pops at Carnegie Hall; Avery Fisher Hall; Baltimore
Symphony Orchestra; Kennedy Center; Carnegie Hall Community Sing. EDUCATION: Northwestern
University, Manhattan School of Music.
Erin Driscoll (Celeste #2/Elaine) SIGNATURE: The Threepenny Opera, Miss Saigon, Spin,
Company, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Brother Russia, Hairspray (Helen Hayes Award,
Outstanding Ensemble), [title of show], Sweeney Todd, Kiss of the Spider Woman, The Witches
of Eastwick, Into the Woods, Assassins (Helen Hayes Award, Outstanding Resident Musical),
Urinetown (2006 Helen Hayes Award, Outstanding Actress). DC AREA: Arena Stage: My Fair
Lady; Ford’s Theatre: Violet, Our Town, Parade, A Christmas Carol; Olney Theatre: Joseph and the
Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Cinderella, Anything Goes; Round House Theatre: A Year with
Frog and Toad; Kennedy Center: Regina (w/ Patti LuPone, Alexandra Cover). REGIONAL: Arden
Theatre: A Year with Frog and Toad, Candide; John W. Engeman Theatre, Long Island: Jekyll and
Hyde. EDUCATION: James Madison University, BM. AWARDS: 2006 Roger Sturtevant Award.
Maria Egler (Nurse/Harriet/Mrs) SIGNATURE: Good Times: TV Theme Songs, Lost Songs of the
80's, 2013 Holiday Follies; Signature’s Funny Ladies cabarets; Hello, Dolly! (Ford’s Theatre coproduction); Dirty Blonde; Giant; Crossing and Crossing in concert. NATIONAL TOURS: Gypsy. DC
AREA: Olney Theatre Center: Camelot, The Sound of Music, Cinderella; Studio Theatre:
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson; Washington Savoyards: The Music Man, It’s A Grand Night for
Singing; DMLRR: The Oresteia, The Saints, Finn McCool. EDUCATION: BM, The Catholic University
of America.
Mitchell Hébert (Jules/Bob) SIGNATURE: Gypsy, Art. DC AREA (ACTING): Ford’s Theatre: The
Laramie Project; Woolly Mammoth Theatre: The Gigli Concert, Kvetch, The Clean House,
Clybourne Park (Helen Hayes nomination); Theatre J: After the Fall (Helen Hayes Award);
Shakespeare Theatre: Don Carlos; Round House Theatre: ‘New Book for the Bible (Helen Hayes
nomination), Around the World in 80 Days, Crime & Punishment, The Drawer Boy (Helen Hayes
nomination); Everyman Theatre: Uncle Vanya (Greater Baltimore Theatre Award/Outstanding
Actor). DC AREA (DIRECTING): Round House Theatre: Glengarry Glen Ross (Helen Hayes Award,
directing); Forum Theatre: The Illusion; Olney Theatre Center: Rabbit Hole. FILM: Killing Kennedy,
The Hunley, Playing Through. TV: Homicide, NBC; Nathan the Wise, PBS. TEACHING: Head of
Performance, of University of Maryland’s School of Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies.
Valerie Leonard (Yvonne/Naomi) SIGNATURE: A Fox On The Fairway. BROADWAY: An Ideal
Husband (Lady Basildon). NATIONAL TOUR: Lend Me A Tenor (Maggie); The Odd Couple
(Gwendolyn Pigeon, with Tony Randall and Jack Klugman). OFF-BROADWAY: Signature Theatre
Company; Mirror Repertory; Director’s Company. DC AREA: Shakespeare Theatre: Titus
Andronicus, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Comedy of Errors; Arena Stage: Guess Who’s
Coming To Dinner, A Man’s A Man, Theophilus North; Catalyst Theater: Metamorphis, The
Elephant Man (Helen Hayes nomination); Studio Theatre: The Life of Galileo; Theater J: The Bad
Friend; Olney Theatre Center: Therese Raquin (Helen Hayes nomination), Copenhagen, Oh
Coward!, Anna Karenina, Private Lives, Candida, Shadowlands; Potomac Theatre Project: The
American Dream. REGIONAL: McCarter Theatre; American Conservatory Theatre; The Pearl
Theatre; Two River Theatre Company; Pioneer Theatre. TV: The Wire, Law and Order. EDUCATION:
Rutgers University: MFA.
Joseph Mace (Louis/Billy) REGIONAL: Summer Lyric, New Orleans: Les Misérables, Annie Get Your
Gun, Phantom, Victor/Victoria, Side by Side by Sondheim, As the World Goes ‘Round. NEW YORK
AREA: Below the Surface Cabaret, Songs of Love and Loss, …And Waken Green. CLASSICAL:
Metropolitan Opera: Die Miestersinger; San Francisco Opera: Forza del Destino, Fideleo; New
Orleans Opera: Faust; Indianapolis Symphony: Messiah; San Jose Symphonic Chorale: Gospel
Mass; Philharmonia Baroque: Messiah, Beethoven Symphony #9. JAZZ: San Francisco Jazz
Festival/Yoshi’s Jazz Club: Bound for the Promised Land. EDUCATION: Indiana University, DM,
Voice; San Francisco Conservatory, MM, Voice; Tulane University, BFA Music (Musical Theatre
focus), BA French.
Greg Maheu (Soldier/Alex) SIGNATURE: Hello, Dolly! (Ford’s Theatre co-production), Chess,
Sweeney Todd. NEW YORK: Momentum Rep.: Assassins; NYMF: Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice;
The Toymaker. DC AREA: Ford’s Theatre: Violet, 1776, A Christmas Carol, Liberty Smith. Kennedy
Center: Ragtime. Adventure Theater: Big. REGIONAL: Studio Tenn: Les Miserables. Hangar Theatre:
Hair. EDUCATION: BFA, Elon University
Dan Manning (Mr/Charles) SIGNATURE: Beaches, Gypsy, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,
110 in the Shade, Allegro. BROADWAY: Ragtime. OFF-BROADWAY: Lamb’s Theatre: Smoke on the
Mountain; St. Peters Citicorp: The Majestic Kid. DC AREA: Kennedy Center: Ragtime; The Golden
Age; Ford’s Theatre: Big River, 1776; Studio Theatre: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead;
Round House Theatre: Camille, Murder, Mystery, and a Marriage; Maryland Stage: A Midsummer
Night’s Dream; Rep Stage: Lie of the Mind, A Shayna Maidel. REGIONAL: CENTERSTAGE : The
Murder of Isaac; Court Theatre (Los Angeles): Ray-Bud (Dramalogue award), Dearly Departed;
National Symphony Orchestra: Narrator, Le Histoire du Soldat. FILM: Gods and Generals, State of
Play, Renaissance Man, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, Marie. TV: Veep, House of Cards, The Wire,
West Wing, X-Files.
Donna Migliaccio (Old Lady/Blair) SIGNATURE: The Threepenny Opera (Mrs. Peachum), Beaches
(Leona Bloom), Gypsy (Mazeppa), Assassins (Sara Jane Moore), Sweeney Todd (Mrs. Lovett),
Pacific Overtures (the Reciter), Urinetown (Pennywise), A Little Night Music (Charlotte).
BROADWAY: Ragtime (Emma Goldman, 2009 revival). NATIONAL TOUR: Guys & Dolls (General
Cartwright, 50th Anniversary production). DC AREA: Kennedy Center: Sunday in the Park with
George (Nurse/Mrs); Ford’s Theatre: Liberty Smith (Betsy Ross); Arena Stage: The Music Man (Mrs.
Paroo); Olney Theatre Center: Cinderella (Stepmother); MetroStage: The Musical of Musicals
(Abby). REGIONAL: Totem Pole Playhouse: Ruthless! (Sylvia St. Croix); Arden Theatre: The Dinosaur
Musical (Mrs. Gapp/Mama Lucredzia); Theatre on the Square: Dirty Blonde (Jo/Mae West).
AWARDS: two Helen Hayes Awards; an additional ten nominations; 2005 Barrymore Award
nomination. www.donnamigliaccio.com.
Angela Miller (Frieda/Betty) SIGNATURE: The Last 5 Years, Revenge of the Understudies. DC
AREA: Olney Theatre Center: How To Succeed... (Rosemary Pilkington); Adventure Theatre: Big
Nate (Gina), Big, The Musical; Imagination Stage: Peter Pan and Wendy (Mrs. Darling/Tiger Lily).
REGIONAL: The Wick Theatre: The Sound of Music. TV: Burn Notice. UNIVERSITY: Nine (Luisa),
Company (Marta), The Wild Party (Queenie). EDUCATION: American University, BA Musical
Theatre.
Sadie Rose Herman (Louise) DC AREA: Olney Theater Center: Annie (Helen Hayes nomination);
Toby's Dinner Theater: Annie, The King and I, The Sound of Music, Miracle on 34th Street; MidMaryland Performing Arts Center: You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. FILM: Captain America: The
Winter Soldier. TV: Nickelodeon: Fansgiving. NATIONAL DANCE COMPETITIONS: StarQuest,
Revolution Dance, StarPower, Headliners, Elite Feet Touring Company. Member: Broadway Artists'
Alliance. VOCAL TRAINING: Catherine Porter-Borden. EDUCATION: New Market Blue Ribbon
Elementary School (2014 Honors Graduate)
Lucy Alexa Herman (Bather/Ensemble/US Louise) DC AREA: Toby's Dinner Theater: The Sound of
Music, Miracle on 34th Street; Maryland Ensemble Theater: Through the Looking Glass; MidMaryland Performing Arts Center: You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown; The Banner Players
Company: Cars; Other Voices Theater Company: The Little Mermaid. NATIONAL DANCE
COMPETITIONS: StarQuest, Revolution Dance, StarPower, Headliners, Elite Feet Touring Company.
COMPETITION GYMNASTICS: Flips Multi Apparatus Gymnastics Team. VOCAL TRAINING:
Catherine Porter-Borden. EDUCATION: Oakdale Elementary School.
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 38 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, Ann Reinking, 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 90 Helen Hayes Awards for excellence in the
Washington, DC region’s professional theater and has been honored with 340 nominations.
DIRECTIONS
Signature Theatre is located at 4200 Campbell Avenue (22206) off I-395 at the Shirlington exit
(#6). After the exit, blue Signature signs mark the way to the theatre. Free parking is available in
two adjacent public garages. For directions visit http://signature-theatre.org/map.htm.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Subscriptions/Groups: (703) 820-9771
Single Tickets: Ticketmaster (703) 573-SEAT (7328)
Signature Administration (571) 527-1860
Signature Theatre • 4200 Campbell Avenue • Arlington, VA 22206
http://www.signature-theatre.org
CALENDAR LISTING
Sunday in the Park with George is part of Signature Theatre’s 2014/15 season. It plays for 7
weeks, running August 5 through September 21 in the MAX Theatre. Tickets start at $40. For
more information, visit www.signature-theatre.org.
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